Transcripts
1. Class Introduction: Hello everyone. My name is Scott Baker and I began in the film
industry in 2009, working on major
films and TV shows, while also directing
my own short films, documentaries, and music videos. If you've taken any of my other classes
than welcome back. If this is your first time, then it's great to have you. In this class. We're going to dive right in, starting with a more
in-depth look at some of the more advanced settings and tools that are
cameras offer. Because if we want to get
the most out of our camera, we need to fully
understand things like reading a histogram or
what dynamic range is. From there, we will learn about the different types
of lens filters that can create interesting looks and help us in difficult
lighting situations, especially neutral density
filters and polarizers. And after that, we will spend time expanding our
knowledge of lighting. Things like low-light conditions or the difference between
hard and soft light, will also learn how to do it with a minimal to
no lighting kit. The material in this
class comes from my hands-on experience
in the industry. And it's designed with easy to follow diagrams and graphics. Tutorial videos explaining
not just how to do things, but why we do them. And best of all, you'll learn from real-life
examples and go behind the scenes with me to see exactly how these
films were created. So without any further
talking, let's get started.
2. What is Dynamic Range?: You've probably heard
lots of photographers, filmmakers and camera
enthusiasts in general talk about
dynamic range. If you're unsure of
what exactly that is, it's the difference between the darkest and the lightest
tones of the image. However, most of the time when people are
talking about it, they're referring to the
maximum dynamic range a camera is capable of. In plain terms, how well a camera's sensor
can capture light. More specifically, how well a camera can
capture the details in the shadows and highlights of
an image at the same time. Dynamic range is
measured in stops, and the human eye can
see up to 24 stops. While most cameras only have
a range of about 12 to 14. This is why we can look at a
scene or landscape and see a sunny blue sky as well as all the details
in the foreground. Whether the foreground
is buildings or people. But when we try to capture
the same scene on camera, we have to either
properly expose the sky, Meaning losing detail in the
shadows of the foreground, or we properly expose the foreground and lose
details in the sky. Therefore, cameras that have a larger dynamic range are
more versatile because they're better at
recording images that have higher contrast between
the light and the dark. Why is this important? Because by understanding
what dynamic range is, the specific dynamic
range of our camera, we can work within these
limits to make sure we capture the best looking
footage and images possible. Dynamic range can be
different from camera to camera because it's determined
by the camera's sensor. Dslr and mirrorless
cameras tend to have higher dynamic ranges than
compact cameras or phones. And one of the main reasons
is the size of the sensor. Because the bigger the sensor, the more information
it can record, which results in a
better dynamic range.
3. Reading a Histogram... It's Quite Easy: First of all, a
histogram is a graph that represents the
pixels in an image. The left side of the graph represents the blacks
or dark areas, and the right side represents the whites or the bright areas. And the middle section
represents the mid tones. 0 equals pure black and
255 equals pure white. A quick look at a histogram can tell us if our
footage is under, over or well exposed. In a perfect scenario, the graph should touch the left and right edges
of the histogram, but it doesn't
spill up the site. The graph should also have
a nice arch in the center. A histogram that
looks similar to this would indicate a
well exposed image. The arch is the
important part to watch if it shifted to one side
or the other. That's okay. In this example, we can see that it is
shifted to the left, but there's still white
and black along the edge. The same with this image, which is shifted to the right, but still has white and
black along the edge. All this means is
that the mid tones of the image are either a bit
darker or a bit brighter, but still properly exposed. When the arch shifts too far to one side and does not
touch the other edge. That is when we have problems. In this example, there
is a large gap on the left side and its
edge is completely white, indicating the image
is lacking any black, meaning the image is
going to be too bright. This example is the opposite. There's a large gap on the right side and the
edge is completely white, indicating that the image is
lacking any whites in turn, meaning it's going
to be too dark. We may also see
what's called spikes, which will touch the
top edge of the graph. This is also called clipping. If this happens, it means
there's been a loss of detail and the clipped areas are often very hard to recover, especially in the
highlights of an image. When this happens, we need to make adjustments to our settings or to the composition of the image to bring
this spike down. Another way to help us see exactly which parts
of the image are overexposed by using a setting
called Peking or zebras. This setting will make
any overexposed areas of the image flash or show a black and white striped
pattern when previewing the shot on the camera screen
or an external monitor. Hence the name zebra.
4. White Balance & Colour Temperature: Before we discuss creating our own custom white
balance settings, we first need to understand
color temperature. Color temperature is measured in degrees Kelvin and
represented by the letter k. This scale runs from about
2 thousand to 13,000. K being the weakest light and 11 thousand k being
the strongest. Think of 2 thousand kelvin
being represented by a candle with warm
red and orange tones. And as the temperature goes up, the color of the light
transitions through the color spectrum into
blue and white tones. 11 thousand K, which is basically the sun and
will be pure white. Instead of always adjusting
white balance settings. Why not just let auto
white balance do its job? If the lighting in the scene
is consistent throughout, then this can work. But auto white balance
will struggle when there's multiple light sources that have significant temperature
differences and they're mixed together. For example, a room with
fluorescent lights, which give off a green tone. But there's also daylight
coming in through the windows which
have a blue tone. If this happens, auto
white balance will try to correct for
both and ends up falling somewhere in
the middle and not giving a proper balance
for either light source. If we find ourselves
in a situation where auto white balance or the
other presets don't work. Then we'll have to manually WIP balance
the camera ourselves. I'll demonstrate this
on my Sony DSLR. So keep in mind that the menus
may look a bit different, but the process
remains the same. And it's actually much
easier than you may think. Once the scene is lit
and ready to film. Go into the menu settings
and select white balance. Then scroll through to
find the custom presets. On some cameras, you
may have to select the Custom Preset first
and then set its balance. For this Sony camera, I'll select the set option. The next step is to
set the white balance. And for this, I highly recommend picking up a set of these
white balance cards. There's small and inexpensive. If you don't have these cards, a piece of white
paper can also work. Or find a neutral color in
the scene, such as gray. Snap a photo to see the result. Then select the custom
preset to save it under. We can then choose which
custom setting we want to use. We will set it to custom
setting number one. Then if we go into the menu, we see that custom one is set to 3200 K. After doing that, if you're not quite
happy with the result, feel free to
experiment by choosing different shades to set
the white balance to. But keep within the black
and white spectrum. Using an object that's
blue or red will dramatically change the look
in a very unnatural way. That's because the camera
will think the light in the scene is all
red or all blue. And we'll correct for
that by balancing it with the opposite color
on the color wheel.
5. Vignettes / Aberrations / X-Pattern: Before we get started
learning about the different types of
filters and how to use them. I want to first discuss a few technical
terms that will make the following lessons
easier to understand. The first one we'll discuss, you may have already heard
of it's called vignetting. Vignetting is when
the corners of an image fade darker than
the rest of the image. This is a popular effect you
may have used on Instagram. And maybe you think this
could be an interesting look. But if this occurs
while filming, it will be impossible
to fix in editing. The only option will be to
crop the photo or the footage. However, as you've
seen in Instagram, it's extremely easy
to add this effect. It's best to avoid
having this happen to the original
footage or photos. Vignetting is also more likely to happen
when using variable and Ds or when using NDAs
on a wide-angle lens. Or especially if you do
a combination of both. It might sound cool, but the X pattern is
not something you ever wanted appearing in
your footage or your photos. You'll know you have this
problem because you'll see a darkened area in the shape of an X right across the
middle of the image. This pattern is usually
caused by rotating a variable ND filter past
its maximum setting. Using a variable and D with a wide angle lens can also increase the chances
of this happening. But by adjusting
the focal length and or your position
to the subject. These are two ways to fix this. If it doesn't work, then you will have to
reduce the ND setting. Another thing to be
cautious of when using filters is stacking. Stacking filters is when you add more than one filter to
the lens at the same time. An example, adding
multiple ND filters or combining a macro
filter with a polarizer. Although it can be
very useful to solve difficult lighting situations or to create some really
interesting looks. Stacking too many filters forces the light to pass through
more glass elements, which can reduce the image
quality through loss of sharpness or other
aberrations in the image. Another term you'll hear in the following lessons is
chromatic aberration, also known as color fringing. This kind of distortion creates a colorful outline along the edges of objects
in our image. It usually appears where there's high contrast between
light and dark objects. An example, being a dark object with a bright sky
as its background, using higher-quality lenses is the best way to prevent this. But we can also
avoid this by using higher focal lengths
and higher apertures.
6. UV Filters and Their New Purpose: The purpose of a UV filter is to block out ultraviolet light. Old photography film stocks, we're very sensitive
to UV light. And if you didn't
use the filter, your photos would end
up with a blue haze. However, modern film stocks and digital sensors just aren't as sensitive to
UV light anymore. Instead, these filters
have picked up a secondary use to protect the sensitive glass of
our lenses from dust, dirt, water, and scratches. Some filmmakers
and photographers prefer not to use them because the added layer of
glass can cause a very minimal reduction
in image sharpness. And the occasional lens
flare or ghosting. If you feel the same and you choose to film
without a UV filter, just take extra care
with your lenses to avoid anything that may
come in contact with them. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have them
on hand to quickly add in case you find yourself in a scenario where
there may be debris, dirt, rain, sand,
or anything else flying around that could possibly come into
contact with the lens. For example, when I'm
filming live concerts, I always have a filter on. But for controlled environments
such as an interview, I will remove the filter.
7. Polarizers, Why They're Essential: Just about every
program has tools to easily adjust
saturation and contrast. Some even have D hazing tools, but none so far have the ability to
effectively fixed glare, reflections or lens flares. So if you don't want those
appearing in your footage, it's important to
have the right tools. And a polarizer filter
is one of those tools. When it comes to reflections, glare, Hayes and
scattered light. Polarizers can reduce
their presence and even eliminate them if
they aren't too strong. Another effect they
have and something I really like as a
personal preference, is that they boost the
saturation and the contrast. Polarizers are most useful
when filming water, snow through glass or any
other reflective surfaces. I especially like using
them when filming outside and want to capture
beautiful footage of the sky or water. Notice how it brings out
more detail in the clouds. And it boosts the
saturation of the sky. Being able to better control the strength of the
reflections from the water, we're able to see more detail. And again, that saturation boost makes the footage
look much better. First, we need to
understand how they work. Please be patient as I'm
about to get a bit nerdy, but trust me, it's worth. Lightwaves reflect in
different directions when it hits uneven surfaces. Polarizer works by stopping some of those lightwaves
from entering your lens and only allowing light to enter from
certain directions. And because of this, it is also allowing
in less light. Combine these two factors and it will also
affect the colors. But how does the filter do this? Well, these filters
have a dichroic coding. Dichroic meaning showing
different colors when viewed from
different directions. This coding is made
up of molecules that are lined up facing
in one direction. Because the filter is constructed with two
layers of glass, were able to rotate the filter while it's
attached to our lens. And when we do this, it changes the direction of the lines in the
filters coding. In turn, blocking out light
from different directions. As we rotate the filter, we can see how the
image changes. Using a polarizer filter. We can't just screw it on and
think that we're ready to go with every new shot
or change in lighting, will have to adjust
the filter until we find that sweet spot
that works best. Polarizers are a very useful
tool to have in your kit. If you don't already have one, I highly recommend
getting one from there. Have fun testing it out. The best way to learn and get a hands-on understanding is to go out and photograph
landscapes, preferably on sunny days. Take the same photo width, the filter, and without the
filter to see the difference. Just as I have done
for this lesson.
8. ND Filters and How They Level Up Your Skills: Neutral density filters, or more commonly referred
to as ND filters. Their purpose is to reduce
the amount of light entering the camera without
affecting the colors, contrast, or sharpness
of the image. They're like sunglasses
for our lens, but not fancy sunglasses that changed the
color of things, hence the word neutral. Well, ND filters are
labeled in many ways. The most common is
the ending number, often written as n D2
and D4 eight and so on. An AND2 filter allows half
of all light through it. An MD4 filter allows a fourth of all the
light through it. And an NDA eight
allows an eighth of all the light to pass
through and so on. We can see in this chart, every n d stop
cuts the amount of light in half from the
previous Andy stop. For every n d stop light is reduced by one f-stop
on our aperture. Meaning if we add an MD4 that will reduce
the light by two stops. One, we see the image
gets much darker. What that does is allows us to open our aperture by two stops from 5.612 to 2.8. We see there we have the
exact same exposure, but a slightly shallower
depth of field. Or if the shutter
speed is set to 250, we can lower it to 60 to
get the same exposure. Now if we adjust our ND
filter by two stops, we can see it gets
substantially darker. Based on that flashing
exposure meter, we know that it is underexposed. But what this allows us to do is adjust our shutter speed from 250 down two stops to 60. Which once again gives us
that same good exposure. And in this case, we are also
now double our frame rate in accordance with the
180 degree shutter rule. Now you may have noticed that as I adjusted
the shutter speed, I went down more
than two settings. We'll see that from 250 goes to two hundred one hundred and sixty one hundred
and twenty-five. However, each of
these settings does not count as a full stop. Full stop is double. If you're going up or half
if you're going down, which is why in this case, going from 250 down to
125 counts as one-stop. And from 125 down to
60 is another stop. Nd filters are most useful
in bright conditions. When we want to have a
shallow depth of field, match our shutter speed to the frame rate or to
capture motion blur. But we're unable to do
so because the light, most often the sun is
too bright and will cause the footage of the
photos to be overexposed. If we change the settings
to get good exposure, we lose the desired effect. For example, we want
a shallow depth of field to separate our
subject from the background. But it's too bright
and we already have the ISO as
low as it can go. So we either use a really
high shutter speed, which can make the
footage look choppy, or we use a higher aperture. But this means we lose that
shallow depth of field. By adding an ND filter, which cuts down the
amount of light. It allows us to lower the
aperture or the shutter speed to achieve the look we want without overexposing
the footage. For photographers, this
affects the shutter speed. The best example
being moving water. If we raise the shutter
speed to get good exposure, the motion blur is lost. But with an ND filter added, we can lower the shutter
speed and capture motion blur while still
properly exposing the image, giving the water that soft blur.
9. Variable ND's & Gradients: Now that we understand
how ND filters work, why we use them, and how to use them. Let's take a quick look
at two different types, starting with gradient filters. Gradient ND filter,
also called a, G and D, is quite simple. This filter
transitions from light to dark and is often
used to balance the exposure in an
image that contains high contrast between
bright and dark sections. Perfect example of this is a bright sky and a
dark foreground. By matching the transition
of the filter to the horizon or wherever the
harsh light change occurs, it better balances the
exposure of the overall image. When it comes to gradients. Most people prefer
a square filter because it's easier to
adjust the transition area. And that's because the filter is larger than the
diameter of the lens. The second type is a
variable ND filter. These are very
popular because they give us the ability
to precisely choose the intensity of the
filter simply by turning the outer ring
two different settings. The maximum and
minimum and D setting will change depending
on the type of filter. But the two stop to eight stop variety is
the most popular. The advantage of the
variable ND filter is that it's like having multiple
Andy's attached at once. For example, an ND two to five allows
us to switch between four levels of
neutral density in a matter of seconds simply
by rotating the ring. Being able to make
these adjustments quickly is perfectly
when filming concerts, weddings, or other live events. But like any piece of equipment, even something as awesome
as a variable ND, it does have its disadvantages
because of the design. As we rotate to the
maximum and the setting, we can sometimes get that
X pattern we talked about. The other issue is
with vignetting. Both vignetting and
the X pattern are issues that can be fixed
by dialing the ND, setting back a little bit, and then adjusting the other
settings on our camera to compensate in order to
still get a good exposure. The other option, which
is what I've done, is purchased two filters. One that is an N d2, five, and the second that is
an NDC six to nine. Going with two filters won't
eliminate these issues 100%, but it does reduce
them significantly. When it comes to choosing which kind of ND filter
is best for you. It really depends
on what kind of filmmaker or
photographer you are. For live event filmmakers, I suggest variable and Ds, ranging from two to nine. If you're filming music
videos, narrative films, or documentaries, I suggest a set of square filters
with a Mapbox setup. Photographers. I'd go
with variable Andes. Or if you do long exposure
and night sky photography, then the higher end D's in the range of 32 to one
hundred ten hundred. Those will help you capture those stunning night skies best. Whatever kind of ND filters
you decide are best for you. One thing is for sure there are a very important piece
of equipment to have an understand in
order to take your film-making and photography
to the next level.
10. Macro Filters, Let's Take a Closer Look: Before we go into detail
about macro filters, Let's take a quick
look at the lens. You'll see that on the
focus ring of every lens, there's a minimum focusing
distance at one end. And the other end is
usually an infinity symbol. As we know, the lower
the focal length, the closer we can be to a subject and still
be able to get focus. This 85 millimeter has
a minimum distance of 1.1 meters or about 3.5 feet. Whereas the 35-millimeter has a minimum focusing distance of 0.7 in meters or about one foot. If the subject is closer to the lens than the minimum
distance indicated, it will be impossible to focus. Minimal focal length
on a 35-millimeter is one foot or 0.3 meters. As we see here with my hand. If we try to focus on my
fingers, it is impossible. Bring in the macro filter. Essentially what a
macro filter does is reduce the lenses focal length, in turn, reducing the
minimum focusing distance. These filters are available in a range of water
called diopters. If you wear glasses, you might recognize this term because it's also used to
describe the amount of positive or negative
magnification that's needed for I corrections. But because we want
to amplify the image, macro filters are only
described in positive numbers, such as plus one
plus two plus four, going all the way
up to plus ten. The higher the number,
the more magnification. We can also stack these numbers to increase
the magnification. But remember, as light
passes through more glass, the quality of the image
will start to decrease. It's also worth mentioning that when using a macro filter, we won't be able to
focus to infinity. Macro filters are
constructed in two ways. Single element and
double element. Single element filters are
significantly cheaper, but also produce
lower-quality images. Most often, this lower-quality results in less sharpness
along the edges of an image. Or as chromatic aberration along the edges of
elements within the image. If you find this is happening, it can usually be avoided
by using a higher aperture. But if you want to have full freedom with your
lens and the aperture, then a double element filter is what you need on these filters. The second element is
actually designed to correct the defects
of the first element. These filters may
also be referred to as achromatic filters. With all close-up work, the depth of field will shrink the closer the camera
is to the subject. With some macro filters, it can even be reduced to
just a few millimeters. In this case, you'll likely
want to use a tripod or adjust your aperture to
increase the depth of field. Quality. Macro lens
can be expensive. But if you are a photographer
and macro photography is your niche or you do product filmmaking for things
such as jewelry or food, then it's worth investing
in a specialty macro lens. But if it's not in your budget or it's not something
you'll use often. Than macro filters may be
the best option for you.
11. Filter Shapes, Sizes, & Rings... Oh My!: When buying filters, you'll
also notice they come in two shapes,
square and circular. At first, this may not seem
like a big difference, but there are advantages
and disadvantages to both. Let's take a look. Square filters slide into an adapter that attaches
to the end of the lens. And they're great because
they can be used on any lens regardless of its size. They can also be stacked easily. Because the square filters are wider than the
diameter of the lens, there's significantly
less chance of vignetting or that X pattern. However, they are more fragile. Take longer to set up, take up more space, and there's less options when shopping for
variable and Ds. Circular filters
are more durable. They take up less space and
are quick and easy to set up. And they have lots of options when choosing
variable and Ds. However, they are
more susceptible to aberrations such as the X
pattern and vignetting. And because they come
in specific sizes, the only fit the lenses
with the matching diameter. However, step-up
and step-down rings can easily solve this problem. If you choose to go
with circular filters, then my suggestion is to
buy the larger filters because they can always be used on smaller diameter lenses. If you use the step up ranks. Whereas if we put a smaller
filter on a larger lens, if the difference is too much, the filter will cut off
the corners of the image. What are these rings I've
now mentioned a few times. Well, they're basically
just adapters that allow us to attach
a circular filters, two lenses with
different diameters when using these rings. The first number is what
will screw into the lens, and the second number will
screw into the filter. Every filter will indicate the diameter somewhere
along its frame. And to find the
diameter of your lens, most will have it
printed on the inside of the lens cap or
somewhere on the lens. And it's represented
by this symbol. The setup I have is a perfect example of what
I've just described. I have a variable
ND two to five, and its diameter
is 82 millimeters, but the lens is 77. In this case, I have
to use a step up ring because the
first number matches the lens diameter of 77 and the second number matches
the filter at 82. Meaning I'm stepping up a size. If the difference in diameters cannot be matched with one ring, then you'll have to
use multiple rings. So it's best to
buy an entire set, especially since they
are not that expensive.
12. Getting Good Exposure: First, why is it
called exposure? It's because every time
the shutter opens, the camera's sensor is
being exposed to light. And to know what a
properly exposed image is, we need to first understand what causes underexposure,
overexposure. And we must be able
to recognize it. An underexposed image occurs when not enough light
hits the camera sensor, resulting in the image
looking to dark. When this happens,
details will get lost in the shadows and the
darkest areas of the image. And can often make
it difficult to separate the foreground
from the background. An easy way to create an
underexposed image is by using a high shutter speed
and a high aperture together. An overexposed
image happens when too much light hits the sensor
and it looks washed out. Although it's easier to see the background and foreground, details of the image still blend together and can get lost in
the highlights of the image. An easy way to make
this happen is to use a low aperture and a low shutter speed when
in bright conditions. Now that we
understand those two, Let's take a look at a
properly exposed image, which is basically finding a nice balance between
the other two. It's not too bright
and it's not too dark. There are two quick ways to
check this on your camera. First is by using
the exposure meter. If the market is too
far to the right, it means the image
will be overexposed. Too far to the left. It will be underexposed and
0 being the optimal spot. But that doesn't mean that it always has to
be exactly at 0. With most cameras, as long
as you're within this range, the image will have
good exposure. But if the meter is flashing, then you've definitely
gone too far to one side and will either overexposed
or underexposed the image. The second way is by
looking at the histogram. As we know, the three settings
that decide our exposure, our aperture, shutter
speed, and ISO. Aperture controls
how much light is. Let in. A smaller f-stop number equals larger iris opening,
meaning more light. A larger F-stop number
means less light. Shutter speed controls
how long light is let in. It's measured in
fractions of a second. So a smaller setting
such as 130th, means the shutter is open
longer, allowing more light. And a larger number, such as 1 500th, we're letting less light. Iso is how sensitive the
camera's sensor is to light. A smaller number
means it is less sensitive and will
need more light. And a larger number
means it is more sensitive and will need less light to get a
properly exposed image. Two important
things to remember. First, that natural sunlight is the strongest kind of light. And second, the higher
the ISO is set, the more grain, also known as
noise the image might have. Depending on the
lighting conditions of the location that
we're filming in. We'll have to adjust
these three settings in different combinations in order to achieve the desired exposure. But before we begin
playing with settings, let's find a good
starting point. To do that, we must first
select our frame rate. For this example, we'll
select 24 frames per second, which is the common frame
rate used for cinema. Next, we choose
the shutter speed. And if we follow the 180
degrees shutter rule, we must select a shutter speed that's double our frame rate. We chose 24 frames per second. And since there is no 48
frames per second option, we can choose 50 and
that will do just fine. Then for the best quality, we want to choose our
cameras base ISO, for my camera that's 200. But each make and model
can be different. So find out what your
camera's base ISO is and set it accordingly. Lastly, we choose
our aperture and we choose a setting based on the depth of field that we want. Now the chances of
following these steps and the footage being exactly
what we want are quite small. So from here, we must assess each situation and decide
what adjustments we can make that will give
us the best image quality as well as the desired look
we want the shot to have.
13. A Few Exposure Examples: For instance, we're filming a fast-paced sport outside
and don't want Motion Blur. First, we'll have to
set the shutter speed higher to eliminate
that motion blur. And if it's a sunny day, we'll have lots of light. We can also use a
higher aperture, which will also increase
the depth of field. If it's still too bright, then we can add an ND filter. Now, what if we want
more depth of field? Then we need to
increase our aperture. But as we do this, the image gets darker. So to fix this, we would first remove the ND
filter if we've applied it. And then we can adjust the
ISO sensitivity if needed, while also trying to keep it as close to our base
ISO as possible. If we're filming sports at night and don't
want motion blur, will have to open the aperture
by lowering the f-stop, which will reduce
the depth of field. If we don't want the depth of field to be too
small and narrow, then we may have to increase the ISO sensitivity if there's
still isn't enough light. But what if we're filming
live music in a dark setting, then maybe a bit of motion
blur is okay to have. In this case, we can
lower the shutter speed instead of adjusting the
ISO or the aperture. For concerts, There's
also the possibility of adding more light to help
achieve better exposure. Now imagine we're filming
an interview inside and using practical lights instead of outside using the sunlight, then we will have much
less light than outside. But now we have more
control over the light. And because there's
very little movement, we don't have to worry
about motion blur. And we can now reduce
our shutter speed to the lowest setting possible
based on our frame rate. In this case, a shutter speed
of 50 frames per second. After that, we'll choose the appropriate aperture to give us the depth
of field we want. And finally, if needed, we can adjust the ISO. As you can see, there's seemingly endless
combinations that we can use to properly
expose our footage. It just depends on what
we're filming and the look we want to achieve that determines how we've
set our aperture, shutter speed and our ISO.
14. Shooting in Extremely Dark Scenarios: When we find
ourselves filming in low-light scenarios such
as indoor concerts, wedding receptions, or
just filming at nighttime. As we just learned, we risk the footage
being underexposed. We know that having
enough light hitting the camera sensor is the
most important thing. When we find ourselves in
extremely dark scenarios, we need to allow as much light into the camera as possible. And there are ways to do this, instead of simply just
increasing the ISO really high, making our footage
look grainy and noisy. Once again, follow the a
180 degrees shutter rule and set the shutter
speed to at least double the frame rate
or higher depending on the action and level of motion blur
you're comfortable with. For rock and roll concerts, we don't want to set it too
low because of motion blur. But for something slower paced, it can work just fine because there's very
little movement. But in extremely low
lights scenarios will most likely want the shutter speed
as low as it can go according to the 180
degrees shutter rule. If it's a decision
between a bit of motion blur or
being underexposed. I'll take the little
bit of motion blur. You may feel differently
and that's okay as long as you understand the
decision you're making and why you're making it. Next, we want to
open the aperture as much as needed or as
much as possible. Remember, the lower
the aperture number, the smaller the depth
of field that will have if the depth of field
becomes too shallow. One way to balance this is by
using a lower focal length, which gives us wider shots and increases the
depth of field. Keep in mind that prime
lenses can achieve larger apertures of
1.8 and even 1.4, which zoom lenses cannot do. If you find you're filming in
low-light scenarios often, I highly recommend getting a 24 millimeter or
35-millimeter prime lens. Or if you can get both. If you are using a zoom
lens in these scenarios, then it's best to keep the focal length as
wide as possible. Not only will it provide
more depth of field, as we just mentioned, but more importantly,
it will allow the lens to use the largest
aperture setting that it has. If you're filming indoors, see if there's any light sources that you can set up nearby, such as Windows or existing lamps that you
can add to the shot. If shooting outdoors
at nighttime, make use of street lights, lights from cars, buildings, and even the moonlight. So long as it makes sense that these light sources
are in the shot, according to the story
that you're telling. If you have a lighting kit at your disposal and a talented dp, then there's no reason your
footage should ever be under or overexposed unless you mean for it to be that way. If you don't have a lighting kit because
you're filming on the go, or have a very small budget, then these are two things
you should have with you on every shoot that can
make a big difference. A 51 reflector kit, which allows you to bounce, block, or diffuse the light. And the second is a small pocket light with adjustable
color temperature. It's perfect for
adding fill light to dark areas and backgrounds, or in small areas that larger lights can't fit
into, such as vehicles. All we're doing here, setting
up this little pocket light just along the dashboard
behind the steering wheel. It can fit in such
a tiny little spot. And this is all we need in
order to get that added bit of light to illuminate the
subject inside the vehicle. If we also kill the
lights from the vehicle. Now, this is the result.
15. Shooting in Extremely Bright Scenarios: On the other end
of the spectrum, letting in too much light
can also cause us problems. When this happens, the
footage is overexposed. It can also be referred to as being blown out or washed out. This usually happens when
filming outdoors on sunny days, especially if we're filming near water or in snow because of
how reflective they are. Sometimes adjusting our
three exposure settings can solve this if it's
a low contrast image. Meaning everything in the
frame is a lighter in color and there are
no hard shadows. As soon as there is a higher contrast
with darker objects, you'll see that when they
are properly exposed, the background loses detail
because it's too bright. And if we expose the
background properly, then our subject
loses detail because they are too dark
or silhouetted. How do we solve this problem? First, we want to drop the
ISO to the cameras base ISO. After that, we can choose a high shutter speed
or a higher aperture, or a combination of both. If we still can't
achieve the shot we want after adjusting
these settings, then we'll have to use
some external tools. As we learned in
the filter section, we know that we can
add a polarizer to help bring out the details
and colors of the sky. We can also use ND filters, which will allow us to open
up the aperture and achieve smaller depth of field if we want to blur or soften
the background. There are also some very
simple and inexpensive things that we can do to manipulate
the light itself, such as using our 51 reflector. Using the white side, we can bounce light
onto subjects to eliminate or soften shadows. The silver side can
add the most light, while the gold side creates
a warm amber light. The diffuser softens Hard Light and spreads it more
evenly over the subject. And the black side will block
out any unwanted light. The idea of bouncing, blocking and
diffusing light is to help balance the light in
the image so that it's more even because
a lower contrast makes it easier to get
a balanced exposure. Other things to be aware
of are where we position the camera and the subject
in relation to the sun. Don't have the subject
facing the sun. This takes away depth from the shot and the subject
ends up looking flat. It can also cause them to
constantly squint and blink. When filming against the sun. Be aware of your focal length. Using wider lenses are more
susceptible to lens flares. While having a tighter
shot can help reduce them. When deciding how to
best expose the footage. Always choose the brightest
spot of the person's face to properly expose and use
that as the starting point. It's best to have the main focus of the
shot properly exposed. Viewers will forgive
us or not even notice if there are some
underexposed parts. But they will definitely
notice if there's a distracting white spot or
glare on the person's face. Filming in shady areas is
always another option. However, depending on the
content of what you're filming, it may not work, but it is worth considering as another or as a last option. Another general guideline to
remember is that if you're stuck between having to over or underexposed
part of the image. It's always better to have an underexposed foreground then an overexposed background. And that's because
the background will usually take up more of the frame. There you have it. What can cause overexposure
and how we can work around it to make sure we still
get high-quality footage. Even when we don't have the luxury of a
full lighting kit.
16. 3 - Point Lighting: First we'll start
with the key light, which is the main source
that lights are subject. And the fill light is used
to balance the lighting from the key light by softening or eliminating any shadows
on the subject, followed by the back-light, which helps to separate
the subject from the background into
achieve this setup. Let's look at this diagram. The key light is placed
in front of a subject and off to the side at about
roughly 45 degrees, shines directly on the subject. If filming outside with natural light than the sun
will be our key light. The fill light will mirror the key light and also
shine on the subject, but it's not as bright. And if you're using just
natural light than using a reflector to bounce the
light works as a fill light. And the backlight is
placed behind the subject, pointing it there back to create a rim of light around them. This helps separate them
from the background. To go one step further, we can make it a
four-point setup by adding a fourth light to
illuminate the background, which adds more
depth to the shot. The three-point setup is
ideal for interviews, but isn't a mandatory rule, especially when filming a
narrative film or music video. When filming
interviews, it's always a good idea to keep
this technique in mind, but feel free to
get creative and make adjustments to find
the look that you want.
17. Front vs Back Lighting: When lighting a subject
using front lighting, it provides a very
clean and clear image, but it often provides very little character
or emotion to the shot. It's often used for
sports interviews, vlogs and newscasts, or even
to create online courses. It certainly has its time
and place within filmmaking. But overall, it creates
fairly boring compositions. If you're lighting from
the front and want to add a little more depth
and life to the shot. Then consider lighting
the subject at a bit more of an angle from the side. You can even play
with the lighting from a high or a low angle. Backlighting, on the other hand, is a fantastic way
to make your footage look more cinematic
as it can add depth, contrast, and give the
shot more feeling. This is especially useful
when filming outdoors, and you don't have
a lighting kit. See how simply
changing how the light hits the subject can
dramatically change the look. My main point is that it's perfectly okay to have shadows. In fact, I encourage it. Having a range of light
adds depth to our shots. Whereas the more light added, the flatter our image can
become just like a newscast. When you're setting
up your shots. Keep this in mind. If you're filming a blog
or possibly an interview, go with the front lighting for a clean shot if you want to. But if you want your
shots to look more cinematic and create depth
and shadows and emotion, then backlighting
is the technique that you'll want to use.
18. Hard vs Soft Lighting: When deciding how
to light a scene, there are generally two types of lighting that we work within. Hard light and soft light. And then of course, the many degrees in-between, essentially hard and soft light is just the manipulation
of shadows. Hard lighting creates
harsh shadows and lines. It's often a very bright
directional light that leaves little to no transition between the highlights
and the shadows. And it usually creates a high
contrast within the image. Hard Light is often
used to emphasize something within the frame and draw the
audience's attention. It can create a sense of opposition, difficulty,
and tension. It's often used for villains and it's a staple in the film genre. It can intensify scenes, create a sense of power, or depict two opposing forces, whether they be people or ideas. When it comes to
creating hard light, almost any light
source can be used so long as it's strong
enough and the sun, as we know, is the
strongest source. The key is to not use any
diffusion on the lights. Instead, we can use
flags to block and shape the light or other
things at our disposal, such as thick curtains, blinds, or any other material that
light cannot penetrate. The other thing that we
must do or not do is use too many lights because
without the shadows, hard light cannot exist. When creating hard light. What can't be seen is just as important as
what can be seen. On the other end
of the spectrum, we have soft lighting. And you'll notice
that when scenes and characters are lit this way, they are more evenly lit and the shadows don't have
definitive lines. Instead, we can see a more gradual transition
between light and shadow. And the shadows are
not necessarily black. Soft lighting basically creates
a lower contrast image. Really good examples of this are product and
fashion photography. And it's always used for interviews because
as the audience, we want to see the subject
and their emotions clearly. It's also often used
for romantic scenes in common as it creates a more
relaxed in upbeat setting. When the weather is overcast. That is nature's
perfect example of soft lighting because the clouds act as a diffuser to the sun. We can copy this technique with our own equipment when we
want to create soft light. Using diffusion can soften and spread out a
hard light source. Whether that's the Sun, our film lights or
any practical lights. Or another technique is to
use reflectors to bounce the light onto the shadows to help soften or eliminate them. In the following
music video clip, you'll see examples of both these techniques
used to the extreme. And we bounce back
and forth between them to help emphasize
the theme of assault. This
19. Banding... Beware of the Black Bars: Have you ever heard of the term banding or maybe the
term rolling shutter? If you haven't heard
of either of those, maybe you have seen this happen to your footage
at some point. When we're filming on the go and relying on the locations,
light sources. This is an issue
you may run into. The first thing to
know is that this will never happen when
using natural light. Only artificial light
can cause this. But not all lights. Certain types of lights send
out the light in waves, just like a radio signal. Instead of a light moving
at a consistent level, the waves cause it to have slightly
different intensities. But because this is
happening so fast, our eyes don't notice it. Our camera however, does
notice these differences. That's because every time
the camera records a frame, it snaps a photo of
that exact moment. And when it does this, the cameras scans the sensor line-by-line to record the light that is hitting the sensor. But at the same time
this is happening, the intensity of the light is changing as the wave
hits the sensor, causing parts of the frame
to be slightly darker. With that little science lesson, how do we get rid of this? Well, the first step is to
check the camera settings. If you're North America, your camera should
be set to NTSC. And if you're in Europe, it should be set to PAL, pal. Elsewhere in the world. You'll have to
research which system your country uses and
set it accordingly. Although this is not a
100% guaranteed solution, it does help because now
the camera is set to the proper frequency of the lighting that's used in
different parts of the world. If that doesn't solve
the problem than there are a few other
things that we can do. If we have a lighting
kit and have access to the lights that
are causing the problem. We can either replace the bulbs or we can use our
own lights instead. If that's not possible. Because we're filming on the go or on a low budget and
don't have a lighting kit, then see if it's possible to eliminate the light that
is causing the banding. Our third option is to
adjust the shutter speed and try to match the lights frequency
as best as possible. This is actually a good example
of how motion blur works. Depending on the shutter speed, the amount of light
wave that hits the sensor is increased
or decreased, which causes the
bars to be either more defined or less defined. It also affects the number
of bars that we see. Notice that as we increase
the shutter speed, more bars appear, and
they are more defined. When we lower the shutter speed, allowing for a longer exposure, we capture more movement
of the lightwaves, which causes the bars
to become softer and less frequent as
they blend together, essentially creating
motion blur. You may also notice that
certain light sources, although they don't
cause banding to the entire frame on camera, they create a flicker. This is common with TVs and
other types of screens. And that's because
light sources such as these don't emit light in waves. Instead, they turn on
and off extremely fast. So fast that once again, our eyes don't pick up on it. Our camera, however, is able to catch this because when
it records a frame, sometimes the light will be on and sometimes it will be off, causing that flicker that
appears in our footage. In these situations, it's best
and easier to just turn it off or green screen them so you can add video to
it in post-production.
20. Lens Flares & Ghosting (not the dating kind): Lens flares are definitely
something we've all had pop-up in our
footage or our photos. Whether we meant for it or not. Usually, but not always, ghosting happens as well. If you're not familiar
with the term ghosting, it's a type of lens flare
that creates rings of light. It looks similar to
ripples on water. Some of us may like the effect, and for some of us
it may drive us crazy because it can create a glare and reduce contrast by adding a
haze to the image. Whether you like them or not, it's worth understanding what causes them and
how to avoid them. If we want to do that. This is caused when light
hits glass in a certain way. And our lenses are
full of glass. And this glass is intended
to bend the light and directed onto the camera's
sensor to create an image. But because glass
is also reflective, when a strong light source, such as the sun enters the lens, the light can also bounce
off other camera elements. And when a streak of light
bounces in a certain way, that is what creates
a lens flare. With that knowledge, it makes sense that the more glass
elements in a lens, the higher the chance
of getting lens flares. Meaning zoom lenses, are more susceptible
than prime lenses. First, as we mentioned, using prime lenses will help because they have
less glass elements. Using a lens hood, which are designed to limit
how light hits the lens. This is a quick and easy way to reduce or eliminate lens flares. And there are three
shapes of lens hoods. Round, which is the most common and often used for
standard telephoto lenses. Then there's petal and
square lens hoods. Both are used for
wide angle lenses because their shape is designed specifically to prevent the hood from cutting off the
edges of the image. I know this may seem counter-intuitive
because we're adding an extra layer of glass. But you can get uv
and D and polarizer filters that are designed with a special coating that
reduces the flares. Even a slight
change in the angle can reduce or even
eliminate the problem. Using lower apertures that let in more light can also help. Because with higher apertures, the beam of light that's passing through the lens is
more concentrated. The more concentrated
the light is, the more distinct
the flares become. Think of it as a spotlight
versus a floodlight. If there's dirt, dust or
other particles on the lens, that's just more stuff for
the light to bounce off of. Love it or hate it.
Lens flares and ghosting will always be an element of filmmaking
and photography. But now you know how it works and what you can do to work
with it or work around it.
21. Conclusion: We've reached the
end of this class, and I hope you enjoyed it and we'll take what
you've learned here about lighting and related
camera settings to evolve as a filmmaker
and continue to practice and hone your skills and be sure to share your
work here on Skillshare, as well as liver review. Good or bad. It helps me create better
classes in the future. Thank you so much
for joining me and I wish you all the best
with your filmmaking.
Scott Baker, Filmmaker
