First, The Basics
While you are most likely well aware of three-point lighting there is a lot more that you may not know that you can accomplish with this standard setup. Three-point lighting is the basic and key concept to all successful video lighting. This consist of three lights:
Key light- strongest light in the shot.
Fill light– softer light that fills shadows on your main subject’s face.
Back or Rim lighting– adds depth to your shot by giving a soft background glow to your subjects
This is the standard for proper lighting. Where you get creative and really make your lighting stand out is in the execution. The type of light, color, temperature, and angle of each of these lights can be vastly different.
For three-point lighting, you will place your key light (the strongest light) in front of your main subject, usually off to one side, to the right or left of your subject. Usually, this light brightens the side of the face that is shifted away from the camera. The fill light is placed opposite of your key light. Depending on the effect you are going for the key light is typically twice as bright as your fill light. Place the backlight behind your subject on the same side as you fill light.
the closer these lights are to your subject the more intense the light will be. Place your camera between your fill and key light. For music videos, you will see this basic lighting setup manipulated a number of ways. Using diffusers, color filters, and cookies will allow you to get more creative with your music video lighting.
1. Dramatic Indoor Lighting
This lighting setup is ideal for indoor shots where you have a wall behind your main subject so the fill light can spill onto it. The camera in this setup is placed to the side of your fill light so it is more perpendicular to the key and backlight source instead of shooting from the same angle. The fill light is placed up higher so you get a nice spill of the light off the background of the set. You can use barn doors to adjust the shape of the light that spills onto the wall.
The backlight is placed behind the talent and closer to the background. It will be directed at a slight angle towards the talent. Place a white diffuser in front of it to soften the light.
2. Natural Lighting
When shooting in natural light the best time to do so is during the golden hour. This is the time of day just after sunrise. The light from the sun is less harsh and you get about an hour of perfect lighting to work with. Keep in mind you may only get about 20 minutes of shooting time during the blue hour. Remember that shooting during these hours requires careful attention to light changes. Since your lighting will be changing rapidly it is important to be aware of your white balance and temperature.
3. Top Backlighting
This setup breaks the rules, as it only uses one light but even with the minimalist approach you will capture amazing results. For this simple set, you will need one main light and a solid background, this should be a lighter color for the light to bounce off of.
Mount your light and set it so that it is behind your talent and slightly angled towards your background. This will create a perfect silhouette of your talent; it creates a nice mood for choreography shots or for full band wide shots.
4. Two Point Lighting
f you are shooting against a backdrop you don’t want to highlight this is the seat up to use. You simply set your key light in front of your talent as you would for a typical three-point set up. Diffusers are necessary to soften the light and don’t forget to experiment with different colored gels. Your fill light you want to place more to the side of your talent, still opposite of your key light, but slightly behind them. This is an ideal opportunity to add in some color as well!
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