Lighting a Moving Subject | Cinematography 101

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Cinematography is made up of lots of different types of shots. So much goes into getting good lighting; but in most cases, the characters stay in the same place. But what about shots where the characters move? They might move right out of your lighting. So, how do you light a scene where the character can move around -- and not fall into bad lighting? Today on 4 Minute Film School, we are going to light a shot where a subject moves through a room, using techniques to keep the light remaining consistent.
In this video, Matt from the A-Team walks us through how to light a scene with multiple light sources that look like a single consistent light source. First, he identifies the path that the actor will take through the scene. This is referred to as blocking, and is important to know before you start lighting. Next, he looks for places he can motivate light from, illuminating the actor. This can be windows, lamps, or anything else that would make sense to light the character. Lastly, he uses tools and techniques to blend the different light sources in the scene, so that at any point of the actor’s move, they have good lighting.
The main aspects addressed in this video are soft light, light meters, and lighting flaws. Soft lighting refers to the quality of the light you’re using. The softer the light, the more it will spread throughout the scene. Light meters are tools you can use to read how much light is hitting a part of your set. This can be used to make sure the lighting is consistent. Lighting flaw refers to the idea of introducing errors into your lighting design to appear as the randomized lighting we encounter in the real world.
Ultimately, there is a lot that goes into a moving shot. Whether it’s time, space, or the demands of the script. However, the lighting can sometimes be the most difficult part. Having a vision for the type of lighting that you’re aiming for, when shooting a moving shot, will help you identify places where a moving shot will work and where it won’t. After this video, hopefully long moving shots won’t be as intimidating as they were before. Just make sure the shot works for your story.
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Summary:
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[@aputurelighting]

What's the longest moving shot you've ever done? Comment below for a chance to win an Aputure M9!

[@antony_303]

34:14 (34 are the mins) I simulated a thied person GTA, and it went well

[@CNMTCFilms]

Not really long, maybe around 60 seconds. It was part of a film for school.👌🏼

[@ajsison7343]

Aputure , made a one take short film actually! 3 mins! kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmbNoYyHaaeGl7M

[@Darkanent]

This short I did was a single take. 3 Mins.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gH69q2mdZb2nidU

[@GenesisMoss]

Bout ten seconds. Walking from one room to another

[@joshallred726]

First off thanks for the content...at the end I would say it's up to personal taste. For me, 2:42 is where I would stop lighting, that's the money. If I were to add more I would just have someone bring in a bounce board or have a practical lamp light his face when he sits. I do still like the use of that broken up sunlight on the wall, I would keep that.

[@jjenkk]

hell yes. couldn't agree more here. good shape to the light. final shot is super flat and almost amateur looking.

[@BrianBrayMedia]

Agree completely.

[@peterhall4216]

Me too! I'd just want a bit more contrast but similar setup

[@pulkitwadhwa2207]

was just going to write that great video tho. still the end result doesnt looks natural

[@dmnfilms6040]

Lol I think they're purposely overdoing it so they make u think that u need x6-7 300d ii for a simple scene

[@joshuamakes]

You spent so much time lighting this shot you that you failed to recognize that the actor’s vest is five sizes too small

[@RareDay]

this comment got me

[@of1300]

Too flat. Too bright. Too evenly lit. Looks like a set. It´s just as bright inside as outside = phony. Keep some shadows inside. Looks much better at 2:42-2:44 without any fill at all. On our sets we used to say: "Fill light is for little girls." - What we actually meant was: Fill light is for chicken shit cinematographers who dare not to create some shadows for depth and realism. They need to brighten everything up out of fear of underexposure which is ridiculus in the age of digital. It would have been more interesting to see a video about how cool it is in a moving shot, when people step into shadows and out of them. Nowadays we use negative fill all the time.

[@AnimeZone247]

What u talking about digital noise is nasty

[@gamtakogam9517]

I agree it is too flat image ...less fill would make it little better

[@firstnamesonly]

Shooting property listing videos for real estate agents with a RONIN-S (like the one you featured in this video) often involves long, one take passes through a home. But if I need to be more specific, the longest shot I think I've taken was just over 8 years ago when I asked the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes upon (and was way out of my league so to speak) out on a date. I'm happy top say that worked out great and I encourage everyone to never shy a way from taking "long shots", whether it be creatively or in life.

[@storylitfilms]

Thank you again for this educational content! The longest moving shot I've ever captured was when I was DPing a short film that required swat team to enter into a warehouse. We decided to do it as a one take and it required several takes even though we spent a few hours blocking the scene.

[@Ranger7Studios]

The short film I was just working on, there was a 5 minute one shot of a woman walking around her house trying to find her family, being greeted only by the chaos of an empty house.

[@MaxGleiser]

Thank you for the content!! Always great to follow Aputure. The longest show I captured was a music video where we follow the lead through one year on her life, exiting and entering back the house while 46 gags took place, 4 stations and all on an Alexa Mini, Angenieux 30-90mm on a Ronin-2 on ReadyRig, and lit mostly by Aputure lights and a few Kinos.

[@EditButter]

Longest shot I’ve caught so far was at a “RUN & GUN” music video shoot using an RGB light strapped to my chest horizontally with a backpack, and a gimbal with my camera set to manual and keeping the same distance for focus. Was during a cloudy day for a soft easy exposure and I had one extra person to guide me so I didn’t fall into traffic while walking backwards haha.

[@aputurelighting]

Wow that sounds wild!

[@Harshinstinct]

I havent shot it yet, was going before all the corona stuff but it was an entire 3 min thriller short that takes place in a hallway with the camera not moving at all. To help keep the scene dark I placed small lights where ever the major blocking sections were. This meant using a lot of practicals and window light

[@colourgradist7035]

I once setup my rig to film my idea journaling process, thinking I'd get 10-20 minutes of slow motion at my desk, lamp-lit, nice and moody. I ended up getting into a complete flow and didn't turn the camera off for six hours of non- stop writing , my camera was powered from mains and shooting compressed raw, so it just kept going. So, I have the footage of the ideas that started my business, all in one sitting. Not very often you catch footage of a moment that changes your life.

[@prayforpeace2204]

I would say kill the 120D fill light here and you're good. Or do a different setup with a top light and scratch through the window maybe a practical at the back of the room. Shadows are our friend!

[@FlyinRyanProductions406]

Started looking into getting a 120d ii. Then went to looking into getting a 300d ii. Finally I see a new 300x coming soon and now I’m confused on what to buy or wait for?? Suggestions? I’m thinking 300d ii is probably gonna be the best as I can always gel. Great tutorials BTW. 💪🏻

[@solomoncisneros1216]

I think it just depends on what you want to shoot. I think for a comedy or ad, the lighting set up is fine. But I definetely prefer 2:42 - 2:44. And I would add the mirror light in too. And then with as dark as it is, I'd add a small lamp on the table and then use that as motivation to light his face when he sits down. But its anyones preference lol

[@TheFilmBuilders]

Aputure is AMAZING! they helped inspire me to get out of my comfort zone and start making tutorials! I would really appreciate some support! Thanks guys for being so awesome!

[@EFNcomedy]

Dude that's awesome! Imma check you out!

[@millennialoutreach8294]

I took a look. Ur really funny!

[@davidhoffman6831]

Now that's cool man!

[@CNMTCFilms]

They're called Aputure😉

[@aputurelighting]

Thanks for the love! We're glad you like the videos!

[@Nelaitis]

The longest shot for me so far was 2 minutes long. We were shooting in a box cart of a train, implying that the light sources lighting the scene were the lantern. So we could not have the continuous light, but rather have fixtures in different parts on the space and then dim them up in the areas where the lanterns were brought to. But thins was a helpful video, thanks!

[@BastiMark]

Which Aputure light do u recommend as my first aputure light?

[@ShineOnMe]

3 hour sermon would have to be my longest shot.. guy was supposed to preach for 1 hour, he had me scrambling for card space, sweating over battery life on mics and cameras..

[@welshsteve2009]

Great tutorial. Thanks 😀

[@davidhoffman6831]

Love the hair man

[@brucehazelton4393]

My longest shot? 10 minutes, many takes, 3 great actors, one amazing camera op :-)

[@kelvinkoh1757]

Good work but i think just 1st and 2nd light already look so much more cinematic tho

[@OtayMedia]

I don’t have a particular oner that I can remember but shooting dance content and for live music shows, I find myself on a gimbal or glidecam for over 3 minutes at a time per take and I never have any further support like a easyrig or vest. What makes it harder is that a lot of times I’m doing big moves that cover large areas of the set/location.

[@neoray10]

A fight scene between two people in a dark narrow alleyway , lit it with practical tube lights diffused with parchment paper and it has a handheld shot to portray anarchy.

[@granprodg.a.9923]

greats work ! grande broo

[@heavenlyeyes4605]

hello, very helpful video, TY! CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT LIGHT METER YOU USE/ REFERENCE HERE ?? (i would like to follow your advice and not just get one, but get the one you use

[@AztecKing444]

I had a conversation walking scene in a short I did and I had one gimbal shot tracking back that lasted about 20 seconds. Definitely needed the person spotting me that time!

[@aputurelighting]

Very cool! 20 seconds doesn't seem like that long but when you're holding a gimbal it feels like forever!

[@AztecKing444]

Yeah that was a fairly long time ago- After watching this video I can't wait to get and and shoot and do a much longer one! :)

[@TheoBEfilms]

I really wish you guys did this for a low key lighting set up.

[@lonewalkerproductions]

Same

[@fulcifan6946]

Cool look. It has a late 70’s/early 80’s Italian horror/Giallo feel. That would make a great video, actually.

[@badhombresproductions5421]

The longest shot I've done was where the camera was still as a character ran into frame and ran in the direction of the camera, and as she passed the focus switched to one of the main characters sitting in his car. From there the camera tracked him as he exited and began to follow the other character.

[@TheFilmBuilders]

I like your film brothers keeper. I commented

[@spleen.pictures]

Very flat and no imagination... Really boring

[@aryansethi6776]

The longest shot I took was 2:50, it was handheld and a friend guiding me by pulling my t-shirt

[@aputurelighting]

Haha that's awesome. What a good friend!

[@farishmsaleem3685]

The longest shot I was take was a fight scene for my new short film and the short was take with a holder rig

[@adamfrench2337]

Quick question. You all seem to select the 300D and the 300X for similar purposes here. What motivates your use of one lamp over another?

[@aputurelighting]

Good question. In this case they could have been interchanged because we were lighting with daylight color temp, and those were the lights we had. However with the 300X being bi-color we'll usually use that one when we need a warmer color temp.

[@TheGavinAsh]

What is the Aputure 300X? I’m familiar with the 300D and 300D mk2, but not the X.

[@StephanWahlen]

bi-color (dual cct) version of the 300 series

[@chrisch6]

The opening shot in Gravity or the whole movie 1917 :D

[@ashnagar7067]

Please make a video for conversation light up set 😊

[@BastiMark]

Can you make a video about how to light music video scenes like big stars? justin bieber, selina gomez... ?

[@DIYCameraGuy]

0:03:20 one-er lots of setup, the best take was the second.

[@GeneralGarvel]

I once did a oner shot handheld of a sermon that I lit for this quarentine haha the entire thin was a lot of fun but my arm hurt after holding the camera for 25 mins... Idk if that counts lol

[@TheFilmBuilders]

Bro you have some awesome content! I just followed your channel would you like to follow mine swell? I do weekly filmmaking tutorials

[@PavlaVankova]

The longest was probably just a few mins. Still it turned out very well :)

[@TheFilmBuilders]

Bro your film run is really good. I followed. Come check out my stuff and help me reach my first 100 followers

[@martacarocci4498]

What was the low budget camera?

[@CountVonStrangeIV]

Longest scene I ever captured was in a short film a friend and I made about the struggle of posing action figures. It really wasn’t thAt long of a scene to be honest.

[@davidoh3497]

Great information! Really helped me think about lighting more but I think there are too much light and i would prefer a more contrast in the lights because of how flat the final shot looks. But great video nonetheless

[@tylerburton5440]

Captured one that was 15 seconds long. But one I was actually able to use would be more around 7 seconds.

[@TheFilmBuilders]

Dude that dinner for 1 video is hilarious. I just followed you. Check out mine

[@nerdratmedia]

We shot an entire music video in one take! We ended up blowing power and having to ditch our light set ups and use car lights. Video will be live soon!

[@LucentFilms]

about 4 mins it was a 1shot music video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oprTY2dto5qYfZo

[@aputurelighting]

Very cool! I look the look of the video, very grind-house!

[@micahmahaffey5919]

the lighting here looks pretty flat, I say turn off the indoor lights. Or turn them down. honestly, it kinda looked better with just the window light. Even just adding a lamp practical would have filled in the light inside enough but what you added was WAY over kill I think, keep it up!

[@michaelpugh5332]

The longest shot I've ever captured was of a two year old chasing a pair of ducks. #Quackature

[@TheFilmBuilders]

Lol that's adorable. Hey bro I just checked out your channel and followed it. Would you like to check out mine? Aperture inspires me to create weekly filmmaking tutorials.

[@sanilalkuttimon1755]

😍😍😍😍

[@rhyandeguzman_]

Your videos are really helpful and of best quality! Every filmmaker, new or veteran, MUST be subscribed to you guys! Best education on a free platform. Again, thank you so much! As for my longest shot, it was in my award-winning (flexing yo 💪🏻) short film Paglalagas ng Langit (Shedding of Heaven). In this scene, Brandon was convincing his sister to take the drugs he was so amused with. He had a VERY long dialogue and we have to capture the entirety of it. PLUS we have filmed it on different angles using only one camera 😭. Very difficult and a hell in post, but definitely worth it! I would really appreciate if you could check it out! We’ve really put enormous efforts in it.

[@rhyandeguzman1561]

Rhyan De Guzman your film’s a must-watch, indeed!

[@TheFilmBuilders]

Hey Rhyan I just checked out your channel and you do amazing work! I am a filmmaker as well. Wanna connect?

[@rhyandeguzman_]

TrenDee Productions sure, would love to! Also, just subbed to your channel. 😉

[@aputurelighting]

Wow thank you Rhyan! Sounds like a really cool film

[@rhyandeguzman_]

Aputure thank you!

[@hillarykitoyo3210]

Longest shot i have taken was of two subjects walking down a street while conversing..

[@PawelChyrowski]

As always, a low budget looks better than the high budget :)

[@aputurelighting]

Funny how that works! Now you can stop renting REDs!

[@PawelChyrowski]

@@aputurelighting and Pocket 4k :) I'm still with original Pocket. Maybe... less is more :) Great content though

[@TamTV12]

Pawel Chyrowski Fairchild Sensors from old Blackmagic cams are better than the new 4K sensor. Something unique about the old sensor. I have a micro and won’t be upgrading anytime soon.

[@PawelChyrowski]

@@TamTV12 damn true

[@TamTV12]

Pawel Chyrowski RAW 1080p is plenty, but you can always upscale to 4K on the full version of DaVinci 16!

[@vfxstar7019]

22 seconds but it was with a fire flare lol

[@photojournalists]

Longest shot was shooting a music video in one take at night.

[@alejomg117]

The longest shot I’ve capture was a “Oner” for a comercial I shot for the 911 service on my country Costa Rica. We had to flip a car upside down, and move through the scene were there was cops, ambulances, firefighters, a line of 5 cars stopped by the highway patrol and even the special forces (badass cops) arriving on a motorcycle... it took us several months of planing an a hole 12h shoot to finish the shot! 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@aputurelighting]

That's incredible! Sounds like a great commercial

[@nicolasthonnerieux]

i did a full music video in one shot (around 4:30). search for "divine shade - ashes" on youtube !

[@avinashmurthy4690]

The before looked better than the after, lol

[@andersonpereiradasilva3253]

the longest scene I did was from a hiphop music video

[@Landonlacey10]

The quality of these tutorials has gone down so much since Valentina Vee was the host 🤦🏼

[@peterhall4216]

Lighting a moving subject... by lighting up the entire set

[@abhirajsingh5386]

Wouldn't it be better if they shot shadow side? Would add more drama

[@RizGhumro]

So just use book light technique for all the moving shots. Ever.

[@harunkarali720]

Say it's not "that" complicated, adds four lights and a mirror. -_-

[@ZvilgantisKailis]

Commenting below for a chance to win an Aputere M9.

[@tinkeryan7]

Not sure Matt has enough expertise to teach lighting. Bring back real working guest DPs.

[@nicolashepburn6720]

Low budget looked better than High Budget LOL WTF

[@frankarcher3902]

Anyone still watch this video?

[@Fodaydontplay]

How to light a moving subject??? Buy everything single light has aputure has ever made

[@aputurelighting]

If you have a light covering every inch of the set then the actor will never be in darkness!

[@collaborativekiwistudios1191]

Wedding ceremony lol

[@aputurelighting]

hahaha yes!

[@mariacrizandrabaylon6121]

Looks flat though?

[@MoncoField]

This was really cool but it would have been much more helpful if you didnt do all of this on a movable set lol

[@adrianroman3152]

iugh

[@edpr2244]

Too much lighting going on here. It's extremely flat.

[@EDDY69]

That's kinda more of a preference thing, there's no right and wrong way to light a scene.

[@tlopez5069]

I'm no film guy, but this lighting sucks.

[@bricetrophardy]

Flat

[@Jishnujosh]

Actor behave very feminine