Lighting for Cinematography
The Art and Craft of Lighting for Moving Image Capture
- Textbook
Lighting for Cinematography
The Art and Craft of Lighting for Moving Image Capture
- Textbook
Available for purchase via Bloomsbury etextbooks on publication date
Description
An updated version of the how-to book on the art, craft, and practice of lighting for film and video for students and filmmakers that want to improve their lighting.
We can't shoot good pictures without good lighting, no matter how good the newest cameras are. Shooting under available light gives exposure, but lacks depth, contrast, contour, atmosphere, and often separation. The story could be the greatest in the world, but if the lighting is poor, viewers will assume it's amateurish and not take it seriously. Good lighting makes things look real, while real lighting often makes things look fake.
This book helps the reader create lighting that supports the emotional moment of the scene, contributes to the atmosphere of the story and can augment an artistic style. Well-crafted lighting helps establish the illusion of reality that is necessary for the viewer to forget they are watching a screen and get lost in the story. So, no matter how good a script, how good a director, how good the actors – the lighting needs to be as good, if not better.
This book is a practical hands-on lighting text for anyone who wants to learn to improve their lighting for video or film, based on the college lighting class that the author has taught for ten years, as well as his extensive professional work in the industry as a DP, Lighting Director, and union gaffer.
Table of Contents
1. The Magic of Light – What Lighting Does and What Light Does: The Physics, Properties, Measurements, and Subliminal Effects of Light
2. Making Light: Lighting Units and How They Work, Why So Many, and Basic Electricity
3. Approaching a Lighting Set-Up: Motivated Light Source, Desired Feeling, and Three Point Lighting
4. Lighting Exterior Daylight: Reflectors, Bounce Cards, Butterflies, Sun Direction, HMIs
5. Lighting for Movement: Hallways, Stairways, Dolly Shots
6. Cross Key & Chicken Coop: Fast Common Lighting Methods
7. High Key, Low Key, Hard and Soft: Lighting Looks, Ratios, and Textures
8. Selecting Exposure & Depth of Field: T-stops, Metering, Exposure Range
9. Lighting Night Exteriors: White Reference, Moonlight, Correct Exposure, China Balls
10. Lighting Non-narrative: Interview, Corporate Video, Reality TV
11. Lighting for Dramatic Effect: Candles, Lightning, Using Color for Mood, Silhouette
12. Lighting Tricks and Concerns: Poor Man's Process Shot, Rain, Interior Windows
13. Product and Glamour: Product Shots, Glamour Looks, Commercials
14. Lighting for More than One Camera Filming at the Same Time
15. Inspiration and Learning from the Masters: Paintings, Interviews with Professional Gaffers, Lighting Directors, Cinematographers
Afterword: Relighting in Post: Working with the Editor on Digital Manipulation to Lighting Levels, Contrast, and Color in Post-Production
Glossary & Appendix: Lists of Lighting Terminology, Lighting Equipment with Photos, Lighting Resources (Phone Apps and Websites), and Suggested Readings
Index
Product details
| Published | 12 Nov 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 2nd |
| Extent | 272 |
| ISBN | 9798216383864 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 200 colour illus |
| Series | The CineTech Guides to the Film Crafts |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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