5 Lighting Concepts Every Cinematographer Needs To Know

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There are an infinite number of ways that DOPs can paint with light. There are however certain key principles which every cinematographer needs to know in order to use them as a base for their lighting.
In this video I’ll go over 5 of these concepts for cinematic lighting: Three Point Lighting, High Key Vs. Low Key, Soft Vs. Hard, Colour Temperature and Naturalistic Vs. Expressionist, which are all foundational to the knowledge of anyone who wants to be a filmmaker.
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List Of Films Featured:
Casablanca (1942)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Manhattan (1979)
Lost In Translation (2003)
Good Time (2017)
Atlantics (2019)
Marriage Story (2019)
Midsommar (2019)
0:00 Introduction
1:04 Three-Point Lighting
4:00 High Key Vs. Low Key
5:57 Soft Vs. Hard
8:09 Colour Temperature
9:38 Naturalistic Vs. Expressionist
11:07 Conclusion
Music:
Jesse Gallagher - ‘Satya Yuga’
Jesse Gallagher - ‘Thin Places’
Jesse Gallagher - ‘Venkatesananda’
VYEN - ‘Amber’

[@simusvisuals]

The title of this video should be: "12 minutes of incredibly useful information"

[@SwingingInTheHood]

"and explained in a way even novices can understand."

[@TehObLiVioUs]

12 minutes of cinematographer's favorite subject! : lighting.

[@RM-uy3yp]

As someone who is not planning to go to film school but instead still joining the industry, I highly appreciate the videos.

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good choice, I'm doing film school right now and it hasn't really paid off since most of it is online and my teachers aren't really motivated to giving online classes.

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@@jolan3720 I totally understand and I'm so sorry to hear that. It's like school sucks out the passion whereas learning by yourself is more inspiring.

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@@RM-uy3yp That's exactly how I feel, good luck out there, hope you make it !

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Graduated in 2018. Really wish more of these video s were around before then. Would have saved me thousands lol.

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@@jolan3720 That’s especially a bummer since in my opinion, the perk of film school is the connections you make. The film program I went to was not great but it introduced me to a lot of collaborators and close friends. My time in journalism though is what actually let me go out and get filmmaking experience.

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Cinematography is the heart of cinema .

[@CaughtInTheLoop]

I agree. There are still way too many people out there that don't see the art behind cinema. Most people just care about the story of a movie and don't even notice how important cinematography is

[@josedelaguila5027]

@@CaughtInTheLoop I think that both of them are important, I have seen movies which story was simply brilliant and I loved them (even when the cinematography was poor) but a brilliant cinematography without a good story, doesnt catch you in the same way neither. A good film has to work in both aspects at the same time in my opinion!

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@@CaughtInTheLoop yes absolutely . If the plot, the characters and sets represent the mind , the cinematography is the heart indeed .

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Which is why there are people that work exclusively on cinematography

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Jonas Music agreed. Cinematography > story

[@edward4840]

What I love about this channel is the emphasis on the technical parts of filmmaking instead of the art. As useful as the latter is, I know very few channels which specialise in the former

[@cory99998]

Yeah its more like "here are the tools you have at your disposal, now you can create the art in your head." Otherwise you'll study your inspirational sources endlessly not having a clue as to how you actually achieve the look.

[@zacharyantle7940]

Who needs film school with channels like yours dude? lol. I'm thinking of having the look of my short be kinda soft and cool for the main scene which is a conversation in an office, and then darker but more colorful for a bunch of flashback scenes, which I might or might not shoot with a fish eye lens lol

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Hope the prep for your short is going well Zach

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@@InDepthCine thanks man!

[@filmmakerandrea9694]

I have a book with all your videos, I write each and every single lesson you teach. This has been the most helpful, thank you so much In Depth Cine Please do a full video cinematography breakdown of Midsommar?

[@rileydermanuelian7307]

"... stories which are more lighthearted in nature" Midsommar, Lost in Translation

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Indy Mogul good videos too.

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facts!

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Incredible video!

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Thanks for watching and supporting the channel!

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as someone who went to school for film, I appreciate this cause I've never heard a good chunk of these terms

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WHAT. A VIDEO!!!!!!!! THE AMOUNT OF THINGS I LEARNED WITH THIS VIDEO IS UNREAL

[@pierrezapata90]

No one else i can find on YT explains these key concepts as well and with great examples like you do. Wonderful job putting together and editing this video. And a usual, your examples are from many om personal favorite films

[@BrandonSallinger]

Phenomenal as always. Thank you so much for taking the time to make these so in-depth! 🖤

[@beamsgr]

Really helpful video & I enjoyed it - my only recommendation is to explain why you are bouncing/diffusing the light, i.e., to use the secondary source (wall, ceiling, reflector, diffuse screen) as a larger light source in order to soften the light - the larger the light source, the softer the light and the more wrap around effect it will achieve. This can get confusing for people when we talk about the sun because people think of the actual size of the sun (huge) as a large light, but in terms of lighting, it is a relatively small source because it is relatively small in relation to our scene - a tennis ball in the sky with all the light rays coming in one direction - and so produces a hard light with sharp shadows. By setting up a diffuse screen between our subject and the sun we change the light source from the sun to the diffuse screen, which is "larger" than the sun itself (relatively speaking) and so creates a softer light. Good stuff.

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Dude I can't tell how much appreciation I have for you. Your videos have the deepest analysis of cinematography and are all well made. I love it a lot! Keep it up!!

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This was awesome. Love how you get straight to the point. Nothing more, nothing less.

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Your channel is amazing! Thank you so much for all the hard work you put in to make these incredible videos! I learn a lot from them!

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Keep up the great videos. Loving all the key topics your hitting

[@michaelcarter917]

Another awesome video! I loved the look of Midsommar, contrasting the high key look with such intense subject matter made for a very unsettling watch :) kinda similar to the shining in that regard

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Your channel is truly incredible and I’ve learned so much from you thanks a lot !

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Awesome man ! Are you a filmmaker ?

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Thank you for always inspiring all us aspiring cinematographers

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[@berka6539]

this was fantastic. it helped provide 'names' to concepts i intuitively knew and understood but didn't know proper terminology for. thx!

[@cornishchris8404]

Thanks for including Good Time, it’s always a Good Time to see it’s praise

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you've gone and done it again! amazing

[@akeemhimself3742]

The fact that the example in high key lighting was Midsommar and their description was light hearted and cheery is hilarious

[@abhisheknair2863]

Thanks a lot for making videos like these, love your channel! Can you make a video on the lighting of some iconic scenes from movies, focusing on the equipment used and the reasons for using it.

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Best cinematograhy videos outhere! Thanks a lo Gray :)

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so great!!!!! I learn lighting for 3d rendering now and your tuto also very helpful , maybe one day I'll create my film with what you told me in these tutos.

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This is all so incredibly informative and helpful.

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U are so amazing! We’re able to know the fundamentals of lighting in one comprehensive video :)

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Awesome ! What’s your favourite film?

[@YakAttack915]

@@jv8studios geez there are way too many to choose from since they all have their own personality. Some I can watch 100s of times would be Pulp Fiction, Fifth Element (guilty pleasure), John Wick, Matrix (original), Inception, Etc. For ones that stand out : Hateful Eight, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Once Upon a Time in the West, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Freaks, Arrival, etc Timeless Classics : Toy Story, Goodfellas, Seven Samaurai, Star Wars (ep 4-6), Wizard of OZ, etc My guilty pleasures : What We Do in the Shadows, Month Python and the Holy Grail, Wolf of Wall Street, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Mad Max Fury Road, Wall E, etc

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@@YakAttack915 those are some classic films ! I love the work of Tarantino! And The Matrix is definitely a game changer in the film industry!

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A great rundown! Thank you for this knowledge, even though I'm watching as a director!

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