Technical - Three Point Lighting (Group)

KEY TERMS 

Key Light: This is the main light. It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the screen. 

Fill Light: 

This is a secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. 

Back Light: 

This is placed behind the subject and lights in from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting, its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subjects outlines. 

 What Have We Learnt?

- The back light ensures that the image comes across as three dimensional, it does this by creating the outline of the subjects features. 

- It is very important to correctly position each light, as without doing so it could result in the subject appearing washed-out or like a flat 2D image.

- When arranging lights, it is best to place the key light first, as we can then position the remaining lights to "support" it. 

How Will We Use This?

-  We are considering deliberately removing fill light and key light to create a shadow of a character, lurking by a door, which will depict a mysterious element.

- It is in our best interest to plan our lighting around where we will situate our key light, as in most shots it will be our main source of light.

- We will change our positions of lighting throughout the opening, however, after looking into three point lighting, we saw the most efficient placement of key light will be 45 degrees to either side of the camera and about 45 degrees up from subject.