Light is what we work with. Infi nite and subtle in its variety, the quality of light is a life-long study. In order to shape it to our purposes, it is essential to understand the basic jobs it can do for us. Let’s review the fundamental building blocks of lighting, the basic elements with which we shape a scene.
The Basic Elements Key
The keylight is the main or predominant light on a subject. Not necessarily the brightest (the backlight is frequently hotter in intensity), it is the light that gives shape, form, and defi nition to the subject. If a person has only one light on
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him or her, that is by defi nition the key. Although we gener- ally think of the key as coming from somewhere in the front, there are many variations: side key, side-back key, cross key, and so on.
One way of thinking of the key is that it is usually the light that creates a shadow of the subject. There may be a key for the whole scene or a key for each object in it, or any combi- nation of these. In a moving shot, an actor may have several keys and move from one to the other.
Fill
The key, as a single defi ning source, may exist alone; but in most cases, the contrast between the lit areas and the shad- ows will be too great or the single-source look may not be appropriate for the shot. Any light that balances the keylight is referred to as the fi ll. Fill lights come in many varieties. Most glossaries will tell you that fi ll light is a soft light or usually placed near the camera on the opposite side from the key. Although these characterizations may apply for the most simplistic type of formula lighting, they simply are not true in all cases. The fi ll might be anything from an inkie with a snoot up to a 20 20 silk, and it might come from almost any angle.
Backlight
Backlight is any light that comes from behind the subject.
When backlight comes from almost directly overhead and high enough to get over the head and onto the face and nose, it is called a toplight. In most cases, a backlight that is too toppy will be avoided.
Backlight is a defi nite stylistic choice. Since it is usually an obviously artifi cial light, motivated light purists seldom use it except where it occurs naturally. It is also called a hairlight.
Kickers and Rims
A kicker is often confused with a backlight. A kicker is a light from behind the subject, but enough to the side so that it skims along the side of the face. Kickers are sometimes called 3兾4 backlights. A rim is similar to a kicker but doesn’t
come around onto the side of the face so much. It is more for creating a shape-defi ning outline.
Eyelight
A very specialized type of fi ll is the eyelight. Because eye sockets are recessed in the facial structure, the combination of key and fi ll that works best for the overall face may not reach deeply enough to give illumination to the eyes them- selves. Since it is extremely rare that we are willing to let the eyes go dark, no matter how shadowy and low the key is, it is often necessary to add some light for the eyes themselves.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
FIGURE 3.7 Basic lighting for a person, sometimes called “three- point” lighting. (a) Key only. (b) Key plus background light. (c) A backlight added. (d) With a kicker. (e) Key, background, backlight, kicker, and fi ll.
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FIGURE 3.8 Diagram of a typical three-point lighting setup. The name is a misnomer as there are actually more than three lights involved, even in the simplest setups. An overhead view (a) and from behind the camera (b).
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(a) (b) Background light Kicker Key light Fill light Background Backlight
Fill Light Kicker
Backlight Background Light Key Light Subject Background CH03-K80763.indd 46 CH03-K80763.indd 46 6/20/07 10:12:57 AM6/20/07 10:12:57 AM
An “Obie” light is any small lighting unit that is attached to the camera directly over the lens. Its name is derived from the beautiful actress Merle Oberon. It was discovered early in her career that this type of lighting was most complimentary to her facial structure. An Obie might be the key, the fi ll, or an eyelight, depending on the relative intensities of the other units.
Ambient
Ambient is just as the name implies, overall ambient.
Ambient is either an overall base on which we build or a general, directionless fi ll. Outdoors, the ambient might be the daylight refl ected from the sky and the surroundings. In a location room ambient might be an overall fi ll provided by bouncing a light onto a white ceiling.
(a)
(b)
FIGURE 3.9 (a) This soft light window scene combines two types of softlight: diff usion and bounce.
(b) Two 5K fresnels go through a
layer of heavy diff usion and then a 12 12 muslin cloth diff usion. A 2K fresnel unit is bounced into a white beadboard above the window to simulate the light from an overcast sky.
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