Lighting for TV and Film, 3rd Edition

4 The principles of lighting

 

 

 

As you begin to work with light you will probably be surprised how many of its features are already familiar from everyday experience. You will recognize the effects, even if you have not previously considered their cause. Here you will see how they form the foundations of lighting techniques.

Perception and selection

Preoccupied with daily life, most of us give only half an eye to the world around us. We respond to its influences but seldom scrutinize its effects all that closely. We accept, for example, the well-worn concept of romantically soft candlelight. But if you look around a candle-lit room, it is soon obvious that a candle’s small flame casts firm clear-cut shadows, and throws texture and contours ...