lighting exercise from jade on Vimeo.

The aim of this exercise was to understand light and how it can be manipulated. This was the most challenging exercise for me, as apparently I have no clue about how light works in film. In photography, I tend to use natural light, but in videography, where the subject is moving, lighting is very important. I have not been able to watch a movie or tv show without trying to figure out where and how light is used. Since I rarely ever use artifical light, I decided that I would shoot louise indoors, specifically under a spot light. I would not say this shot was successful, as I realised that the space under the light i wanted to use was limited and there were also many more lights in the background. I had no idea how the lights in the back would affect the video and decided to go ahead and shoot anyway. We were also limited on time, so I had no choice but to keep this shot. The spot light was also too high to reflect on Louise’s face, instead it created a halo on her hair. I wanted my shot to have a contrast from light to dark, hence why the spotlight and I thought it also matched the tone of the script. I would definitely want to shoot a scene like this again, but have more control over the lighting.