Lighting research

The Three Point Lighting Technique is a standard method used in film, still photography and computer-generated imagery. It is a simple system that forms the basis of most lighting. I hope to understand this technique to help to create atmosphere and a professional quality to my film.
The technique uses three lights called the key light, fill light and back light:


Key Light
This is the main light. It is usually the strongest and casts the most light on the scene. It is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow.








Fill Light
This is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. To achieve this, I would intend to place some white sheeting over my light to diffuse it and soften the brightness.





Back Light
The backlight is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting (like the key and fill), its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject. This set up would not be suited to my film because there would be too many cameras so I couldn’t create any movement with the camera. However, for still photography I think that this technique will become very useful.


So, for my filming, I intend to use either the key and fill light together to fully light my scene and actors. Lighting in film is only really necessary when using a 35mm camera to get the right exposure, but in digital film cameras such as DSLRs, this doesn’t matter, but low light shooting can produce a very grainy effect that could be suited to my film. For some of my scenes, such as when the Elder passes away could be done with just the key light to really cast shadows and create dramatic effect. In terms of photography I intend to use the backlight aswell as the key and fill light as to produce a full three-dimensional effect that is really effective and interesting. These images of my characters could in turn be used on my poster or magazine double page review.