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Books on Fancy Lighting

post #1 of 6
11/10/07 at 10:59am
Thread Starter 
A friend and I are going to make a short film out of a script I wrote. He's got the nice HD cameras and he knows how to use them, we've got the location and the shots figured out and all that. We even know where we're going to get the rest of the equipment.

But one thing neither of us know much about is lighting, and we're trying to pull off some moderately ambitious lighting in this thing. Everything else is nice and simple, but the lighting will be tricky.

So what I'm wondering is if anyone know of a good, comprehensive book on lighting we could get. We'll have plenty of testing time with the lights (rental's good n' cheap), but we need to figure out which techniques we'll be testing.
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post #2 of 6
11/10/07 at 11:02am
I don't know about books, but try finding a field production class at a local tv station. You'll learn some basics and will probably meet people who can give you book recommendations.
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post #3 of 6
11/10/07 at 1:43pm
My only worry with that Andrew is the HD always needs light. Even outside, so be sure to have some bounce cards ready. She's an unforgiving medium and while she can look amazing, she can also look like a trashy used up whore if not treated properly.

As with any project, it comes down to the mood you're going for. Going for regular atmosphere? Standard three point! But, if you got time, just experiment the crap out of lighting. It can be a really fun thing that adds a lot to your film.

Just look anywhere, you're bound to find a book or five!
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post #4 of 6
11/10/07 at 2:55pm
I agree with Doc. Experiment and experiment some more. Chances are, you may not get the exact look you're after, but you'll probably come across some interesting results in the process.

In addition to The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook (a tome whose usefulness is second only to the ASC Manual), pick up some books on your favorite painters and try to deconstruct their lighting techniques.
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post #5 of 6
11/10/07 at 5:49pm
There's a brief but instructive passage in Kevin Brownlow's The Parade's Gone By in which Josef Von Sternberg shows a TV crew how to light a glamour closeup.

Seconding the call for reflectors and bounce cards. And take a look at some Vermeer paintings to see how he uses objects in the frame to direct light onto his subjects' faces.
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post #6 of 6
11/11/07 at 12:03pm
Thread Starter 
Excellent . Thanks for all the tips.

We're looking to keep this really small, so bringing in a DOP with some knowledge isn't really on the menu (maybe next time, though), and it all takes place in one room with just four actors, so natural light isn't an option (plus we're actually going for a pretty stylized set up).

We're definitely going to get as much "play around" time with the lighting as we can, but I wanted some sort of starting point for us to work from. Sounds like I've got that in all the books you folks have suggested. (And as for finding books anywhere -- I'd already been to most of Toronto's biggest bookstores, and found nothing that specifically dealt with film lighting, which surprised me.)
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