Cinematic Lighting
What you'll learn
- How to create depth and contrast in your shots
- How to light for both the master shot and the coverage
- How and when to use HMI, fluorescent, LED and traditional tungsten lighting
- How to use natural light to your advantage, and how to mould it
- How to use a light meter and false colours to correctly expose your image
- How to use smoke or haze to create atmosphere
- How to simulate sunlight, moonlight and firelight
Requirements
- Students should have a grasp of basic cinematography concepts like white balance and depth of field.
- A familiarity with the principle of three-point lighting will be useful, but not essential.
Description
This course is an advanced and in-depth guide to arguably the most important part of a Director of Photography's job: designing the lighting.
Rather than demonstrating techniques in isolation in a studio, this course takes place entirely on location. The intent is to show the realities of creating beautiful lighting while dealing with the usual challenges of real independent film production, like time, weather and equipment, as well as meeting the requirements of the script.
The course consists of four modules: Day Exterior, Day Interior, Night Interior and Night Exterior. Each module follows the blocking, lighting and shooting of a short scripted scene (inspired by the fantasy web series Ren: The Girl with the Mark) with two actors in full costume. Watch experienced Director of Photography Neil Oseman and his team set up all the fixtures, control the light with flags and rags, and make adjustments when the camera moves around for the coverage. Every step of the way, Neil explains what he's doing and why, as well as the alternatives you could consider for your own films. Each module concludes with the final edited scene so that you can see the end result.
Who this course is for:
- Cinematography students
- Camera operators looking to move up to Director of Photography
- Corporate/industrial filmmakers looking to move into drama
- Indie filmmakers looking to increase their production values
Instructor
- 4.6 Instructor Rating
- 1,698 Reviews
- 8,018 Students
- 2 Courses
I am a cinematographer with over 20 years’ experience. I’ve shot 12 features as main unit DP, including the upcoming Hamlet starring Sir Ian McKellen, The Little Mermaid with Academy Award-winner Shirley MacLaine, supernatural thriller Heretiks with Michael Ironside, and the multi-award-winning road movie Above the Clouds. Currently in post-production are the comedy Harvey Greenfield is Running Late, the horror film The Stranger, and a contemporary adaption of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. I have also photographed more short films than I can count!
In 2016-17 I was nominated for six Best Cinematography awards around the world for the action/adventure series Ren: The Girl with the Mark. Since then I have won 16 cinematography awards for short films, ten of those for Annabel Lee, a period piece based on the poem by Edgar Allen Poe.
Second only to my love of cinematography is my passion for sharing knowledge of it. I have given workshops and lectures to audiences of all kinds, from students to professionals, for such organisations as the British Fim Institute and the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers. I write regularly for British Cinematographer (the official magazine of the BSC), RedShark News and my own blog, and I post a lighting breakdown every Friday on my highly popular Instagram feed.