Tuesday 13 November 2007
Three point lighting is used in a number of media productions such as film, tv, photography, video and also in CGI. It simply forms the basis of light.
The technique uses three different lighting setups, these different setups are called, The key light, the fill light and the backlight.
The Key light:
The key light is the main light to the setup, usually being the most strongest. It has the highest influence on the footage being filmed, photographed etc..
It is placed to one side of the subject in question as to have on side fully lit up causing shadows on the other side of the subject which is not yet lit, this is then where the fill light comes in.
The Fill Light:
This light sits on the opposite side to the key light, filling in all of the shadows created by the key light. This light is usually not as powerful as the key light as it is a secondary light, used to contribute to the effect that the key light is forming.
These two lights used together form a seamlessly lit mood to the subject in question if used effectively, with added effects such as black, white, blue and orange colored sheets of fireproof sheets, you can create different mood settings so that you could be filming in a brightly lit film, yet the subject being filmed could be quite dark and moody, creating different moods for different subjects.
Backlight:
This light is set behind the subject, lighting it up from the back, (As Deborah explained to us it is sometimes referred to as the ready breck effect, as it was once used in an old ready breck tv advert, giving a light glow around the main character involved in the advert). This light provides more definition to the subject being filmed as well as providing subtle highlights to the subject, this helps to pull the subject out from the background, separating them and giving a 3D look.
Image Source: http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/images/diy_studio_lighting.jpg
