Motion Picture and Video Lighting, 2nd Edition

Motion Picture and Video Lighting, 2nd Edition

by Blain Brown
Released November 2012
Publisher(s): Focal Press
ISBN: 9781136052972

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Motion Picture and Video Lighting, Second Edition, is your indispensable guide to film and video lighting. Written by the author of the industry bible Cinematography, this book explores technical, aesthetic, and practical aspects of lighting for film and video. It will show you not only how to light, but why. Written by a professional in the field, this comprehensive book explores light and color theory; equipment; and techniques to make every scene look its best.

Now in full color, Motion Picture and Video Lighting is heavily illustrated with photos and diagrams throughout.

This new edition also includes the ultimate 'behind the scenes' DVD that takes you directly on a professional shoot and demonstrates technical procedures and equipment. In addition, 20 video clips include: lighting demonstrations, technical tests, fundamentals of lighting demos, and short scenes illustrating different styles of lighting.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Halftitle
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Table of contents
  7. Preface
  8. The History of Lighting
    1. Controllable Light
    2. Early Film Production
    3. Introduction of Tungsten Lighting
    4. The Technicolor Era
    5. HMI, Xenon, Fluorescent, and LED Sources
    6. Kino Flo and LED
  9. Lighting Sources
    1. Fresnels
      1. Tungsten Fresnels
      2. The 10K and 20K
      3. The 5K
      4. Juniors
      5. 1K
      6. 650, Betweenie, and InBetweenie
      7. Inkie
    2. HMI Units
      1. 12K and 18K
      2. 6K and 8K
      3. 4K and 2.5K
      4. Smaller HMIs
      5. When an HMI Fails to Fire
    3. Xenons
    4. Brute Arc
    5. Open-Face Lights
      1. Skypan
      2. 2K Open Face
      3. 1000-/600-/650-Watt Open Face
      4. PAR 64
    6. PAR Groups
      1. Dino, Moleeno, and Wendy
      2. MaxiBrute
      3. FAYs
      4. Ruby 7
    7. HMI PARs
    8. Soft Lights
      1. Studio Softs (8K, 4K, and 1K)
      2. Cone Lights
      3. Space Lights
    9. Fluorescent Rigs
      1. Color-Correct Fluorescent Units
      2. Color-Correct Bulbs
    10. Cycs, Strips, Nooks, and Broads
    11. Miscellaneous
      1. Chinese Lanterns
      2. Crane-Mounted Lights
      3. Source Fours
      4. Sunguns
      5. Softboxes
      6. Jokers
      7. LED Panels
      8. Dedo Lights
      9. Balloon Lights
      10. Barger Baglight
      11. Scrims and Barndoors
      12. Spacelights and Chicken Coops
  10. Fundamentals of Lighting
    1. What Do We Expect Lighting to Do for Us?
      1. Mood and Tone
      2. Full Range of Tones
      3. Color Control and Color Balance
    2. Adding Shape, Depth, and Dimension to a Scene
      1. Shape
      2. Separation
      3. Depth
      4. Texture
      5. Exposure
      6. Directing the Eye
    3. The Lighting Process
      1. The Process
      2. What Are the Requirements?
      3. What Tools Do You Have?
      4. What’s the Schedule?
      5. What Are the Opportunities
    4. How to Be Fast
    5. Lighting Fundamentals
      1. The Basic Elements
    6. Quality of Light
      1. Hard/Soft
    7. Other Qualities of Light
      1. Direction Relative to Subject
      2. Altitude
      3. High Key/Low Key (Fill Ratio)
      4. Specular/Ambient
      5. Relative Size of Radiating Source and Lens
      6. Modulation/Texture
      7. Movement
      8. Subject/Texture
  11. Basic Scene Lighting
    1. Medieval Knights Around a Campfire
      1. The Plan
      2. Flicker Effect
      3. Group Scene with Fire
    2. Science Fiction Scene
    3. Film Noir Scene
    4. Aces and Eights
    5. Detective Scene
    6. Young Inventor
    7. Miscellaneous Scenes
      1. Potter
      2. Beauty Shot
      3. Pool Room
      4. Pool Room CU
    8. Intimate Room Scene
    9. Black Cross Keys (Sitcom Lighting)
    10. Reality Show Set
    11. In or Out
    12. Day Exterior
    13. From Under the Floor
    14. Ambient from Above
    15. Confessions: Training Scene
    16. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: Alley
      1. Creating an Exterior in the Studio
    17. X-Men Plastic Prison
      1. Stage Rigging
    18. Large Night Exterior
      1. Complex Stage Set
  12. Lighting HD, DV, and SD Video
    1. The Video Engineer and DIT
    2. The Waveform Monitor
    3. The Vectorscope
    4. Iris Control
    5. Electronic Pushing
    6. White Balance
    7. Transferring Film to Video
    8. Lighting for Multiple Cameras
    9. Monitor Setup
      1. Monitor Setup Procedure
      2. The PLUGE
    10. Camera White Balance
    11. Establishing a Baseline
    12. The Test Chart
  13. Exposure Theory
    1. The Bucket
    2. F/Stop
    3. Exposure, ISO, and Lighting Relationships
      1. Lighting Source Distance
      2. ISO/ASA Speeds
    4. Chemistry of Film
    5. Film’s Response to Light
      1. The Latent Image
    6. Chemical Processing
      1. Color Negative
      2. Additive vs. Subtractive Color
    7. The H&D Curve
      1. The Log E Axis
      2. What Is a Log?
    8. Brightness Perception
      1. Contrast
      2. “Correct” Exposure
      3. Brightness Range in a Scene
    9. Determining Exposure
    10. The Tools
      1. The Incident Meter
      2. The Reflectance Meter
    11. The Zone System
      1. Zones in a Scene
      2. The Grayscale
      3. Why 18%?
      4. Place and Fall
      5. Reading Exposure with Ultraviolet
      6. The Shutter
  14. Theory and Control of Color
    1. The Nature of Light
    2. Color Perception
    3. The Tristimulus Theory
      1. The Purkinje Effect and Movie Moonlight
    4. Light and Color
      1. Additive and Subtractive Color
    5. Qualities of Light
      1. Hue
      2. Value
      3. Chroma
      4. Color Temperature
    6. The Color Wheel
      1. Color Mixing
      2. Film and Video Colorspace
    7. Color Harmonies and Interaction of Color
      1. Interaction of Color and Visual Phenomena
      2. The Laws of Simultaneous Contrast
      3. Metamerism
    8. The CIE Color System
      1. Standard Light Sources in CIE
      2. Digital and Electronic Color
    9. Control of Color
      1. What Is White?
      2. Color Temperature
    10. Color Meters
    11. Color Balance of Film
      1. Color Balance with Camera Filters
      2. Conversion Filters
      3. Light-Balancing Filters
    12. Correcting Light Balance
      1. CTO
      2. Tungsten to Daylight
    13. Fluorescent Lighting
    14. Correcting Off-Color Lights
      1. Arcs
      2. HMI
      3. Industrial Lamps
      4. Stylistic Choices in Color Control
  15. Electricity
    1. Measurement of Electricity
      1. Potential
      2. Paper Amps
    2. Electrical Supply Systems
      1. Three-Phase
      2. Single-Phase
    3. Power Sources
      1. Stage Service
      2. Generators
      3. Generator Operation
      4. Tie-ins
      5. Tie-in Safety
    4. Determining KVA
      1. Wall Plugging
    5. Batteries
      1. Battery Capacity
      2. Lead Acid
      3. Heavy Antimony
      4. Nicads
      5. Li-Ion and NiMh
    6. Load Calculations and Paper Amps
      1. Ampacity
      2. Color Coding
    7. The Neutral
    8. Distribution Equipment
      1. Tie-ins
      2. Busbar Lugs
      3. Connectors
      4. Bullswitches
      5. Feeder Cable
      6. Wire Types
      7. Distribution Boxes
      8. Lunch Boxes, Snake Bites, Gangboxers, and Four-Ways
      9. Extensions
      10. Planning a Distribution System
      11. Working with AC and DC
      12. Calculating Voltage Drop
      13. VCR
    9. Electrical Safety
      1. Wet Work
      2. HMI Safety
      3. Grounding Safety
  16. Gripology
    1. Light Controls
      1. Reflectors
      2. Operating Reflectors
    2. Flags and Cutters
      1. Flag Tricks
    3. Netss
      1. Net Tricks
    4. Cuculoris
    5. Diffusers
      1. Butterflies and Overheads
      2. Griffs
    6. Holding
      1. Grip Heads
    7. Clamps
      1. Studded C-Clamps
      2. Miscellaneous
  17. The Team and Set Operations
    1. The DP
    2. The Team
      1. The Gaffer
      2. The Best Boy
      3. Third Electric and Electricians
      4. The Key Grip
      5. Grips
    3. Other Crews
      1. Set Operations
    4. The Process
      1. Rough-In
      2. Blocking
      3. Light
      4. Rehearsal
      5. Shooting
    5. Procedures
  18. Lamps and Sockets
    1. Types of Radiating Sources
      1. Carbon Arc
      2. Tungsten
      3. Tungsten–Halogen
    2. Enclosed Metal Arc: HMI
    3. Household and Projector Bulbs
    4. Practical Bulbs
    5. Fluorescent Tubes
    6. Dichroics
  19. Technical Issues
    1. Shooting with HMI Units
    2. The Power Supply
      1. Flicker-Free HMIs
    3. Dimmers
      1. Dimmer Systems On The Set
    4. Working with Strobes
      1. Strobe Exposure
    5. Exposure for Macrophotography
      1. Depth-of-Field in Closeup Work
      2. Lighting for Extreme Closeups
    6. Underwater Filming
    7. Effects
      1. Rain
      2. Smoke
      3. Fire
      4. TV and Projector Effects
      5. Day-for-Night
      6. Moonlight Effects
      7. Water Effects
      8. Lightning
    8. Using Daylight
    9. Lighting for Process Photography
      1. Chroma Key
      2. Greenscreen
      3. Lighting for Process Photography
      4. Greenscreen/Bluescreen Tips
  20. Appendix
    1. Brute Arc Operation
    2. International Plug and Socket Types
    3. Building Your Own Hand Squeezer
    4. Typical Lighting Order for a Small Independent Film
    5. Lighting Order for a Large Studio Film
  21. Acknowledgments
  22. Special Thanks
  23. About the Author
  24. Index

Product information

  • Title: Motion Picture and Video Lighting, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Blain Brown
  • Release date: November 2012
  • Publisher(s): Focal Press
  • ISBN: 9781136052972