9 Steps to Lighting a Scene

Here is a step by step guide to the entire process of lighting a scene in a film as opposed to say an interview or a speech. This is once again via Lighting for Digital Video and Television by John Jackman.

1. Lay out a lighting diagram.

Here is where you blueprint your lighting decisions and lay out the fictional and real lighting sources on the set. You consider all the info that describes the scene, acquired from the script or via the director or production designer, and you plan out how you are going to light the scene.

2. Establish action, close-ups, and mood.

You must frame the main shots by establishing the main action of the scene and the mood. You'll have to liaise with the actors for this and get them to stand on their various marks.

3. Establish exposure.

Set an exposure on the camera depending on desired depth of field or possibly an uncontrollable light source and light to that.

4. Begin setting key lights.

Considering your diagram set appropriate keys. If for example you are shooting in a room with a central chandelier, keys should be pointed so they radiate out from the chandelier.

5. Watch for problem shadows.

To keep shadow problems to a minimum, keep actors well away from walls. Also look out for plants or other such shaped things that will cast oddly shaped shadows.

6. Create accent lighting.

This is any lighting that breaks up the flat featureless feel and ads realistic texture such as the light from a venetian blind or the flicker of a fire. It's not unusual to have unexplained dashes of light just to break up a boring wall.

7. Bring in fill.

This will all depend on the look you're going for. Don't worry about the fill being consistent across a set, light varies in different parts of real rooms anyway. Just make sure it bares logical relation to the imaginary lighting plan.

8. Add shadows.

Done with flags, nets and other lighting controls they direct the eye to brighter areas of the picture usually the human face. Or to not draw attention to an area of the picture.

9. Control hot spots.

What with the inverse square law and actors moving, unexpected hot spots can pop up. To combat this carefully placed nets or a scrim can solve the problem.