Awesome lighting tips from Peter Levy, ASC, Uta Briesewitz, ASC, and David Moxness, ASC, CSC…
Above photo By Kal Visuals. Follow @kalvisuals | www.kalvisuals.com
3 Need-To-Know Lighting Tips for Student Cinematographers
Tip #1
” My advice to give to students is, don’t think of the fill light as a light source. Understand what it is…and what it is, is a contrast reducer. The more fill you’re adding, the less contrast you’re getting. Don’t give it a name. Don’t call it a fill light. Look at the image, and just use that lighting unit to control the contrast that you want and to keep it consistent.”
~Peter Levy, ASC
Read more in our exclusive interview, “A Conversation with Peter Levy, ASC: Insights into Cinematography and Advice for Students.” ‘I became a documentary assistant working my way through the documentary world. I started shooting after about 6 to 7 years, which, in those days, was considered a bit audacious. You were expected to work your way up…’
Tip #2
“Don’t fall into patterns of doing the same thing over and over but let the location and the script inspire you. Change things up. Be open to doing things differently than you usually do them. Really look at your subjects. What brings out their characteristics in their faces? What looks good, what looks bad? What supports the story, the emotional moment of the scene?”
~Uta Briesewitz, ASC
Read more in our exclusive interview, “A Conversation with Uta Briesewitz, ASC: Episodics and Features.” ‘TV has become an amazing creative playground because of new outlets like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu… and simply because of the budgets that are being made available to produce shows…’
Tip #3
“Environment. The lighting of the set/location needs to fit with the scene and story. Treat it like another character.”
~David Moxness, ASC, CSC
Read more in our exclusive interview, “Lighting the Narrative: A Conversation with David Moxness, ASC, CSC.” ‘For me it is very important the camera (movement/work, etc.) complements the narrative, enhances the story and doesn’t become about the camera.’…
