2 Essential Lighting Techniques

[@khirobenglia7764]

man you are helping all filmmakers around the world and for that i thank you

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Very happy you're finding my videos so helpful and thank you so much for the kind words - I appreciate it! :)

[@bekzela]

@@RobEllisCinematographer the goat

[@carlobortoli]

The man who never smiles, but always teaches us a lot.

[@north.fotografia]

It's like he's angry at something but then the voice is like nice and soothing hahahahaha

[@eyosiasg.8557]

Rob, I have been watching you for 2 years now. I think you have the best lighting tutorial videos I have ever seen-such attention to detail and logical progression. Thank you for helping us improve!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Too kind! I put a lot into these and I'm glad that's reflecting in their usefulness. I appreciate your kind words massively and I'm happy you've continued to find my videos helpful over the last 2 years - thank you so much! :)

[@elineev]

You are such a good educator. Very insightful and explained perfectly. Nothing too much or too little. Clean and clear. Thanks so much

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I do worry I over or under-explain things quite a bit when writing these, so it's great to hear I'm striking the right balance - I appreciate your kind words, thank you so much! :)

[@cheesi4632]

i was blown away when you revealed that table scene was all natural light. i didnt expect that at all! incredible video as always.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Glad you appreciated that part, it was a fun shot to do! Thank you so much! :)

[@testowykana1763]

I think this is my favourite channel when it comes to lighting. I like how quick yet informative these lighting tips are.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Very happy to hear it and I’m glad my videos are proving useful in some way - thank you so much! Great to hear the pacing is working too :)

[@iñagutierrezfilms]

Best lighting channel on YT. Thanks

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Wow, thank you! I appreciate that, glad you’re enjoying/finding my videos helpful!! :)

[@UncleStudios]

You are the best person who explain about lighting details not just lighting setup this details no need to know... best man

[@kofofolo]

This was so so helpful. Literally the best lighting video I’ve watched. You have no idea how helpful seeing the “bts” shots of where the lights are instead of just a picture diagram helped! Also seeing curtains being drawn and the flags being put up instead of actually just them randomly popping up helped me understand so much better! Thank you so much

[@cfsactor]

Beyond techniques and practices, you are incredibly effective at showing us what we should be looking for in our frame when shaping the light.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Super happy to hear that! Sometimes the small things can be let off without a super meaningful impact on the image, like the light hitting the side of the sofa here - it does look more realistic blocked off and helps with the lamp light direction, but it may not even be noticed by the general audience. So it’s always a case of balancing that finesse with how important it is overall/how much time you have to shoot, etc! But developing an eye to look for these bits is always going to be extremely useful if you want maximum control!

[@MrHduarte70]

Some of the nicest videos ive ever seen in filmmaking universe ❤

[@johnstewart3391]

Rob, I used to work in feature, local, national, and indie productions, as a gaffer, Dp, an electrician. On smaller shoots I would work as G&E. I have day played on several feature films such as " Need For Speed, October Sky, just to name a couple. " Your lighting skills are spot on for any production. I hope you are getting to use these amazing skills in production. You are very talented, and really understand how lighting, or the lack of light works. Your knowledge of lighting is remarkable. I always look forward to your videos. Thank you for sharing!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Too kind John, sounds like you've had an interesting career! This is generally a hobby turned online teaching job for me, I just used to shoot local music videos, etc (still do sometimes). I really appreciate the kind words and it means a lot to hear you're enjoying the videos so much - thank you! :)

[@71-Films]

You are a true legend Rob! Every time you drop a video I look forward to watching it and I am never disappointed!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Too kind - I hope I can continue to not disappoint! :D Thank you so much!

[@merakimade7440]

I was just watching one of your tutorials and "BOOM" here you are again!!! LFG!!!! 💯😀

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Haha excellent timing on my part! :)

[@FenzirL]

The amount of effort put into such tutorials is massive! And the fact that we are able to watch it for free is mindblowing! I have been able to learn alot of filmmaking and lighting techniques from you! Big thanks from the bottom of my heart! 🙌🏻

[@lifeofakashh]

This video should be shown in film schools. I can’t believe it is free.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Happy you found it so informative - thank you!

[@BehindThePhoto]

Your videos are simply some of the best educational filmmaking tutorials on the web. Sincere thanks 📽🙌🙏

[@kristiyangoytchev3005]

Bow to you brother! ♥️🙏🏻♥️

[@verebellus]

love your use of different cameras and older ones specifically, cant even tell that you swap vetween them

[@Visethelegend]

I swear this and Wandering Dp are the best cinematography channels out there and I’ve watched a lot of content.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I love his videos! Appreciate your kind words and your support - thank you! :)

[@suddagrafi]

i just want to simply say thank you bro, that's all 🙌

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I appreciate it! :) Glad you enjoyed this one!

[@AbdullaevSalih]

Пожалуй, у вас лучшие уроки по освещению. Вы молодец.

[@Bradleersmith]

I am a cinematographer from Jamaica and I am learning so much from your videos tbh ❤

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Always happy to hear someone so far from me geographically is finding my videos useful, makes doing them worth it - thank you so much! ❤️

[@MylezNevison]

My liege has done it once more🔥🙌🏾 . Brilliant presentation, m'lord!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Too kind, always appreciate your kind and regal words haha - thank you so much!

[@DoublewideCinema]

Awesome lesson, thanks

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Happy you enjoyed it/found it useful - thank you so much!

[@ruizchen181]

Rob , thanks so much for these tutorial , I just keep learning lighting from the best teacher on YT !

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Too kind and so glad you’re finding my videos so useful! Thank you so much! :)

[@DulinaChandrasiri]

Who needs film school when you have Rob Ellis! Thankyou 🙏

[@MelanieOlive]

Thank you so much, Rob ❤

[@GiannisVeronis]

okay you raised the bar too high with this one!!! Marvelous presentation,narative and end results!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Happy you found this one so helpful! Thank you for the kind words :)

[@HarshRaj-p4v]

That's some serious lighting techniques 🔥.. learned a lot 👍🏻

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Glad to hear it! :)

[@thephotopro7193]

I don't have words to thank you

[@bensaben3681]

Great job, I feel like each of your videos is a master class on its own, keep up the great work, you’ve just earned your self a raving fan! Cheers!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I really appreciate it, thank you so much!! :)

[@welchworks]

I friggin' love the dramatic sound design in these videos. Whoosh! Whooooosh! You can FEEL the effect of that negative fill! 🥲 🤣

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Hahaha I love that you love the whooshes! 🤣 Those little sounds take me ages to finesse in the edit so I'm happy to see them recognised!

[@jochenretter]

Now I have an idea how much work one single shot can be for a cinematographer, impressive!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Glad you enjoyed it Jochen!

[@jayanthonyolson]

Your breakdowns are so good. Thank you for making these!

[@grasshopper005]

Thanks brother for dropping this.

[@germanrobledo]

I'm learning a lot with your videos! 🤓 Cheers from Spain!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Happy to hear it! :) Cheers from the UK!!

[@timdanyo898]

Thanks Rob. Great video.

[@ruancarlodop]

Cant thank you enough. Thanks for being my inspiration for the past years.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Very happy my videos have been inspiring you over the past few years - thank you for continuing to watch them and support me :)

[@bslbsl5857]

With low equipment now i can achieve cinema grade. Thanks for your free knowledgeable videos

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I hope the video has helped with your work - thank you so much!

[@scott-trout]

This was very helpful. Thanks. I always enjoy when a new video of yours comes out. I recently made a quick short and found myself recalling and utilizing tips and tricks from your videos.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

That's awesome! Glad my videos have been helpful to such an extent, I hope they can continue to help also! Thank you so much!

[@KaanSenel]

Always super excited when you post a new video. You're the goat of cinematography - lighting on KZbin my man, thanks for these!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Too kind - although there are definitely people better and more qualified on here than me! But I'm glad I can teach this stuff in a small capacity like I do and so thankful people find it so useful - so I appreciate your kind words massively, thank you!!

[@bulletintubeofficial]

You are Amazing ♥Don't stop making videos , it's a Big help for Filmmaker around the World ! I have a Request can you please make Something in Zero budget as most beginners don't have budget so we need a Zero budget Lighting Tutorial Pls.....

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much! ❤️ Technically putting some black curtains up like in this video is about as zero budget as you can get!

[@TheTjark57]

best light tutorials out there thx.

[@bronislavrozbitskiy852]

Man, so cool and useful content. Thanks from Kyiv🙏

[@EzeCarabajal]

Eso es realmente una gran ayuda! Muchas gracias Rob 🙌🏻

[@shihtzu619]

Always love you Rob

[@FLVXVLF]

Woah, the OG Black Magic Cinema Toaster! Still holds up!! 😂

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

@@FLVXVLF I love that toaster! 🤣

[@theindiefilmdude]

PERFECTION! Loved seeing the Neewer Scrim Kit put into action! I use the Impact version. Works great😎

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much! Yeah they are useful little kits, always nice to have them to hand!

[@theindiefilmdude]

@@RobEllisCinematographer Absolutely! Saves you some 💸💰 as well.

[@bastian8597]

Thank you so much for the advice Rob!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Glad you found it helpful in some way! :)

[@zonaboba]

awesome result

[@bboyakwel]

So amazing and well explained thank you for all that free content 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 so so so helpfulll

[@tomwielspuetz]

this is so amazing, just a little request: could you add the White Balance you used?

[@malitiracorinnee.1656]

thank you so much for this! learned a lot ❤

[@maturename9817]

probably your best video yet

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much! Appreciate it!

[@alexandernilssonmusic]

Thank you for a valuable lesson!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Absolutely - happy you found this one valuable! :)

[@vramit24]

Thank u for supporting us without saying do subscribe and like share❤

[@CinemaWithSeth]

I have the same matte box. I will just loosen it on the lens a little and rotate it to where I need the flag then tighten it back down.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Absolutely, that's the better option - I just wanted to get that finger flag in the video somehow and this was the best way!

[@Dieje]

Next LEVEL

[@egorizor]

Thank you so much ❤

[@marckuppr]

Accidentally found this video and subscribed before the video ends.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you for your support! :)

[@nickoloui]

Brilliant, just brilliant!

[@soybrunomarin]

Haha I love that you talk in plural like "we set up a flag" and it is you alone, and then you say "his face looks really flat" and it is your face in reality lmao great video, as always, so entertainingly useful!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Maybe I have a twin! ;) Thank you so much, glad you're finding them useful! :)

[@aveiansangle]

This was a great informative video!

[@biniyamromi5654]

this is so helpful, thank you

[@verebellus]

learned so much from your videos

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Happy to hear it, I hope I can continue to help with future videos! :)

[@guilhermevieira8337]

Amazing work!

[@harikrishdop]

Lovely, Need some techniques on lighting a scene in like a wide ,closeup and some moving shots in interiors

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Something like this has been on the cards for some time, it will arrive at some point! :)

[@suryasingh6983]

​ @RobEllisCinematographer Lovely video! Could you do a video on shooting on log and lighting for it? As with some you need to overexpose by 2 stops etc .and how one can manage these ratios. Still a beginner, sorry if what I am saying is not a huge problem to solve.

[@shueibdahir]

I had no idea the old BMCC 2.5K could look this amazing. That's crazy

[@gaarax0x]

Fairchild sensor looks pleasing, almost ARRI like

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

It's produces a great image! The original Blackmagic trio of 2.5k, Pocket and Micro all have lovely images to work with, I believe they share a sensor!

[@SoloTraceur]

@@gaarax0x yep it's a reason that ON Semiconductor (who manufactures the ALEV 3 sensor in the Arri cameras) bought out Fairchild for $2.4 billion only four years after the BMCC 2.5k came out.

[@SoloTraceur]

still using mine for films

[@callumleakfilms]

You're amazing mate.

[@AllThingsFilm1]

Fantastic video. I recently picked up the LUMIX S5ii and I'm shooting a lot of sample footage to share. This is perfectly timed to inspire some of my samples. You have an amazing sense of timing , it seems. 😀 Cheers!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I've not yet shot with the S5ii, but I love the original S5 - I hope you're enjoying the camera! Haha, yes I always seem to time them well don't I - glad I am though, hope I continue to! :) Always appreciate your kind words, thank you so much!

[@pierrezapata90]

Been a subscriber of your channel since the 30K days or so. Always making great content! Keep it up. Gives me motivation to make content for my own channel too

[@flochfitness]

Excellent

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you Sean! :)

[@greglory]

Not the OG BMCC 2.5K!!! Love it!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Absolutely, still makes a great image!!

[@greglory]

@@RobEllisCinematographer that camera was another 5d Mark II moment, you knew things were just going to get better and better for us film guys. You make that image sing my brother👏🏽

[@sudarshankar9094]

The goat 🐐

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Appreciate it, thank you so much!!

[@aaronthecameraguy]

As always, amazing Rob.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you Aaron, glad you enjoyed this one! :)

[@Sazis17]

Became a fan of your work and content

[@DushtYantr]

You're THE best.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

I appreciate it massively, I hope the videos are proving useful in some way! Thank you so much!

[@jackbarron8880]

You're the man! x

[@micahsmithmedia]

very helpful thank you!

[@nordfilmcompany]

133k now, here we go. Well done mate👊😎

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Woo! Thank you so much, I appreciate it! :) KZbin is a tough game with it’s algorithm but happy I’ve got this far with it - and it’s thanks to you and the other viewers that I have, so thank you, it means a lot ☺️

[@nordfilmcompany]

@@RobEllisCinematographerYou are more than welcome mate! We do the same with photography on my partners account, so I have an idea of how much effort that goes into it, so thank you very much for sharing it. Well done👍

[@davadh]

Still doing God's work, my friend. Thank you for teaching us!

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you for watching! Beyond happy you’re finding my videos useful in some way - appreciate it massively! :)

[@CormacTully]

7:45 That's probably a better solution. I was using gaff tape lol

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Haha whatever works! Like someone else in the comments mentioned, you could also just spin your matte box sideways, if you don't need to block any light from above! I just wanted to get the finger flag in there somewhere haha

[@Rafael-r2e]

THANK YOU

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you for watching!! :)

[@josephpaahana]

Marvelous

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it!

[@brandserie9824]

Love you. Do you color grade the scene afterwards

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Yes! Everything is color graded :)

[@artyomgordeychik5274]

Great job👏🏻🙌🏻

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much, happy you enjoyed it!

[@elgh0sh]

DUDE! THANKS❤

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you for watching, hope it was helpful in some way!! ❤️

[@aflam-g4t]

thank you , very important informations

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Hope you found it useful! :)

[@arashgoodarzi3152]

Dear Rob , are there any paid courses or anything like that from you that we can purchase and use an A to Z tutorial ? anything that teaches lighting completely ? BTW this one was amazing , as a creator I underatand how much time and effort you put in this❤

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

The “Recreating Daylight” course on Moment goes from the very basics of daylight to recreating it entirely, but besides that, it’s just the “Lighting with Color” mini course that’s available right now! Thank you so much for your kind words, it does take a while to put these together and I appreciate anyone who understands how tough that process can be - thank you! ❤️

[@wunderwald_films]

Great video! Great channel! 😇

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Thank you so much! :)

[@palmaproductions4237]

Do you or can you provide links to purchasing these tools and equipment?

[@RenukaDeviPictures]

Awesome

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@Bo_Hazem]

Your videos are addictive! They should be illegal.

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Haha thank you Bo! Always appreciate it :)

[@luckyboy5nu]

Wow this is such good advice, i'm sorry if this is a big ask but where do you even learn these fundamentals? it's nice to have a video like this that summarizes everything in a neat 9 minute entertaining video but i'm just really curious how i could learn how to apply these principles myself, for context i'm a Game Developer so i usually use these Lighting Techniques in 3D Environments, Where did you start learning the fundamentals?

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Videos like this help to start with and even after you understand the fundamentals, because you can always pick up new stuff - but how you really learn, in my opinion (and this applies to most things!) is to just start making stuff. You’ll fail at achieving what you want to achieve, try to figure out why it’s not working, analyse why this might be (by getting advice from things like tutorials and also thinking about it yourself) and then try again. The more you do this the more you’ll start being able to put together what you know and even find your own way of doing things too. This is a constant process and it’s how I learn anything!

[@mediabox4579]

love it

[@RobEllisCinematographer]

Happy to hear it - thank you! :)

[@erikhimmelstrup7840]

Where can you buy cheap flag material in decent sizes and what material works best? Is there a place for equivalent bounce cloth and semi-transparent silk material?

[@erikhimmelstrup7840]

Links would be much apreciated and thank you for the high quality videos! ❤️

[@adrianvasian]

by minute 7:00 i was picturing this process going ad infinitum as a gag =))

[@O.W_Films]

maestro!