Lighting
-
Little (And Not So Little) Gear Finds at NAB
Most of the big news that comes out of NAB you’ll hear about, whether you’re there or not. Where NAB gets interesting is when you wonder around the cavernous Las Vegas Convention center, especially towards the back or perimeters, and stumble on some interesting gems of tools that might a unique solution or make production life just a tiny bit easier. Here’s a round-up of some of the smaller finds from NAB (as well as a few bigger ones), all focused around production (post-production is coming up next). Litra Litra has some amazingly clever battery-powered portable LED lights. The LitraPro […]
by Joey Daoud on May 12, 2019 -
Watch: “Stanley Kubrick: Practical Lighting”
In this video essay, Adam Tinius (aka “Entertain the Elk”) makes the case for Stanley Kubrick’s mastery of practical lighting.
by Filmmaker Staff on Jul 7, 2017 -
Watch: How to Light Table Scenes
In this video from Aperture’s Four Minute Film School (above), DP Julia Swain shares techniques and tips of effectively lighting a round table scene with four actors using only a 3-light kit with a bounce card, soft box, and china ball.
by Paula Bernstein on Aug 22, 2016 -
Watch: Shane Hurlbut on Sculpting Background Hard Light
We’ve spoken to d.p. Shane Hurlbut about camera tests and other matters before. In this video, you can see him in action: with a model in the foreground, he sets about messing with c-stands, toppers, and other tools to systematically create the illusion of a latticed window shadow behind her. Light is systematically managed and reduced for detail when Hurlbut decides he doesn’t want it to spill onto the floor, which is exactly what thoughtful light manipulation (with an equipment budget) is all about.
by Filmmaker Staff on Mar 11, 2015 -
Small and Handy Grip Gear from Manfrotto and Matthews
With lots of one-man-band shooters out there and small productions, it’s always great to find small but effective gear along with gear that does double duty. Manfrotto released the new Nanopole Stand, a lightweight stand with a twist. The center column pops out of the legs, giving you a boom pole to quickly hold a small light or accessory overhead. Works great with their new Smart Tilt Head, a flexible cold shoe mount adapter. Another nice feature of the stand that is also appearing in other Manfrotto stands is a flexible leg that slides out, giving some adjustment room to […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 9, 2014 -
Lowel Gives LEDs Some Glass
While cameras get most of the attention at NAB, I’ve been on the lookout for interesting lights and support gear. One that caught my eye is a new Fresnel lighting fixture from Lowel. The Lowel PRO Power LED gives you the equivalent of about 100w and has a telescoping feature with the outside of the fixture letting you spot or flood the light but with much finer control in between. It doesn’t have a page online but it’s the exact same head as the handheld GL-1 light, so you can check that out for comparable features. They’ll also offer their […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 8, 2014 -
Why Your Film Needs a Good Gaffer: Watch How Lighting Changes a Face
Here’s a hypnotic video showing the importance of film lighting. Watch as this woman — yes, this is just one woman — finds her features altered as the lighting shifts around her. The plans of her face move, the vibe she projects alters, and the genre of film she’s in morphs from drama to horror to comedy. (Hat tip: Sploid at Gizmodo.) The video, “Sparkles and Wine,” features music from the band Opale and was directed and produced by Nacho Guzman. According to Petapixel, the video was shot “using a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR and two lenses (a Canon […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 31, 2013 -
Four Lessons in Cinematography from Nestor Almendros
Nestor Almendros has quite the filmography: most of Eric Rohmer’s films, a good amount of Francois Truffaut’s, Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, and Days of Heaven (often considered one of the most beautiful films ever made). No big deal. You’d think that a cinematographer of his pedigree would be technically proficient and incredibly exacting in his approach. This couldn’t be less true. His approach to cinematography was incredibly intuitive. Directors and cinematographers alike could learn a lot from Almendros’ process, particularly when working on lower budgets and tighter schedules. Lighting Must Be Justified. Almendros believed that lighting exists for the actors, […]
by Shaun Seneviratne on Aug 30, 2013 -
Gordon Willis on Lighting Marlon Brando in The Godfather
Gordon Willis is one of the truly great cinematographers of the second half of the 20th century, the man responsible for shooting everything from Woody Allen’s Manhattan and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather to such lesser-known (but also brilliantly lensed) movies such as Hal Ashby’s The Landlord and Alan Arkin’s Little Murders. In the second of our ongoing series of exclusive Craft Truck videos, Willis talks about the approach he took to lighting Marlon Brando in the iconic opening scene of The Godfather.
by Nick Dawson on Aug 8, 2013 -
Cinematographer Andrij Parekh on Lighting Ryan Gosling
Starting this week, every Thursday the Filmmaker website will be hosting exclusive videos courtesy of Craft Truck, a new website which hosts “conversations with the world’s best cinematographers, editors, technology companies and more from the world of film and television.” To kick off this series, acclaimed d.p. Andrij Parekh talks about his approach to lighting and how this impacts on the performances of actors, such as Ryan Gosling, who he shot in Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s Half Nelson and Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines.
by Nick Dawson on Aug 1, 2013
