Three-point Lighting is a key foundation as some of the more complicated lighting set ups and one of the most important pieces of the puzzle to create professional video.
The primary function of Three-point Lighting is to create a nice even distribution of light across the subject. If the technique is actually fitted correctly, the subject will look very natural without any deep shadows and pop out from the background. In Three-point Lighting, you’re going to need three separate lights, a key light, a fill light and a back light. All of the lights that we set up are going to be positioned at a 15 to 45 degree angle in reference to the camera.
The first item we’re going to talk about is the key light. The key light’s main function is to be the number source of illumination for the scene. The best place for as again at a 45 degree angle from the camera like so, by placing the key light at the 45 degree angle, we are able to add some definition to the edges of the face and shoulders. If we were to place our light directly ahead of our subject, it will give them a dear on the head lights look, which isn’t the goal that we had in mind. Once the key light is in placed, you can notice how the light tends to wrap around the subjects face. However, there are still some areas that are darker than normal, they’ll have a lot of shadows on the side that’s opposite at the light.
So naturally, our next step is to clean up those shadows and dark areas by adding our second light into the equation which is known as the Fill Light. We’re going to position at 45 degrees from the camera, just like the key light. The fill light should be less intense than the key light so that it doesn’t overpower or compete with it. You want the fill light to be more diffused or soft to clean up the areas that take away the shadows, but not watch out the subject. Using a Bulbrite lamp that has less water will be the solution on this problem. Another way would be to simply move the light back a little further from the subject since it decreases the light intensity.
And lastly, you can utilize the help of a gel or diffusion in front of the light. A gel can also add different colors to the look of your overall video. This again, lessens the intensity of the fill light and spread the illumination cleaning up a lot of dark shadows brought on by the key light. With both lights together, our subject becomes much more evenly lit with the fine edges of the face and the shoulders. This image tends to look a little flat though, with the subject blending into the background. The solution here is to insert a third light into the mixed commonly known as the backlight. The place of the backlight is directly behind our subject. Set that at an angle above the subject and out of the frame. This position keeps the light from spilling onto the camera and aims to hit just the subject.
The backlight should also be less intense of a light than the key light. The idea here is create a room of illumination along the shoulders and head of the subject. The use of a backlight with the key and fill was separate the subject from the background and would keep the viewer’s attention where it should be the whole time on the subject.
As a whole, Three-point Lighting combines the use of a backlight, a fill light and a key light to create a very natural and flattering subject. It is a simple technique that leads to more complicated lighting scenarios, and understanding how they work and can benefit your shoots.
A couple of general lighting pointers that is always use here too, make sure to tape down anything loose such as cables and extension cords in the way, and always turn off the lights first when you’re done shooting, and be sure to move them last. Lights are hot and they need time to cool down.
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