I suppose this question is aimed at those who are competent to professional lighters/ cinematographers. Im 18, and very interested in movie production. I want to gain skills in lighting and ultimately cinematography. However, lighting seems like such a complex and expensive skill to learn. I mean, I could go and buy some amazing lighting kit, but I wouldnt know how to use it. And even if I did, all I could do is shoot with my gs400. To get a proper camera would cost thousands more. On the other hand Im presently using the cheapest light setup which moeny can buy (work lights etc). Results seem ok, but I can only go so far with this.

So I feel Im sort of a bit stuck, and somewhat daunted, at the moment regarding lighting. And apart from the equipment itself, Im also at odds to know how Ill ever gain sufficient skills using it - Im going to uni to do film, but classes are only a few hours a week; how can I learn decent lighting skills in that time?!

So basically what Im wondering is; how did all you ppl who "know your stuff" when it comes to lighting, start out, and how did you build up your skills to gain a high level of competence?

Thanks very much

Josef

One gains high level skills in any profession by two routes. Often they can and SHOULD be pursued simultaneously.

1) Educational setting (University or trade school)
2) Professional setting (Apprentice and internships to start)

Your classes at school will teach you the basics. You will also be 'required' to crew in film school. Having deadlines for class projects and papers is a TINY bit like the real world... where missing a deadline has consequences. This is the advantage of school and business over simply 'fooling around on your own'.
Schools will often have equipment for use that you can't afford to buy. You will get a chance to check it out, take it home and use it.


If you can intern on a working set, you'll gain more knowledge in a day than a week of class work. IF you get on a working set (I'm talking pro here) then keep your eyes open, LISTEN to everything that's going on. Don't be afraid to ask questions, but don't interrupt someone who is working to ask.

Depending on where you are located, local rental houses will often rent gear to film students. It will cost money, but less than buying the gear.

Read books... and keep 'fooling around on your own.'

Josef,

As a leaning resource, I'd really recommend reading the cinematography.com (http://www.cinematograhpy.com/forum2004/) boards. You'll learn tons just lurking around for a month there.

More importantly is that practical experience, so get some friends and make some films. Find someone to direct, and allow yourself to focus on lighting and camera control.

Josh

once you learn all the technical stuff through a book or at school with lights handy... then its all practice from there. lighting is an art, just like any other aspect of movie making... you have to develop your own style. the professional lighting handbook is good for technical information and to carry around on set (bulb types, wattages, mostly electrical information and what not, but has other stuff as well). i hear writing with light or something like that is a good book as well. hands on is the only way you're going to learn this stuff, even if its just work lights from home depot and some foam board for reflectors and what not... its still lighting.

As an occasional PA on "real" sets, I can recommend this as a good way to learn. Probably better on a video shoot (as oppposed to film), where you see the output on a production monitor (if the crew allows you near it), which is essentially how it'll look when recorded (minus any color correction/effects applied to the footage), whereas with film, you can see the video tap, I guess, but it's not really representative of the "real thing" when all is said and done, what with film's super duper lattitude and all. Anyway, a minor point.

The fascinating thing is to see all these lights, bounce boards, flags, and all this other crap all over the place, and then look to the monitor and see how it makes the image look.

Try to figure out what each light is doing, it's purpose. Depending on what you're doing as a PA, you may or may not have much free time on your hands on a set. If you do, and you're so inclined. Make diagrams of the lighting setups on a little notepad or something. Maybe try to recreate them later and see if your results look the same.

Agreed. I learned all of the basics and some of the intricacies of lighting from my PA days, by keeping my eyes open and asking questions (when appropriate!) of the camera dept., the gaffer etc.

I'm new as you are, but maybe this will help anyway.. I started with a book called "Lighting: Science and Magic" by Fil Hunter and Paul Fuqua, and I've found it to be really helpful. i'm not that great at lighting scenes, yet, but at least I am starting to understand the basics of reflection and how to control light on my subject.

JT
Austin, Tx

Believe it or not, I learned mostly from using a 3D program doing modeling. Then I adjusted a bit for real life. Not quite Pro Hollywood, but better than nothing.

In my lighting seminars I always teach that lighting is no different than picking up a brush and oil paint and creating a painting. School can teach you the mechanics of the art, and real world experience can show you the subtleties of the art, but the ability at the art must be inherently in you. Not every one can light just as not everyone can paint. And while you can learn to paint, the final result is about how your brain thinks and your ability to translate a picture in your mind properly to canvas just as lighting is about translating a picture in your head to film or video.


Walter Graff
BlueSky Media, Inc.
888.435.5428 ext 31
Cell 917.217.9766
walter@bluesky-web.com
www.bluesky-web.com
Offices in NYC and Amherst Mass.

Hi Josef,

Here is a link to training dvd which I found was very good.

http://www.elitevideo.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=60

Claim:

I am just a customer of EliteVideo and bought a lot of training dvd from them in the past.

Regards
Leigh

I learned a lot of valuable fundamentals from a series of instructional books written by Dean Collins.

Collins passed away this February but he published a wealth of material on how to deal with a wide range of subjects: from models, to wristwatches and cars.

While he specialized in lighting for still photography, the basics apply to any type of visual arts.

I am not an expert at lighting. I’m just learning like yourself but I did buy three training DVD’s that helped a lot. They are (in the order I got them):

Light It Right (http://www.vasst.com/product.aspx?id=d36b1c4e-0bad-4e52-ae18-51b10f22fcfd) – VASST
The Head Shot (http://www.bluesky-web.com/dvd1headshot.htm) – Walter Graff
Digital Lighting Magic (http://www.elitevideo.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=60) – Elite Video

I work for VASST so I didn’t pay for that one ;-) but if you need a general overview of lighting with specifics on interview lighting, product lighting, board room lighting, podium speaker lighting, greenscreen lighting, etc. this is an outstanding DVD for the money. Vic Milt has eons of experience to draw on and he gives a lot of insight into why he uses each light and places his lights where he does. Walter’s DVD is excellent too if all you need is to learn interview lighting (which is what I primarily do). You get to watch him work, which for me is the real value. Watching a master at work is the only way to learn the how’s and why’s not just the what’s. Finally, Elite Video’s DVD kind of fills in the rest. They take a very particle approach and show you how to get great lighting with a minimal investment in lights. They take you behind the scenes of the set so you can see how the lights are set up and then view the final shot. Lots of value for the money there.

I’m sure there are other good lighting DVD’s around but I found all of these to be excellent. Each one added a little more to my knowledge but as Walter points out, you will not learn anything until you try it for yourself. You may THINK you got it, but then you try it and it doesn’t look quite right and you pull out the DVD and watch it again and see things you didn’t see the first time (because you were focused on a general understanding and not particulars the first time you watched it). So having training DVD’s that you can go back to and watch again are an invaluable way of increasing your knowledge on a topic. Watch it, try it, watching again, try it again, repeat!

~jr

hey John, what is meant by Nano Lighting? the one dvd comes with plans to build a Nano light kit.

Nano lights are Vic’s invention and they are about $75 to make. There is a complete assembly tutorial on the DVD and they give the equivalent of a 600w softbox. He uses them throughout the video so you can see them in action. Quite impressive. Vic actually uses two stacks of them to light a greenscreen for chroma key and the light is very consistent across the screen.

~jr

The other nano light is a bunch of dimmable fluorescents inside a chinese lantern. Because fluorescents run cool, you can put a bunch of them inside the lantern (which you can't do with incandescents).

I'm actually pretty handy. You should see the dolly that I made. but with these Nano lights (soft boxes) I just bet there is sewing involved. I don't know much about sewing. John, (off topic) I see that you are pretty involved with Sony Acid. I am going to get that program soon. It is just incredible what you can do these days (been said a million times before) but I am still in awe of the "creative power" that every one can have now with video and music.

but with these Nano lights (soft boxes) I just bet there is sewing involved.I promise there is no sewing in the making of a nano light. It does use lots of gaffers tape (but what great design doesn’t?) ;-)

ACID is just incredible. I’m a musician so I can’t say how easy it is for just anyone to use but lots of vidographers tell me that they find it very easy to use. I am just amazed at all the virtual instruments that you can buy these days. I’ve got a bunch of rack mount MIDI hardware in my basement that I never use anymore. I also still have my Tascam 80-8 ½ inch 8-track tape deck. Who needs that stuff with programs like ACID and Vegas?

When you get it, if you need help let me know. If you need lots of help, buy my book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1578202663/). :-D

~jr

If you are in NY on the 28th and 29th of this month Jan 06' I have a few spots open for a great seminar I have been giving:

http://www.bluesky-web.com/location-jan05.htm

And I have for more DVD's in my series coming out in February 06 that teach dramatic style lighting on a budget and don't break the bank. Click link and scroll down to the bottom.

http://www.bluesky-web.com/dvd1headshot.htm

I totally underline what Johnny says. Vic Milt's book is essential. Walter's web tutorials are amazing. PLUS, attend any trade shows that provide a host of tutorials. Here in the UK I must have learnt my the majority of "confidence" making lighting decision making.

.. oh yeah go study the master painters: Rembrandt, Holbein and any of the Dutch and Italian masters. You wont look at the Godfather series in the same way any more.

Grazie

Hey, I just realized where I learned lighting! I couldn't remember the site, but I knew right away when I re-visited it tonight that it was Walter Graff's site that I looked at that finally got me to finally put all the pieces together.

http://www.bluesky-web.com/new-page6.html

Thanks, Walter!

I think what allowed me to really soak up what Walter instructs is the fact that I had played around enough with lighting to prep myself for learning. I think one must formulate questions first, then the answers fill in the empty slots in your brain and stay there. Walter's tutorials just made perfect sense and helped structure what I had already observed. Now, I can more directly make things look like I want instead of randomly trying things until the image is "not bad".

My suggestion to everyone, get a few different lights and play around lighting for hours with a friend. Then, go to Walter's site and read all the tutorials. Finally, repeat the first step and see how much better it looks and how much easier it is to get the look you want.

Grazie, I like the idea to study classic painters. They were the first to have to figure out how light and shadow set a mood and feel with their subjects. No need to re-invent the wheel! Just look at the classics and figure out where the "lights" were placed. :)

I'll second (or third or fourth) the "learn on set" advice, when that's possible.

I learned some lighting as an art director for commercial still shoots... enough to get me fascinated. IMHO, the biggest difference between digital & film, regardless of still or motion? In a digital media, you pretty much know what you got, on-set. With film, there's that nerve-wracking wait for the lab, often with lots of dollars at stake (not just the stock, but other people's time, makeup, talent, etc).

"Study old master painters" is good advice, and to expand: study the things that fire up your own personal tastes & imagination. Fashion magazines, music videos, great cinematographers... try to emulate the looks you like on your own; I'm not an advocate for copying... starting off there may lead you down some fascinating paths, based on what gear you have available.

Personally, I don't think there's enough respect for "playing"; try to find time to experiment for fun, and leave yourself open to the unexpected. I spent many, many frustrating-yet-happy hours (and many hundreds of dollars) experimenting with tungsten film combined with lighting and lab effects. I can't tell you how many times I reached out to adjust or change something based on a polaroid (or in the video realm, an image on playback) and realized that even though it wasn't what I had set out for, it looked cool. Causing a 90 degree turn in direction as I tried to figure out, and then harness, the "mistake" into something useful.