Where can we learn from diagrams?

[Jose Prada]

Hello everybody and happy new year! Well, I was asking myself, after reading and reading explanations about theory of lighting... if there is a web, book, etc, where you can see still frames from movies and the lighting map they used to light that frame. I think it would be easier to learn that way!

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Motion Picture Lighting by Blain Brown has a few shots and then shows setups. One very nice one shoes the different of before and after x or y light is set up. It's also a very good read full of useful information on the whole on lighting with a good glossary.

[Jon Rosenbloom]

Spend some time on set, watch dailies. That's the best way!

[Jose Prada]

I wish I could... unfortunately, here where I live there is a rate of 1 shooting per three years... (Cadiz, south of Spain)

[Chris Stones]

The best thing I've read is "Reflections: Twenty-One Cinematographers At Work", by Benjamin Bergery. Its doesn't just discuss lighting set ups but I'm sure you'll find the whole book a great resource.

 

But I agree, there should be more books with this type of information

[Kiarash Sadigh]

There are a lot more information and books in the still photography field...hook yourself up with a bunch of still photogrpahy lighting how-to books...you might be able to borrow them from a public library...in my experience they're the best books in terms of showing the lighting plan against the final frame.

[Chris Keth]

There are a lot more information and books in the still photography field...hook yourself up with a bunch of still photogrpahy lighting how-to books...you might be able to borrow them from a public library...in my experience they're the best books in terms of showing the lighting plan against the final frame.

 

I have to agree with this. I rarely care for how the photos in those books are lit, but I've even seen a couple that show a final frame and then frames where only one of the lights is turned on at a time so you can see the building blocks, so to speak, and the final product.

[Michael Morlan]

Hi Jose,

 

Welcome to cinematography.com.

 

www.digitalcinemasociety.org has a nice set of quicktime videos of an ASC lighting workshop in which four cinematographers each lit a scene in a class setting. They were Michael Negrin, ASC, Alan Daviau, ASC, Robert Primes, ASC, and Michael Goi, ASC.

 

Access to the ASC Lighting workshop is by subscription.

 

(disclaimer: I am not associated with Digital Cinema Society other than being a paying subscriber to their website.)

 

I also have lighting/camera diagrams and set photos accompanying some of the project pages of my portfolio site. If you ask real nicely, I might add a couple more for specific scenes that interest you. :-)

 

Ultimately, however, learning is in the doing. And you can do with very little. Countless times, enterprising young filmmakers have submitted samples of their work lit with nothing but the lights/reflection/diffusion they had at hand. To this day, one of my favorite reflectors is a space blanket crumpled into a little ball then stretched over a piece of foamcore - $11. I've seen many more home-built tools that were truly inspired by the desire to create a pretty picture with whatever was at hand - even if it was just an open window... especially if it was just an open window.

 

Best of luck in your studies.

 

Michael

[Dan Salzmann]

The problem with a lot of the still photography books is that they are often based on:

Tacky "glamour" type of imagery

Pack shots of fruits in baskets, tool boxes spilling over with stuff, etc.

High school yearbook portrait techniques.

While some basic concepts can be gleaned from this stuff, IMHO most of it has little to do with dramatic film making as many think of it.

One good idea is to look at books about interior architectural photography as well as stage lighting since sets are often much larger than portrait set-ups.