Cinematic Lighting Tutorial: Step-by-step tutorial how to light a movie scene

To see the other 8 lessons in this series, along with 300+ other filmmaking tutorials, visit www.filmskills.com
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Special thanks to LEDGO lighting for incredible gear! To learn more about the gear used in this video, check out LEGDO on Instagram at @ledgo_led and @nanliteusa. And FilmSkills members can save 10% off on LEDGO lights.

[@SVThailand]

You know what I like about this guy? His business model has him selling his instructional videos to the world's best film schools. He's an award-winning director and cinematographer. I don't know how these KZbinrs who call themselves experts in filmmaking who are anything but have such gigantic KZbin channels when his guys like this on here I wish you'd put out more KZbin content and blow them away because he's actually a real teacher a true professional

[@sdk4073]

Really nice and underrated content. People are rarely showing the whole process of cinematic lighting in all its glory. Much appreciated.

[@kahanisaaz]

these were the kind of videos i had been searching for years. but never found such satisfactory videos. This is exactly what I had been looking for

[@eross21]

wow it makes such a huge difference ! it just goes to show it’s not the camera your using, it’s the lighting your using. very impressive.

[@kahanisaaz]

lighting makes all the difference

[@akshaykrishnanak2319]

have never seen so much detailed lighting tutorial before.... I subscribed to the channel instantly...

[@FilmSkills]

Thank so you so much - I'm glad you found it useful!

[@Andresvideo]

@@FilmSkills if you worked a little more on the video tags, more people could find the video! ;)

[@Andresvideo]

I don't want to be the one who gives advice but doesn't tell anything, so I will give you some examples :D Interior lighting for video, lighting daylight interior, interior cinematography, how to light a scene, advanced cinematography techniques, how to light interior scene, how to light an interior day scene. You have 500 characters for the tags, make a good use of them and the views will come to quality content like this! (I was a user of FilmSkills long ago!)

[@SBSChristianMedia]

Sames

[@pradiproykengar_artist8324]

I'm also bro

[@the_hbrl_effect]

Hands down the best cinematic lighting tutorial I have seen on YT yet 🙂👍

[@RFVisionary]

👍🏻 “Light and shadow of the filmmaker!” 🎥 Very educational post! When I imagine that EVERY scene has to be prepared so intensively, I literally get dizzy. Luckily, my (micro) projects usually only have one or two perspectives. But I'm thinking about whether I shouldn't shed more (better) light on the matter. ☀️

[@colewagner4149]

Absolutely love these videos, learning as much from them as I've learned on set. Thank you!

[@OlgaKuznetsova]

Love this! Thank you so much for sharing lighting technique in such detail!!

[@joeladegboye3800]

On of the best pieces of tutorials I've watched

[@RicardoSensual]

One of the best instructors I have seen on KZbin regarding filmmaking contents. Thanks for great tutorials always.

[@ratt57]

One of the most thorough and professional videos I've ever seen on KZbin! Thank you!

[@ivankurs]

OMG! Amaizing piece of work and art! Thank you very much! Really professional and easy way to speak and teach.

[@NIKONGUY1960]

Really appreciated the details. This wasn't about a name brand type of light or piece of equipment but meat and potatoes filmmaking. Much appreciated.

[@jeliyful]

This is exactly how it is explained in film school, great work.

[@abdelilahachak5461]

Best cinematography content on youtube!

[@cinecolorofficial]

i am so grateful for this.this is amazing

[@alifamin9524]

Wow this is the most practical video ever for lighting a scene... Thank you so much for this... Simple yet with a lot of information... good job!

[@hoganworld6065]

I never felt good with my results, I knew something was missing, when I saw this video, I felt myself crying with joy. thank you thank you thank you

[@theartofbread]

Fantastic! Finally real info from a professional

[@CostaSparrow]

Incredibly detailed tutorial, thanks.

[@stevenvprasad5029]

Just loved it brother... Thank you very much ❤️❤️

[@digitten]

Gaffers tape is for attaching stuff to or marking your OWN equipment. Artist's Paper Tape is for taping stuff to walls and floors on location. Gaffers tape will remove paint and destroy the finish on hardwood floors. I use only the professional grade gaffers tape and have destroyed a trade show floor with it. Paper tape all the way. Otherwise, a great tutorial.

[@FilmSkills]

That's exactly right, but if you don't have paper tape, in a pinch you can tear off a piece of gaffers tape from the roll then stick and unstick it to your jeans a few times. This will make it much less sticky and won't pull off the paint or surface.

[@filmbyakiljoefield]

This is extremely amazing, thank you sir for all your hard work!

[@karliemorris7318]

Thank you for these vids sir

[@abhi14337]

Awesome thank you so much, with this video I learned quality knowledge about lighting 👍👍👍👍 appreciated

[@rageshgovindan]

Wow. What a great video for a beginner to learn and experiment . Thank you so much

[@GEAREDUPFILMS]

Thanks for the video. Very good and something new that I’ve learned.

[@ThePodcastStudioMiltonKeynes]

Man, you are seriously helpful. and seem like a super nice dude! Love your passion for light! All the best brother x

[@CEO_JQL]

DOPE work

[@shemtynsong1449]

Thank you for sharing the knowledge sir

[@kevinbatts2804]

Thanks for all this free knowledge. Amazing to the point and not in weeds.

[@JordanElliottMcClure]

Fantastic! Thank you!

[@vipermjs]

incredibly interesting and awesome

[@ghastwriter]

amazing video, so good to find this information for free!

[@FilmQi]

Great tips! thanks

[@ivanmartynov8499]

Great tutorial !!! Thanks a lot !!!

[@sanjeetswain7112]

Great teacher 🙏

[@maverick.gaurav]

A much needed tutorial

[@albert.artphotography]

Terrific!!! well done.

[@notgesund]

great video. he was actually working on his laptop.😂

[@hhh-gp9ip]

Great great great one...

[@DrippyVisuals]

Thanks for this! It was really informative !

[@alphapyro360]

Great, thanks for the content!

[@dreamteamgospel5952]

this is amazing and much in detail....!! thums up champp...

[@HECTRICKNOLOGY]

WOW!!, thtat's Excellent, I wish I knew this techniques !!!

[@FilmSkills]

Glad you liked it!

[@heathledger8439]

I wish you were my cinematography teacher😆 awesome work💓 from India.

[@dragonspleindechiffre8838]

Very nice and detail video, its rare to find such great tutorial on youtube. In my opinion the thing that could have made this shot even better and is a great way to improve every shot is a little more color temperature contrast. Maybe put your camera on like 4000k for the overall image to be a little cooler, and put the key light on 6000k to warm up the subjet and make him pop out the frame. It is not a critic for the video but an advice for helping beginners cinematographers.

[@elevenstars100]

Amazing light video tutorial thank you!

[@FilmSkills]

You're very welcome!

[@horrorAk]

Really helpful thanks a lot

[@FilmSkills]

You're welcome!

[@130bpm2]

Needed more tutorial like this 👏

[@vinodkannan007]

😘😘😘😘🥰🥰🥰😍😍😍 Thank you sir for your wonderful efforts. Its almost great practical and theoretical for us. 🙏 Its more than you get in film schools.

[@121hmike]

excellent... Love from Iran

[@arightakil]

Very informative Thanks 🤗

[@RodieOsc]

Thanks i had problems filming in open windows !!

[@tronghoang1733]

I love it. Tks u

[@danielhuang2488]

great content

[@bashmedia]

thanks , fantastic video

[@BookBitesByAshish]

your content is really under rated, thanks a million... (the actor typed a lot of things :D)

[@RoadJournal]

very nice!

[@thothheartmaat2833]

i like how that guy was typing the whole time.. it was like watching a character animation.. his email was very thorough..

[@stevestrasser6833]

Just great! You should get more views!

[@akhiltk1410]

superb

[@dissolution]

This is a great video.

[@michaelrichard7125]

Amazing 🥰🥰

[@lazarkumaar9935]

VERY USEFULL THANKS..

[@govindastyasairaviballa1125]

excellent

[@1949AKN]

Great !

[@sideeffectsstudios]

That’s a hell of a tutorial man 👍

[@vanessamcprod]

These re incredibly helpful! You’re such a great teacher and I appreciate how you show things nearly in real time, like actually setting up each piece of equipment.

[@GALATEA.Z]

muuuuuy bueno!

[@anandnadakatla2426]

Nice info and tutorial...

[@FilmSkills]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nithyanandgt7446]

Wow... Enjoyed your Instructions

[@FilmSkills]

Thanks so much 😊

[@hesamtavakoli1618]

Awsome 🙂.please prepare this type of tutorials more in different situations

[@FilmSkills]

The full course at filmskills.com has 7 more scenes plus a dozen additional tutorials. www.filmskills.com/cinematic-lighting-master-course/

[@Graphicwithkaran]

U r a master

[@aerozg]

I guess if you are on a tight schedule you couldn’t wait for the sun to go down and shoot later in the day/evening, so you had to tint the windows, right? Superb content btw. Subscribed & following.

[@mercierl.bangala4876]

thanks a lot

[@leonarddai4998]

lighting against big windows is very challenging, but thanks for this video

[@babutechmbr4860]

Ultimate 🥏

[@kuddygone]

I thought the original image already looked pretty good, but holy shmoley the final look was beautiful

[@sf-mediafilm1784]

Nice 🔥

[@KedarRai]

Which profile picture was shot sir? I am from Nepal 🇳🇵

[@obununu7059]

What's the big led lighting panel? Does this compare as far as size? Nanlite LumiPad 25 Soft LED Light Panel

[@harikrishnanaidu21]

Super mama😘🥰🙏💕

[@khari83637]

can someone please explain what he means by increasing the contrast ratio by 1 and 1/2 stops to one? is that a general rule?

[@mukanowski]

looks really nice, I woder if there was a way to use cutter flag to remove reflection of key light in windows that we can see at the beggining of the scene ?

[@FilmSkills]

If you notice, I did add the cutter in the final shot.

[@hippopictures]

Very helpful. Might you have a tutorial on f stop ratios and using a light meter? Btw, is the camera digital? Thanks for the tutorial.

[@FilmSkills]

It's funny you mention this, because I just released a video on f-stops and using a light meter today. Here's the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3euemR9oNR6oZI

[@matthewjackson2656]

should you blocking and filming in the same day?

[@reviewmirror]

Thanks so much :-)

[@roehaus1]

Excellent video! Two questions. What was the target aperture setting on the camera... and does the buckling of the ND film when you hang it cause any problems as far as flaring the background or causing unwanted reflections?

[@FilmSkills]

Ideally, I wanted an open aperture close to 2.8 to achieve a shallow depth of field but since I did not have someone to pull focus, I closed the aperture a bit to maintain focus while I dollied in on the subject. I was able to reduce the strength of the ND filter in front of the lens when I closed the aperture to keep the same exposure. Regarding your second question, you do need to be careful when applying ND gel the to windows. The wind can blow it around and you can catch reflections from light sources.

[@OfficialTornadoboy]

Great tutorial/breakdown but I was wondering why you couldn’t position the diffusion frame at an angle to his face to create the shape and contrast rather than adding another light?

[@FilmSkills]

The choice wasn't to simply add more light, but to sculpt it. The first light source through the 4x4 frame was to create the key light and set the proper brightness for the actor's skin tones. The second side light was to sculpt the light to create a more three-dimensional feel. This is a technique I often use to make the lighting look more natural and less like a typical three-point lighting set-up.

[@RafaelLudwig]

Fix it in camera! Finesse it in post! Great videos Jason!

[@FilmSkills]

Thanks Rafael!

[@LiYuanChea]

At 2:00 Can you explain how did you pull focus? I can´t even see the focus ring on the lens move. Thanks!

[@FilmSkills]

Hey Byron, I didn’t rack the focus. The subject was within the depth of field throughout the entire move.

[@lionroots11]

This is great! May I ask where you purchase the ND for the windows and what is the name of it? Thank you

[@FilmSkills]

You can buy rolls of gels from FilmTools. If you live in LA, also check out Expendables Recycler. They sell partial rolls at a big discount and that’s where I get most of mine.

[@lionroots11]

@@FilmSkills thank you I live in Indiana so I quess I won't be able to get it but thanks for reply your channel is very educational

[@TheIQProductions]

Great video, one thing I am confused about and wondered if you could clear up ...If you opened your iris all the way as suggested at 6:40 (which I think is 1.5 on your lens?) but measured your key light to be a little over 5.6?, your key was 4 and 1/2 stops overexposed and it looks like that? seems strange because it looks properly exposed to me. Thanks!

[@FilmSkills]

You’re exactly right, however I chose to open my aperture all the way to achieve a shallow depth of field, and that would have over exposed the shot. But I used a neutral density filter instead to achieve the correct exposure. That way, I got the shallow depth of field I wanted all while properly exposing the shot.

[@elnurvl]

Chromatic aberration were noticable throughout the shot. Was it there deliberately or as an artifact created by Rokinon lenses?

[@FilmSkills]

Haha, no, I didn't intentionally add the chromatic aberration. The Rokinon DS series lenses are OK when you're working in the middle 2/3 of the aperture range, but anything more open than a 2.8 or closed more than an f11 gets a little sloppy. In this demo, you can really see the chromatic aberration in the high contrast areas like the edges of the windows. I also found that Rokinon's 14 and 16mm lenses are really soft when you're wide open. They definitely have their limitations, but considering how cheap they are for cine primes, the tradeoff is worth it, especially if you know the lenses' limitations.

[@ekmedia6651]

Could you have done the same with out the lightmeeter, just looking at the monitor?

[@FilmSkills]

I wouldn’t. You never know if the monitor is properly calibrated. If it’s too bright, you will be underexposing all your shots. If it’s too dark, you will be overexposing them.

[@ekmedia6651]

@@FilmSkills Damn, now i need to add another expencive thing to my gear ;)

[@sidneyekwulugo3735]

I know it's out of subject but please which cameras did you use? And yeah, thanks for this video

[@sidneyekwulugo3735]

Never mind. Sony fs5

[@YoungBlaze]

This guy kinda looks like Tommy from Power. I LIKE IT

[@wulfrunian77]

What a great tutorial this was. Completely demystifies so much of the lighting process. Very glad the KZbin algorithm threw up your channel!

[@FilmSkills]

Awesome, thank you!

[@AwWa4ever]

Wow