A Subtler Way to Back Light

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

In today's episode we're taking a look at the Edge Light - a slightly more subtle form of back light than the Rim Light, which can be used in combination with composition to drive the feelings presented by the image or story, in a more nuanced way. Color Grading - www.dehancer.com - get 10% off Dehancer using ROBELLIS at checkout GRAB MY BRAND NEW LIGHTING COURSE "RECREATING DAYLIGHT" ON SHOP MOMENT - www.shopmoment.com/course/recreating-daylight www.patreon.com/robelliscinematography - support me on Patreon for early, extended, ad-free KZbin videos + message board - including the entire Lighting with Colour mini course available to stream now!

[@RavikantRai21490]

The best cinematography videos on KZbin. People charge money for this kind of content and series normally, which you're giving away for free. And this is certainly better than so many videos here "analyzing" scenes without actually doing it and just drawing lines or scribbling on stills.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I appreciate it massively, thank you! Haha, I think watching others analyse scenes and scribble on stills can be very useful in terms of building up your own analytical skills when you want to reverse engineer lighting yourself - and I guess with KZbin it's nice to be able to have someone teach you that. But yeah, I'm sure it can also go the other way if people start relying on someone else to analyse for them and not figuring it out for themselves through practise and experimentation. But I do understand what you mean!

[@johannesburg1983]

As a fulltime editor, I applaud the nuanced sound design and tasteful use of OSG throughout this video. Educational content is rarely this cinematic. Thank you for all the "extra" effort that makes your content sincerely unique and valuable, Rob!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much Jonas - I've been implementing a little more sound design and graphics into this series as I think it makes everything flow together better and feel more coherent! It does make the edits take a little longer so I massively appreciate you noticing and mentioning it - thank you for your kind words! :)

[@thyerriwolf]

Class 🤌🏻🎬 thanks for your hard work teaching us!!!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much for watching! :)

[@ImNotAFilmmaker]

Not only do you tell us the HOW, but equally (or maybe even more) importantly, you tell us the WHY.... Thanks again.. on point as usual.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Happy you're enjoying these and I massively appreciate it! The idea behind the A-Z series is to end up having a better base resource available on KZbin for people learning about light, who want to learn how to do it, without missing out on the why - KZbin is such a great platform for learning about stuff like this and it's become a huge resource for many people who are working both smaller scale and bigger scale. But on the flip side, I don't see the whys discussed as often as they should be, and coming from someone who learned a lot of this craft on the internet myself, I'm trying to fill the gaps from my own, and no doubt, other people's internet based education! So it's not just for beginners in that sense, and as we're all continuously learning, I'd hope there's other bits more advanced people can pick up. So I appreciate your kind words! Apologies I just went full mission statement! 🤣

[@BanderaFilmsAndMusic]

You make education become a movie every single time, brother.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I appreciate it - thank you so much!

[@DSLRguide]

thanks for the effort you put into explaining things visually

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thanks so much Simon!

[@theopats2660]

Your KZbin channel is a treasure 🙏

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I'm late to this but still very thankful for your kind words - I appreciate it massively and I'm happy you're enjoying my videos!

[@arcecreative]

This is the best KZbin channel I've found this year! This content is priceless...

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much Jennifer, that means a lot! Happy you're enjoying the videos!

[@EditorAnmolBhangu]

Bro I feel so lucky that I found your channel. Keep posting more content bro and thanks for sharung all the information 'practically'.

[@AesirViking]

Exquisite job explaining it, I've been searching everywhere for videos explaining the emotional impact of various lighting scenarios like this one

[@johnstewart3391]

Your skills are amazing! Very little gear, with awesome results. Thanks for sharing!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much John! Glad you enjoyed the video! :)

[@darrinlalla9008]

This video is such great revision even if you are already aware of this! The cinematic presentation with sound etc. makes it almost entertaining. Great lesson and approach to teaching. Thanks for this.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Absolutely, this series is intended for all skill levels - we all need to solidify our knowledge on things we might already know from time to time, it’s a part of developing any craft! And hopefully I can provide some bits that someone may have overlooked previously too! Thank you so much for your kind words! :)

[@AllThingsFilm1]

I love the suggestions in this video. You really make me think more about lighting than I might without these ideas. By the way, I am enjoying your "Recreating Daylight" course. The techniques within can be applied in so many ways to lighting with the techniques and information you share in the course. I'm about half way through and I've already learned so much. Thank you.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Always happy to hear this, it makes creating these very worthwhile - so thank you! :) And I'm so glad to hear you're finding Recreating Daylight useful also! It's sold a little less than I would have liked, so I haven't had too much feedback on it - so it's fantastic to know how you're finding it. I appreciate it and thank you so much for your support!

[@AllThingsFilm1]

@@RobEllisCinematographer To me, I think some people get so much free information off of KZbin - which is great - that they don't feel the need or want to invest in courses. I can't remember a course that I have bought that I regretted buying. There is a deep dive into ideas and techniques in courses that cannot always be conveyed in shorter YT videos. Your course is so rich with ideas and inspiration, that I always feel a little excitement each time I press the Play button to watch.

[@MikeMatsuiJr]

My most recent short film's lighting was so successful with these teachings...thank you!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I’m super happy to hear that Mike! Glad I could help in some way! :)

[@WhySteve]

Damn, I never even considered the light as an element in screen direction. GREAT TIP! LOVE IT!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Happy you found the video useful Steve, thank you so much! :)

[@WhySteve]

Loving the whole series!

[@DanielKouba]

Really appreciate all you’re doing for this community. I and many others have definitely become better DPs because of your videos. Looking forward to the next one! 🙏🏼

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thanks so much Daniel, always happy to hear I’ve helped in some way and I massively appreciate your kind words! I hope you find the next one just as useful! :)

[@PeaLoop]

Love seeing your style develop, so good man.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much! I’m constantly refining how I do these so I appreciate it! :)

[@davidmultimedia2024]

THIS VIDEO IS AWESOME!!! I love the sound fx! BRAVO!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much David, I hope it was helpful in some way!

[@davidmultimedia2024]

@@RobEllisCinematographer Everything you do on your channel is helpful man!

[@subhajitdutta4106]

Amazing concept...amazing video..... 2:12 was my favorite.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much - happy to hear it! :)

[@flochfitness]

the best is back!!!!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Appreciate you Sean!!

[@davidsklubal]

Thank you for another great video! Always amazing how much value and tangible info you pack into these videos, miles ahead of many other channels! I'll be grabbing some of your paid courses shortly

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Glad to hear you enjoyed this one and thank you for the kind words! I appreciate it David, I hope you get just as much value out of the courses!

[@ThatSalim]

Thank you 🙏🏾

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@theindiefilmdude]

FLAWLESS as Always my man😎🤟🔥

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Appreciate it greatly - thank you so much! :)

[@baxslatton]

My heart always breaks a little when I reach the end of a new Rob Ellis video😭

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Video releases are every 2 weeks now - so it's never the end really! :D

[@joaomestre2584]

Awesome job!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Glad you enjoyed it - thank you so much!

[@fraserwhitehead539]

Great videos man thanks heaps for the effort

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Happy you’re enjoying them! Thank you so much! :)

[@ekphotography]

Amazing stuff as usual brother... Thanks! Wish you would do some Post color or any post tutorials in the future, Like your white balance settings in camera and in post.. And how you got rid of the Light stand in post would also be cool..

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Appreciated - glad you're enjoying the series! Thank you so much! :)

[@ekphotography]

@@RobEllisCinematographer Always

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

@@ekphotography Just saw your edit! I've considered adding bits like this, but I usually find it's best to keep it pretty minimal and directed primarily toward the lighting lessons, as the videos would end up taking too long if I put everything else in! I do put some little bits like this on Patreon from time to time though! The light stand was removed with generative fill in photoshop - since the camera wasn't moving, I grabbed a screenshot from Resolve, used generative fill in Photoshop, saved the generative fill part as a PNG, then slapped it on top of the clip in Resolve!

[@ekphotography]

@@RobEllisCinematographer sweet, I already forgot about that trick as you are correct, it was a still shot... Thank you. Love you videos.. Been filming for over 20 years myself and still enjoy watching and learning new things..

[@alonsoguttierrez4455]

Love this channel ✌🏻

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Appreciated!! Happy to hear it :)

[@Bo_Hazem]

Just wow, man. You are the only subscription I have with the bell on, and would turn on a taser on if it was an option.🤣

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Too kind Bo, I'm glad you're still enjoying all the videos I put out! Hahaha I'm sure Google will introduce the taser notification in a future update 🤣

[@innatemusic]

Thanks for another cool video, man!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

You bet! :) I hope you found this one useful in some way also!

[@davidschwan]

Great Thank You!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thanks David!

[@Pachiscruz2]

Awesome content!!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@emk96]

At 2:55 you explained that the light temperature didn’t match up so you used a power window in post. At 3:15, you used a different technique and decided to blend the light temperature and change your camera settings. My question is why you didn’t used the second technique in both shot? Is there any advantage to proceed one way or another?

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I wanted to demonstrate both as 2 different possibilities - showing how to solve it on set and in post :) knowing what you want to do with the temperatures on set is definitely the advantage, but sometimes mistakes are made and you might need to change something in this way in post!

[@malcolmt9077]

God I love these

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Glad to hear it - many more to come!

[@rezaVfx]

Amazing tutorial as always. A question! What light meter do you use ?

[@handohct]

Love your episodes, all so useful. Thanks for doing them! Hope you don't mind questions..: Rather than warm up the window in post, would it have also worked to do the same as you did in the close up; warm camera colour temp up to 8000k, and match the 'sunlight' to the ambient (roughly 5600k)? Or would that not have worked? Just thinking about solutions in-camera, as often have very little control once it's gone to post

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much! Questions are always welcome! Yes, it would have worked much the same as the close up (maybe with a little boost to the exposure outside, to taste) - I just wanted to add the possibilities of both into the 1 setup, as a way to cover pre and post solutions to matching the ambient - as you might change your mind about certain elements like color temperature in post!

[@valerioburli547]

Thank you for the great content, as always. I have a question: in a scenario where I don't have black fabrics and boom poles, may I just lower the blacks in post? In this way I should be able to preserve detail in the shadows area and also be flexible about the amount of darkness I want into the image. BTW it will requires some power windows work.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

You can to some extent, but you'll find you might run into issues depending on how much light you have in certain places. If you bring shadows down uniformly across the image, you might start darkening things you don't want to appear dark. If you create a mask on the face, a hard shadow transition like in that first setup might be impossible to get looking realistic because the light won't be reacting to the scene physically. It's always best to do these things in camera where possible, but sometimes things are salvageable in post - but at the same time, you might end up disappointed! Practising this will give you a better idea of where you can and can't do things like this!

[@valerioburli547]

@@RobEllisCinematographer thank you so much for your kindly reply.

[@zakforrest]

Sup Rob ❤

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Hello! ❤

[@shanewilliams35]

Love your vids man. At 3:22, am I tripping with the Kelvin chart? Wouldn’t towards 3200K be warm and not the other way around?

[@johnnyweissmuller5838]

It is the camera setting, if you set it low in camera, everything appears cooler and vice versa

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much! Jonny got there before me! :D Setting your camera's white balance is about balancing temperatures to a neutral white point, so if a light is warm (eg: 3200K) you'll want to cool your cameras white balance down to "neutralise" that warm temperature to white. Probably not the most scientific way to explain this but a good way to visualise - there's a few videos on my channel which cover it!

[@shanewilliams35]

@@johnnyweissmuller5838 thank you sir!!

[@shanewilliams35]

@@RobEllisCinematographer thank you man!

[@joejnicholls]

Hey Rob, I've been really struggling with noise in my image. How do I light a scene that is supposed to look dark without adding too many lights, which make it brighter than I want? Even shadows that still have detail are noisy. Thanks

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4eqqWCCeNuGfKc - this may help!

[@inkandgrowrich9793]

Just an FYI.. the link to your course "RECREATING DAYLIGHT" is broken..

[@eliaslimapro]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@Nightfall.]

Did you shoot this in 1.85:1?

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Shot in 16:9 - cropped, edited and exported as 2.39:1 :)

[@Nightfall.]

awesome thanks! you are great at this.@@RobEllisCinematographer

[@muhtada_agad]

Great,Rob ❤ I suggest you make a video on making equipment manually instead of buying expensive equipment

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you! ❤ a no-budget lighting video is on the cards at some point, but right now I'm focusing on this series and primarily the techniques - everything in this series can be applied to a more DIY style of lighting through experimentation though, by taking the concepts and converting them into ways of using what you have!

[@liamhuntercoleman]

ummmmn well I found the right place

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Happy to hear it! :)

[@bhapampa]

Cheeeeee

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thanks Henry - hope you found this one helpful in some way! :)

[@bhapampa]

@@RobEllisCinematographer I definitely did. I now understand the formula. Thanks a lot, Rob!

[@Peterwfowler]

I’d subscribe if you smiled more :)

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Never

[@Peterwfowler]

@@RobEllisCinematographer great content tho bro!