Setting up high-key lighting
Another viable, if less popular, lighting scheme is high-key lighting. This involves using multiple high-powered key lights and turning them all on very brightly. This setup basically floods the subject with light. Though this setup lacks subtlety, we recommend it because it’s simple. It also allows for quick production, because pretty much all shots require the same lighting setup. No one will comment on your beautiful lighting if you use this setup, but it does make things easy.
WORKING WITH THE LIGHTS YOU HAVE
Your video will look best if you have actual video lights. The problem with this strategy is that video lights are expensive. Why can’t you just use the lights you have in your home? The good news: You can. You can create a simple 3-point lighting system using lamps from around your house. If you use them, though, you should follow a few guidelines:
- Move the Using home lights is the easy way out, but it’s usually not quite as easy as just turning on the lights and rolling the camera. You need to move the
lights around into something resembling the 3-point setup. You also might have to move some lamps from other rooms because house lamps don’t have the same brightness as video lights.
- When possible, try to use the same type of bulb in all the lamps
you’re using to light the scene. Mixing fl and incandescent lights can cause weird-looking results in your picture, so you should choose one or the other and make sure your bulbs are all the same color temperature (the color of light is measured in temperature). Each diff type of light bulb emits a diff tem- perature; mixing bulbs can make skin tones look unnatural, for example. LED lights are also a good option because you can adjust the color temperature of some.
- Lose the Lampshades can cause uneven lighting, so you should take those
things off while you’re using your lamps as video lights. This also helps with maxi- mizing the limited power of household lighting.