Video Breakdown: How to Minimize Your Lighting Setup on Set

Tired of adjusting your lighting on set for every shot? Try this system that lights your whole scene and only needs minimal adjustments between shots.

The post Video Breakdown: How to Minimize Your Lighting Setup on Set appeared first on The Shutterstock Blog.

Tired of adjusting your lighting on set for every shot? Try this system that lights your whole scene and only needs minimal adjustments between shots.

One of the biggest pains of lighting a set is constantly moving the lights for each shot. Every time you need a wide shot, a medium shot, or even a close-up, you need to take 10 minutes to adjust the entire system to get good exposure. What if you didn’t have to do that? Well our friends over at PremiumBeat have come up with a way to create that light space without all of the hassle.

Here are a few ways to set up your lights so you don’t have to constantly adjust them for your shot.

Surround Your Space with Practical Light

One of the easiest ways to light your space is by not hiding the lights. It’s always a pain to avoid the fixtures when you’re moving the camera around. Why not just keep them in there? Of course, it all depends on your location — if you are shooting an interrogation scene, you can’t have a 1000-watt light fixture just standing in the corner. It doesn’t belong. That’s where you get creative.

Hide the light behind a practical one, such as a ceiling light or a hanging light. Trick the audience into believing that the light came naturally. I mean, the whole point of lighting in film is to make it look realistic.

Use a Fog Machine

I know you probably don’t have a fog machine lying around, but now’s the time to invest in one. They only run up to about $100, so it’s not a super costly investment. They provide an awesome source of diffusion without resorting to filters on your lights.

One of the easiest ways to cut the harsh light from a direct source is clouding it up with some fog. It also creates a spooky, cinematic atmosphere — if that’s what you’re going for.

And change your diffusion up — try to use different techniques at the same time. For example, we draped some plastic sheets to hide the lights and provide some diffusion.

Use a Light Board

If you decide to use this type of lighting setup, it’s probably because you don’t have a lot of time to shoot your footage. One of the biggest wastes of time on set is adjusting every single light when you change positions. When you hook all of your lights up to a light board, you can do all your adjusting in one place.

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The post Video Breakdown: How to Minimize Your Lighting Setup on Set appeared first on The Shutterstock Blog.