Lighting can be tricky. Especially, lighting the faces of various human beings. More so, when you don’t have the time or means for a thorough set-up, and above all, are filming outside in ever-changing conditions. Luckily, a situation like this doesn’t mean you have to settle for potentially unpleasing visuals. Seasoned wildlife cinematographer Paul Atkins, ASC, offers us a variety of tips on how to light people outdoors and do it quickly, with limited gear, and by using the sun to your advantage. To learn from Paul Atkins’s experience, we’ll be taking a look at one of the lessons from our freshly added MZed course “Lighting People – On Location”, which you can also read about here. It was filmed in cooperation with the ASC as part of the Jack Wild Summit and includes four hours of distilled practical knowledge from both Atkins and Stephen Lighthill. The Master cinematographers share their on-location lighting workflows both indoors and outdoors, showing various set-ups and how they apply in real-life situations. You can watch the whole course on MZed.com. Choosing the camera direction to light people outdoors Let’s say, you’re a documentary filmmaker or video creator, and you suddenly find yourself in a situation where you need to shoot a spontaneous interview outdoors. Assuming your background options are similar in any direction you look, which way would you (or better, should you) point the camera? That’s the first question Paul Atkins asks his students and it’s the first and most important decision you...
Published By: CineD - Friday, 15 March, 2024