Lighting for Television & Videography
Design & Practice
Hue, Saturation, Brilliance

Hue and saturation are the two qualitative
differences of physical colors.
Essential character,
inherent feature,
property

The quantitative difference is brilliance, the
intensity or energy of the light.
"Color," Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Hue & Saturation
HUE - Actual color:
Human color perception is
based on only 4 HUES:
Yellow, green, blue, & red.
Computers
& TVs
SATURATION: (“chroma”)
Amount, strength, purity of color
T
L
Zettl, H. (2005). Sight, sound, motion: Applied media aesthetics, 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Thompson-Wadsworth
The Look & Feel of Lighting
Look

sensory, surface properties, visual style; “slick”,
hard, soft, bright, dark, etc.
Feel

emotional, subjective, connotative; rhythms,
textures, colors, tonal values
Viera, D. & Viera, M. (2005). Lighting for film and digital cinematography, 2nd ed. Belmont CA: Thompson-Wadsworth.
Aesthetics
Shadows
 Falloff
 Color
 High Key / Low Key lighting
 Patterns

Patterns

Kukuloris (“Cookies”) or Gobos
24” or 42” sq. panel frame
Thanks to Bill Holshevnikoff, http://www.poweroflighting.com/
Shadow projected on background
…and actors in this case
Viera & Viera, p. 35.
Shadows
Suggest:
Shape
 Location
 Mood
 Time, season
 Texture

Shadows
What shape are these objects?
“Flat” with
diffused source
Directional source,
off to side.
Shadows Define Shape & Location
Attached Shadow vs. Cast Shadow:
Gives info on shape of object & where it is
relative to its surroundings.

• Where is the light source?
• How far from the ground is the cone?
Shadow

Indicates distance, time, mood.
Zettl, H. (2005). Sight, sound, motion: Applied media aesthetics, 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Thompson-Wadsworth, p23
Attached Shadow Reversal

Shadows help interpret shape.
By turning the object upside down,
the ornamentation reverses.
Ibid.
Falloff
Facial texture
Fast falloff
Slow Falloff
Zettl, H. (2005). Sight, sound, motion: Applied media aesthetics, 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Thompson-Wadsworth, p28
Ext shadow

Time of day
Angle
Predictive Lighting

Portends a coming event…
Often used along with predictive
sound, music…
Soft & Hard Light

Dramatically different shadows and moods
Background Lighting
and Composition
Bkgd. divided into B & W,
separates characters
(The Third Man, Studio Canal Image, 1949)
Photographs, Viera & Viera, p. 34
Bkgd. Light used to create
composition; where does the light
bkgd. lead you?
(8 ½, Corinth Films Inc., 1963.)
Background Light

The same ¾ key, fill, background set up
 Different intensity for different moods
Bkgd.
Key
Fill
Photographs, Viera & Viera, p. 33
Cameo

Black background, subjects sharply set
off from bkgd. No fill, no bkgd light.
Sometimes a kicker.
Zettl, p. 43
Chiaroscuro
Three functions:
Organic, Directional, and Spatial / Compositional.
Here, light seems to radiate from a single candle hidden behind the
left woman’s hand.
Zettl, p. 41
Rembrandt

Most applied type of
chiaroscuro lighting (Zettl).

Selective lighting

Shadows

High Contrast

Fast falloff
Zettl, p. 43
Chiaroscuro

Selective illumination, low key (bkgd
dark, overall level is low), fast falloff
with distinct attached shadows.
Zettl, p. 39
Back Key- back light is dominant


When light comes from behind.
Frontal fill
Viera & Viera, p. 25
Eyelight, cont.

Without
eyelight, eyes
would be lost
in shadow.

Give a sense
of “aliveness,”
twinkle
Viera & Viera, p. 37, 81/2, Corinth Films, Inc. 1963
Eyelight: Do you see a difference?
No eyelight
Eyelight
High Key / Low Key
What kind of lighting is this?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Low Key
High Key
Flat lighting
Cameo
Key-Fill-Back
Zettl, 2nd ed. p. 38-39
Hollywood style lighting
Hollywood style lighting
Silhouette - opposite of cameo
Shows contour but
no volume, no texture.
What’s being used?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Key
Back
Fill
Kicker
Background
Review: Lighting lingo



L.D., Gaffer, Best Boy
Gaffer: lighting personnel
“INSTRUMENT”= light
“LAMP”= bulb
Cookies
Baselight
fc, lux
Light meters


Reflectors
Flags
(gaffer’s tape)

Barn doors
Shadow

Scrims
Contrast

Gels
(Color Temperature)
References
• Compesi, R. J. & Gomez, J. S. (2006). Introduction to video
production: Studio, Field, and beyond. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Holshevnikoff, B. [On-line] (retrieved 1/16/2006).
http://www.poweroflighting.com
• Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. Microsoft Corporation. All
rights reserved.
• Stinson, J. (2002). Video communication & production. Tinley
Park: CA: Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
• Viera, D. & Viera, M. Lighting for film & digital cinematography,
2nd ed. Belmont, CA: Thompson-Wadsworth.
• Zettl, H. (2005, 1998). Sight, sound, motion: Applied media
aesthetics. Belmont, CA: Thompson-Wadsworth.