What Are Barn Doors used for?

[Guest CJ Films]

Can someone shed some light on what the barn doors are used for? I am trying to understand how to get better lighting on my films (digital video)

 

thanks a bunch.

CJ

Edited November 11, 2005 by CJ Films

[David Mullen ASC]

They are used to control the spill of the lights, plus give you something to clip gels onto. For certain lights like fresnels, you can use them to create a soft shadowed edge pattern on a wall -- other lights may produce a less attractive "fringey" or a shadow with a faint double edge.

 

For example, you may hang a light as a backlight on a room and then lift up the bottom barn door to take the backlight off of the floor, or close-in a side barndoor to shadow a wall on one side. Or if you are shining a light through a 4'x4' frame of diffusion to soften it, you may use the barn doors to keep the light from spilling beyond the edges of the diffusion frame.

[Chris Keth]

One of the things I've realized in the last couple years with my lighting is that adding light in the right place is very easy. The hard work comes in taking it away from the places you don't want lit and creating shadows.

[Gilbert]

Can someone shed some light on what the barn doors are used for? I am trying to understand how to get better lighting on my films (digital video)

 

thanks a bunch.

CJ

 

The following link should help:

 

http://www.students.tut.fi/~rolle/blue/gloss.html