Lighting Wide Shots for Video Production

video synopsis by: Talat Z.

One of the hardest yet most important shots to light is the wide shot. It establishes both the mood of the scene but can be notoriously difficult to light without breaking the illusion of natural lighting. To help you with this, we will define the goals of good lighting, give you some tips on how to hide fixtures in any situation and give you some ideas for good lighting designs, so that you scenes look artistic and professional.

Before any lighting setup happen, there is always a good idea to know the goal that good lighting should accomplish. A wide shot should first and foremost match the mood of the story. If you find yourself lighting a scene from a happy part of the story, the background should be well illuminated without too many shadows. On the other hand the more dramatic moment of the story looks best with low light in darkness. No matter what the emotion of the story line, its always good practice to keep the subject at least a half stop brighter than the back ground elements. This way you’ll be able to direct the audience attention to the area that is most important. Also you will be filming multiple shots in a single scene, you want to make sure that your light always stay in the same position and roughly the same intensity from one shot to the next. That’s why its good to check how the lighting looks close up on your subject while placing your fixtures for wide shots.

It’s said that “it’s possible to cheat the lighting if you have a big change in the camera angle and screen size” But you should do so with caution. Adding small light to illuminate small areas of the eyes may be OK, but adding a strong back light on a subject in with previously wasn’t one can break the continuity of the video production.

The trickiest part of wide shot lighting is finding ways to hide your fixtures. However there are few standard tricks that can help you in almost any scene. First, if you will be filming the scene inside office building with suspended ceiling, you can always remove a tile and place a large fixture between panels or hang a light form cross bar using a butterflies scissor clamp. These clamps won’t be able to hold large fixture but work for most lighting. Setting up light for wide shots is a necessary challenge but not one that cant be overcome. With the right equipment, the right planning and attitude, you can design a lighting scheme that is not only invisible but impressive as well.

YOUTUBE REFERENCE:
[youtube CBkle9LhFm4]