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Shaping Light for Video in the Age of LEDs: A Practical Guide to the Art and Craft of Lighting, 2nd Edition PDF

313 Pages·2·126.826 MB·English
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Preview Shaping Light for Video in the Age of LEDs: A Practical Guide to the Art and Craft of Lighting, 2nd Edition

Shaping Light for Video in the Age of LEDs A practical, hands- on guide to lighting for video, this book explores how LEDs are changing the aesthetics of lighting and provides students with an indispensable guide to the everyday techniques required to produce professional- quality lighting in the age of LEDs and wireless control options. The book focuses on first- hand application of technical knowledge, beginning with simple lighting setups and progressing to more complicated scenarios, and features accompanying diagrams, illustrations and case studies to demonstrate their real- world application. Key topics covered include basic three- point lighting, lighting moving actors, set lighting and exposure, instrument selection, bringing style to your lighting, color temperature and the Kelvin scale, exterior lighting, lighting categories and genres, green- screen techniques, money and budgeting, and electricity and electrical distribution. The book also provides guidance on career paths including what a grip does, case studies with photos and diagrams, and an extensive glossary of set terminology to introduce students to the language of filmmaking. A must-h ave resource for film and media production students taking classes in lighting and/o r cinematography. Alan Steinheimer has 30- plus years of filmmaking experience, with 25 years of lighting as a gaffer and lighting director in the San Francisco Bay Area. His resume includes feature films such as The Darwin Awards, documentary and corporate work, commercials, and music videos such as Britney Spears’s Oops, I Did It Again. He appears regularly as a guest expert in the Meet the Gaffer series on YouTube. Shaping Light for Video in the Age of LEDs A Practical Guide to the Art and Craft of Lighting Second Edition Alan Steinheimer Second edition published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Alan Steinheimer The right of Alan Steinheimer to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First edition published by Arhus Publishing 2018 British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 81913- 2 (hbk) ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 81909- 5 (pbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 01079- 1 (ebk) Typeset in Joanna by Newgen Publishing UK This book contains information about electricity and electrical equipment designed for the film business. Although every effort has been made to be as accurate as possible, there is no way for this information to be completely comprehensive nor a substitute for proper training and professional guidance. The author assumes no responsibility for misinterpretation of this information or for accidents caused by the misuse of this information. On the cover: The cover photo is from a corporate lifestyle video segment styled to look like a nightclub or possibly a music video. It was shot at an employee meeting area and is an example of how lighting can transform a mundane room into an atmospheric set. Lights used: ARRI S360 in party- color mode on right for an edge light, two S60 SkyPanels for steep key and top light, four Astera Titans positioned in picture, and an ARRI M8 for the bar pattern on wall. Some solid flags utilized to reduce nearby ambient lights. Photo by Alan Steinheimer. Contents Acknowledgments xii Introduction 1 1 Why we light 3 The evolution of motion-picture lighting 3 The LED revolution 4 Working with what you have 5 Aspirations and reality 5 2 Lighting basics 6 Three- point lighting 6 Motivated light 6 Key light placement 7 Key light softness 8 Age vs. beauty 11 Lighting test with three subjects 12 Fill and fill light 14 Low fill light 14 Backlight 14 Edge light 15 Eye light 18 Eyeglasses 19 Bald and balding heads 20 Looking for far- side/ off- side lighting 21 3 Grip equipment basics 24 What is a grip? 24 C- stands 25 History of the C- stand 26 Cutting light 26 The division of labor 28 Gobo heads and arms 28 Learning to grip 30 Dollies and dolly gripping 32 Grip trucks 34 The education of a grip 34 vi | Contents 4 Electricity 35 Electrical basics 35 The mystery of how duplexes were wired 36 Tips on searching for separate circuits in an office setting 36 Tips for searching for circuits in homes 37 Plugs and wires 38 20- amp pin connectors 40 Ohms 40 LEDs rule, tungsten drools 40 Costly trip 41 Running power cords 41 Overall strategies for running power 41 Troubleshooting minor electrical problems 43 5 Exposure and compression 46 Exposure 46 F- stops and T- stops 48 Issues of scale and geometric progression 48 Foot- candles and lux 49 Log shooting 50 Darker skin tones 50 LUTs and the difficulties of monitoring picture 51 Analyzing the video image 51 Gamma curves and log 53 Rec. 709 and Rec. 2020 53 LUTs 53 RAW 54 Color and LEDs: Thoughts from Kino’s Frieder Hochheim 54 LUTs and color: A DP’s perspective from Joseph Seif 55 Art and craft inputs 56 6 Color temperature, the Kelvin scale, and gels 58 Color temperature scale 58 Mixed light 59 Plus Green and Minus Green 59 Why bother using a color temperature meter? 60 Trick question about moonlight 62 Film vs. video 63 Dealing with overhead green- tinged light 64 Gels and color correction 66 Plus Green/ Minus Green gels 66 Theatrical gels 66 Diffusion gels 67 Smoke/ fog as diffusion 68 Neutral density gel 68 Wrangling acrylic ND panels 70 Windows 70 ND gel for windows 71 Contents | vii Shootable double net 71 The art and the science of putting up window gel 71 Additional notes on windows 72 7 Refining portrait lighting and cross keying 74 Far- side key and Rembrandt lighting 74 Contrast ratios for green screen 76 Cross keying 78 Cross keying for three cameras 79 Cross keying for drama 81 Softening the key 82 Softer backlight 83 Negative fill 84 Key placement for drama 84 8 Planning for motion on set 86 Moving actors 86 Moving camera 89 Using bigger lights for action 91 Vérité style for docs 93 Summary 93 9 Background lighting 94 Framing the shot 94 Choosing instruments 95 Single- source lighting 97 Practicals 97 Windows 98 Set design 99 10 Choice of lights: 3200K and Kino Flos 102 Budgets and negotiation 102 Overview on choosing lights 103 Lighting selection for a 3200K shoot 104 Baby vs. junior 105 Kino Flo bulb lights 108 Sign of the times 108 More tungsten 110 Chimera banks 112 Dimming for tungsten 113 High- speed shooting with tungsten 113 Tungsten summary 114 11 LED lights 115 LED revolution 115 Big LEDs arrive: the ARRI S360- C 118 LED dimming control 120 LED soft light spill control 121 viii | Contents Dedo LEDs 121 The LED explosion 121 LED Fresnels 122 LED spacelights 123 Feature creep 124 LED lanterns and China balls 124 LED PARs 125 LED lekos 126 LED tubes 126 The Plus/M inus Green feature 127 Chimera and DoP light banks 127 High- speed shooting 128 LED summary 129 12 HMIs 131 HMI history 131 Safety issues 132 Flicker- free work with HMIs 134 HMI problems 134 HMI summary 136 13 DMX and controlling lights 137 What is DMX? 137 DMX for tungsten 137 Dimmer packs for tungsten 140 Camlok connectors 141 DMX for LEDs 141 Luminair, Blackout and LumenRadio 142 Astera pixel control 142 Strategies for DMX control of lights 143 14 Green and blue screen 144 A bit of history 144 2K spacelights 144 Pollution of the green- screen frame 145 Daylight stage shoots 146 LED spacelights 146 Good and bad cycs 148 Digital green vs. Chroma key green 148 Making your own cyc with soft goods 148 Edge light with head to toe 149 Floor light 149 Creating a silhouette on green 149 Tilting towards daylight shoots on green 150 The battle for stage superiority: LED vs. tungsten 151 Location issues 151 Feet/ shoes framed out 151 Feet/ shoes in frame 151 Contents | ix Myths and half- truths 154 The future 154 15 Daytime exterior lighting 155 Scaling and crewing 155 Reflectors outside 156 Quality and cost 157 Skinning frames 158 Taking your shower curtain outside 160 Tips for day exteriors 160 16 Nighttime exteriors 163 Scaling 163 Condors 165 Dealing with street and ambient light 165 Problems with working all night 165 Tips for night exteriors 167 17 Types and genres of lighting 169 Trends in lighting 169 Broadcast 169 Sitcoms 170 Long- form TV drama 170 Feature films 170 Survival strategies for movie- making 171 Commercials 171 Tabletop 172 Angle of incidence factor 175 High- speed cinematography 175 Music videos 177 Fashion lighting 178 Corporate videos 178 Documentaries 180 My personal approach 181 18 Advanced electrical 183 Single- phase vs. three-p hase power 183 Order in the electrical universe 183 Is single- phase power better than three-p hase? 184 Hertz 185 When do you need big electrical distribution? 185 Laying out power cords 186 Balancing the amperage draw 186 Paper amps 187 ARRI T12s and 120V vs. 220V 187 The actual cable and distro order 188 What is banded cable? 188 Distro boxes 190

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