Deconstructing Film Lighting || Masterclass by gaffer Julian White

This week Julian White tells us about the different lighting sources that are used in film and what effect they can give. We see behind the scenes footage compared with the shot in the film. What is the difference between fluorescents and LED?
Case Studies Used:
00:23 - Carol (2015) DOP: Ed Lachman, ASC
00:32 - Titanic (1997) DOP: Russell Carpenter, ASC
00:38 - Blade Runner 2049 (2017) DOP: Roger Deakins, BSC, ASC
00:55 - The Social Network (2010) DOP: Jeff Cronenweth, ASC
01:02 - Deadpool (2016) DOP: Ken Seng
01:12 - A Star is Born (2018) DOP: Matthew Libatique, ASC
01:19 - The Master (2012) DOP: Mihai Mălaimare Jr.
01:31 - Skyfall (2012) DOP: Roger Deakins, BSC, ASC
01:50 - Carol (2015) DOP: Ed Lachman, ASC
02:41 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) DOP: Jeff Cronenweth, ASC
02:46 - The Social Network (2010) DOP: Jeff Cronenweth, ASC
02:50 - Hereditary (2018) DOP: Pawel Pogorzelski
03:01 - Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) DOP: Haris Zambarloukos, BSC
03:15 - Interstellar (2014) DOP: Hoyt Van Hotema, ASC, FSF, NSC
03:30 - Don Jon (2013) DOP: Thomas Kloss
---
Cooke Optics TV
www.cookeoptics.tv
Website www.cookeoptics.com
Facebook / cookeoptics
Twitter / cooke_optics
Instagram / cookeoptics
Linkedin: / 2831810
Thank you to the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC). www.bscine.com/
Filmed with a Sony FS5 and Cooke Mini S4/i Lenses.
Produced by ImageNova. www.imagenova.co.uk.
Email [e-mail] for enquires or leave a comment!

[@timeb4ndit]

As a former gaffer it's nice to see gaffers get some well deserved attention and respect

[@SereneBobcat]

Would be amazing to get more interviews with gaffers. This was amazing!!

[@CookeOptics]

We're working on it :)

[@buddyfx7026]

This dude flowed like butter breaking down what should be the essentials, I was taking mental notes. What a well balanced and experienced spill on lighting!

[@JaNeeja86]

Classic, such an artist!! Need more interviews with Gaffers. Creating with light is not easy, a skill well respected.

[@ShotzMedia]

He differentiated electronic and electric. I like him.

[@ShotzMedia]

😲 Twice

[@Jinsuun]

I would love to hear him elaborate on this if he could. Lmao "electronic feel".

[@raredreamfootage]

@@Jinsuun Not full spectrum (missing a color or two).

[@MarcosElMalo2]

Jinsuun It definitely is a thing-you are getting a 60 or 50 Hz sine wave with any AC powered incandescent such as tungsten, whereas HMI, flos, LEDs, etc, all are using some type of ballast or transformer that is filtering the electricity in some way. Wrt the subjective feel, that’s a thing, too. If light is just light to you, and you can’t “feel” qualities of light, maybe you don’t want to take up cinematography. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@vdsw9166]

@@MarcosElMalo2 Describing the quality of light as electric or electronic does not make sense to me. Look up the definition of electric and electronic. This guy's definition is very confusing! HMI fresnels directly on flesh don't look right of course. Mainly because in the natural world, the only source of direct and parallel light is the sun. And an HMI's spectrum is not at all like that of the sun unless you manipulate it with filters depending of the type of sun you're creating. And secondly, you have to get a fresnel fairly far away from the subject and set to achieve sun-like parallel beams. Which is often logistically tricky. I do agree with the guy in the video though. HMI works great when bounced or punched onto/through heavy diffusion. Because now it takes on the quality of skylight. Not only in terms of diffuseness but also in its spectrum it is very close. In terms of colour spectrum, film stocks and sensors are designed to specifically work well with HMI sources. So his argument in terms of the colour spectrum does not make any sense. You only "feel" an HMI to look "wrong" because of the diffusion properties. Electronics have literally nothing to do with that. And simply diffusing the light is not a complete solution either because if you're for example on an interior set, you have to take into account the effect of skylight passing through a window as well. A natural window looks much different in terms of quality compared to an indoor bounce or diffusion. Especially the eyes are revealing. Take the headshot in this interview for example. You can clearly tell it's a large source, most likely a large diffusion and a fresnel punched through it or a round/octagon chimera. You can tell because the source is fairly low, too low to be skylight through a window. Another thing is the rounded, feathered shape of the reflection in the eyes. A window would be rectangular with hard edges and you would only see the reflection if he would look up near the vicinity of the window in order for the sky to reflect in the eyeball. But there's nothing wrong with the colours though. Maybe a slight mismatch in terms of temperature, it feels a bit cold to me. As well as the exposure of his face, it's a bit too bright. Would look a bit more natural if it were graded one stop down or so. Whether or not a light source is electrically or electronically driven does not directly (maybe indirectly) impact colour spectrum, at least not that I know of, but I'm no engineer so I could be wrong. The biggest impact on the colour spectrum is the operating temperature and age of the light bulb itself. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! EDIT: maybe the guy means that "electronic light" is more like what I (and probably most folks) would call "artificial light" (and I consider tungsten to be artificial light as well) I don't differentiate between tungsten or other sources. Most practical, real world artificial light indeed does not feel natural when it comes to colour. However, I don't understand why you would define that as "electronic". Seems like poor use definition to me. But real tungsten does work much more agreeable with human flesh, that's true. And more so, camera sensors are designed for both accurate daylight rendition and mostly also tungsten. Film did it on separate stocks (although you can shoot daylight stocks with blue lens filters) and digital uses colour matrices to correct for the spectral shift.

[@MrTheJeyKey]

I usually find it difficult to actually see the differences in quality of light when people talk about them - This was a wonderful exception. The reference footage shown in parallel with his commentary was chosen really well, making me truly understand the difference in feeling and quality between tungsten, HMIs, fluorescents & LEDs.

[@retlwiz]

really interesting - some specific examples from gaffers with diagrams would be great and in a longer format

[@AnandaGarden]

I love this. Amazing how much we can glean from a person with obvious experience, not just facts but a very useful attitude. Much appreciated, thank you. Reveal: I'm 77, shot stills 53 years, am starting in video for a small Palo Alto private school that produces happy kids who do very well in life. My gear: GoPro Hero 8 (FF Canon 6D but not for video), forthcoming Media frame, Neewer LED lights as needed. :) But I learned a lot - "as above, so below."

[@rootytuners]

For those (like me) that don’t use the featured terminology every day, I recommend playback at 0.75 speed, and captions on for maximum comprehension (and to enjoy and digest the visuals and setups). Excellent resource!

[@AwesomeShotStudios]

Keep these coming, Cooke Optics. They are a true treasure for the filmmaking community.

[@codreanartur5408]

how???? by puting a Big text MASTERCLASS in 4 minute videos ? - very....convinient, missleading and unfair !

[@chrisbaker7583]

I just recently became obsessed with the art of cinematic lighting, and have been learning as much as i can about the process. Such a crucial, yet under appreciated part of filmmaking.

[@TheFaustianMan]

I love this channel so much. To me it is my film school. Thank you Cooke!

[@jonahzang2312]

In high school I was head of the lighting department in the film club. It was far from my desired role but I fell in love with it. I'd love to get back into filmmaking as a hobby and turn on those lights again.

[@adepew]

Love these videos. This is superb content.

[@Oceansta]

Loved the video. Great choice of background music 😍

[@toceanak]

Thanks cooke for continuing to pump out these great videos!

[@Q2Japan]

Wow. Amazingly insightful in less than 10 minutes!

[@AguirrePictures]

He spoke poetically and am a fan of his. More brushes in the kit is my motto. Tungsten, HMI, LED, and some fluorescent are still on my truck.

[@joshpeters813]

Thank you Julian White

[@Q2Japan]

Watched this video in April--didn't understand anything Julian said. Rewatched it today--got about half! Thanks for the cool content guys ;)

[@leotownsend]

never stop! these are great

[@nikhilchandra9258]

World class content. And for FREE. Do you guys dont know film students pay tens of thousands of dollars for a fraction of this content.

[@lukefairhurst5980]

Wonderful. It's hard to find good quality content focusing on the technical side of filmmaking, so these videos are very much appreciated.

[@sonpois]

Hugely beneficial video. Thx

[@sinematographers3344]

Great man with great knowledge

[@real.estate.video.]

Great insights. Thank you!

[@maxi.bautista]

Invaluable content! Thanks!!!

[@panacea60]

brilliant, finally a real gaffer thank you

[@djjohnnybravo]

Wow this is super valuable! Thanks!

[@filmmakersworld]

Amazing stuff! Keep going!

[@panacea60]

Thanx Julian extremely helpful

[@nanogonzalezdj3388]

This info is gold for me.

[@Jefsamaroon]

Great Idea!

[@miggyvision8598]

Amazing video!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥

[@StockAvuryah]

putting examples is sweet

[@christopherbarroccu154]

I work as a Lighting Director / DOP and I am only as good as my gaffer and electrical team. It's all about teamwork :)

[@rinusworldzm]

Amazing stuff

[@aleksandriarkov9801]

What a pleasure to learn lighting techniques from masters of film industry. I would be way more happy if there were some basic and advanced lighting courses available online.

[@liljewishmami]

so cool

[@Writtenmirror]

This was enlightening 👀 okay I'll see myself out now...

[@woo_doggy]

haha

[@Writtenmirror]

@@woo_doggy 😂😂😂

[@lykhnobios]

Nice job with this videos!

[@georged.christensen1053]

Awesome.

[@agylub]

From a still photography perspective tungsten light and tungsten film gave the best skin tones

[@samanshp]

Great stuff

[@Viewfinderfx]

great video!

[@ConnWilliams]

would be awesome if there was a whole visual course of this, like the Set Lighting Technicians handbook but in video format

[@LizaLavolta]

I learned a lot watching this :)

[@vananhle9703]

I wanna watch this video all day

[@Artfulscience1]

It’s so true…tungsten is like butter. I sold 2 mole 2k’s and an Ianiro 1k to some film students years ago. Great lights but man they’re such hunkers that require so much power and spill so much heat.

[@improbablehandle]

Excellent! I also liked Mr. White's incongruous looking jacket in the painter's studio setting.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

Me too. Is that is painting jacket?

[@MarizLimbu]

Nice one.

[@ImaginaryShadows1]

Great Stuff

[@TheAppus090]

great music

[@dominiccobb6470]

he seems to be great fun

[@smackdaddy9802]

Anyone know the song used? It's gorgeous.

[@davidp158]

Great info. Does anyone have more examples of BTS that show lighting instruments used and shots of the resultant film? I realize color grading is also applied but I am studying lighting and learn from references like the ones in this video.

[@porpoti]

Check Mr. Cinematography on Instagram he shares lots of BTS from movies

[@davidp158]

@@porpoti Thanks for the tip! I took a look and started following that channel. Very entertaining stuff.

[@smackdaddy9802]

Malcolm McDowell teaches lighting

[@Rohan.S.Patne.]

Hi Could someone please solve my doubt Tungsten gives a very yellow look So how are skin tones restored? Colour correction? White balance? Any other method? Any help would be appreciated Thanks a lot ❤️

[@leonardodruscovich2131]

It depends. Is the yellowish tungsten hue helping tell the story? Has that hue a purpose? Motivate the light position, the intensity, the quality and the hue first. But this is my official answer. It is like setting the exposure properly..Sometimes you meter for the subject and sometimes you meter for the background and we can pretty much say that we can apply the same to the skintones workflow..Sometimes you white balance for the skintone and then you leave the correction to be applied to the background..And sometimes you just gotta do the opposite. This is what makes cinematography one of the most beautiful things to do on this planet. There are tons of rules just waiting to be broken and you are free to do so. You have to find the way to break them in your own way. Hope that helps brother

[@charissac118]

What is the clicking noise in the BG during the interview?

[@stephenofori3603]

This is gold

[@unobruno_]

what's the name of the song at 0:40 ?????

[@bqgin]

Lighting so far has been the hardest part for me.

[@cwalshie]

Does anyone know the name of the film at 0:04?

[@CookeOptics]

Cinderella (2015)

[@keanucooper2103]

What is the movie in the thumbnail?

[@unclejezza]

I get the feeling this guy wouldn’t suffer any fools on his crew 😎

[@boyaninho]

How somebody can dislike this video!? Dont get it...

[@youtubewest9506]

I can run a Brute, Strong and any Carbon arc

[@0CryingAngel0]

Shazam can't seem to pick up the background music sadly. I noticed I wasn't the only one interested in it.

[@authenticate4me92]

Great video but the chair cracking noise drives me crazy!

[@luvair6765]

First person I've heard say tungsten has just a more natural look. I thought I was crazy

[@cinema-q]

During the intro, would be helpful to know the films being shown.

[@shaiksulthan7027]

In that Interstellar scene, it wasn't six 18k HMIs being used at the same time, but just one 18k HMI used out of the six they had at their disposal. Great video though. I just realized up and coming filmmakers can learn more from gaffers than they can from cinematographers. Thanks.

[@Hihopeyouhaveawonderfulday]

Oh.... is this guy responsible for the nearly pitch black battle scenes at Winterfell in the last season of Game of Thrones? Nvm, that’s Fabian Wagner....

[@mth280268]

There's much to like about this but this Lighting Cameraman has to cry out 'BS' at the idea that a light looks electric any more than it looks electronic.

[@raredreamfootage]

3:16 - "SIX 18K HMIs"!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? WTF

[@AndreyValentsov]

Sounds like a lot for a single room

[@MarcosElMalo2]

Andrey Valentsov Maybe it’s a really big room.

[@maddiehad]

obviously you turn on the light switch to get light.

[@AndrewNiccol]

I can't understand a word of what he said.

[@brentthomasaustin]

Andrew Niccol ?

[@jonnynoakes9070]

Use a different chair? 😅😅❤

[@ErisedMediaCo]

What’s with all the annoying clicking in the background. So distracting.

[@codreanartur5408]

clickbate.......first learn what a masterclass is (defenetly not a 6 minutes video) shame on you, for missleading people. It was allready reported (Spam or misleading) hope this video will be down soon and you will learn to be fair! STOP with cheap marketing and learn to do quallity content !!!! it will not work like this for long time anymore....