Lighting Basics and Colour Palette

Much of this information was derived from 'Digital Cinematography & Directing'

By Dan Ablan.

3 LIGHT SETUP

Most scenes in TV/Film use a 3 light setup for characters.

KEYLIGHT

This is the brightest light and is normally used to emulate a light source that is visible in the scene - lamps etc.

FILL LIGHT

Used to fill shadows cast by the keylight, usually softer and less intense than the keylight.

BACKLIGHT/ KICKER

Used to separate the subject from the background, add subtle highlights to the edges of the subject, and to add depth to the background.

A 'High Key' setup increases the intensity of the fill light to be similar to the keylight - normally a 1:1 or a 1:2 ratio. This setup is often seen in romantic comedies.

A 'Low Key' setup removes the fill light, or keeps it very dim - a 4:1 ratio or greater. This creates much harsher shadows and is often used in thrillers and suspense scenes as it implies the unknown in the shadows. The backlight may also be non-existent.

---

COLOUR PALETTE

Directors use colour palette to evoke an emotional response. Certain colours influence the audience in different ways.

COLOUR TEMPERATURE

White is almost never actually pure white. The human eye is continuously adjusting the white level balance, as do digital cameras.

Traditional film stock has a large influence on the white level and by extension the colour temperature of the image. Different lights can be used to change the white level to adjust the temperature to fit whatever style is wanted.

'Daylight' film stock has a colour temperature of around 5500 Kelvin.

Tungsten film is around 3200 Kelvin, you reach this balance by using tungsten lights.

When shooting using traditional film stock, the colour temperature reading has an inverse affect on the processed film stock. Amber tungsten stock becomes blue when exposed to natural daylight.

This mixing of colours is still relevant to more modern digital recordings as the camera will digitally record the colour temperature.

---

Using certain colours in a specific colour temperature can stand out, or be used to blend in. Humans naturally focus on the brightest part of an image, so this can be manipulated.

For example yellow is very prominent in a blue/green scene, so should be used carefully.

Cooler tones are typically used for isolated cold environments. Spielberg also uses this palette to push a sci-fi feel in AI and Minority Report.

Warmer tones are used in nostalgic happy environments. Francis Ford Coppola also used this in The Godfather Part II for scenes set in the past.