1. STAY IN RANGE
As long as you stay in range on the waveform monitor (especially in the highlights), your image will look filmic no matter what camera you use. It is often the blown highlights that gives away the limited dynamic range of older or smaller sensors. Today, there are many affordable field monitors that can display waveform and false color to help videographers stay in range. New cameras like the Lumix S1 and S1H even have built in waveform displays.
If you find yourself without a waveform monitor, turn on your zebras to check for blown highlights.
2. LOG IS NOT LIGHTING
Shooting in Log mode may get you a few stops of leeway, but it does nothing to the actual disparity in the lighting ratio of your scene. When shared on rec709 screens, hard choices still have to made on what gets blown out and what gets muddy/noisy in post.
3. KILL THEN FILL
To stay in range, you can either fill silhouetted subjects or kill harsh toplight /backlight sources. Filling almost always cost more money than killing. But there is always a sweet spot if you kill a little before you fill. For example, scrims and diffusers can help to reduce the amount of backlght / toplight so that less wattage is required to match the incident backlight/top light. (The black fabric mesh of hifi speakers grille offers a few more stops of "ND' then the best commercially available scrim for anyone shooting backlit scenes.)
When the reverse scenario is true ( ie the background is severely underlit) do not exacerbate the difference with a strong key, instead change your lighting strategy to achieve more background /foreground separation.
4. INVERSE SQUARE LAW
This is pure common sense. A light gets brighter and larger/softer as you bring it nearer your subject. By framing your subject tighter, you can bring LED panels very, very close to your subject. LED panels don't give out as much as heat as the incandescents of yore, so take full advantage of that! .(COB LEDs however can still put out plenty of heat)
Opt for butterfly lighting with the source hovering inches above the subject if the backlight is very strong.
5. DON"T MAKE A HARD LIGHT SOFT
With today's wide range of LED lighting solutions it's just counter-productive to diffuse a point source and lose expensive lumens when there are very large and inexpensive LED mats that can pump out hundreds of watts of soft light. Save the fresnels and par-cans for shots that require focused beams and hard shadows. Use mats and panels for softboxes instead.
6. LEKO YOUR COBS
Today's LED COBs are hundred times larger than the tip of an old halogen bulb, so say good bye to razor sharp shadows from modern fresnels. The only way to cast sharp shadows with a COB is with a little help from a leko projector over your light.
7. MAKE YOUR HARD LIGHT HARDER BRFORE YOU MAKE IT SOFT
This is antithesis to Tip 5 above. BUT, when it is impractical / dangerous to install an LED mat in a location, a leko can concentrate the full output of a COB into a large bounce /ceiling, creating a virtual, heatless soft light source without unintended spillage. Waste not, want not!
8. PRACTICAL EXCUSES
This is somewhat a jedi mind trick. If your lighting is subpar for any reason, revealing the practical lights on camera seems to serve as a psychological balm for the viewer.
For example, Include the window and the tungsten lamp in your shot if you have a nasty mixed temperature scene you can't fix. It doesn't really matter if the light actually comes from the practicals, just so long as you can attribute blame to it!
9. LOCK AND LAYER
This is a simple workaround for interviews where there is insufficient LEDs to light both the subject and the background satisfactorily. Choose a STATIC background and then lock down the shot with a sturdy tripod, Shoot in manual focus mode.. Light the talent as per normal. After completing the interview, redirect the lights to illuminate parts of the background that did not overlap with the talent . Take care not to change the camera focus and framing as some lenses may breath quite a bit. . Re-composite the two optimally-lit layers in post. Works best for loosely framed shots. This trick can also work for overexposed background such as against a window. Simply frame the talent against the darkest part of the scene (for example, an adjacent highrise building instead of the sky) and allow the rest of the window to blow out. After the interview, record a clean plate without the talent, this time exposing for the exterior by changing any parameter except aperture (otherwise the DOF may change) Mask and recomposite the 2 layers.
10. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Don't get too hung up on lighting formulas. There is no right or wrong lighting, just appropriate or inappropriate lighting within a context/scene. LIght is visible, but has no mass and volume. Learning to control light with optics, modifiers and placement can be both exasperating and exhilarating. But with practice and observation, you will be able to formulate your own efficient set-piece strategies for different scenarios.
As long as you stay in range on the waveform monitor (especially in the highlights), your image will look filmic no matter what camera you use. It is often the blown highlights that gives away the limited dynamic range of older or smaller sensors. Today, there are many affordable field monitors that can display waveform and false color to help videographers stay in range. New cameras like the Lumix S1 and S1H even have built in waveform displays.
If you find yourself without a waveform monitor, turn on your zebras to check for blown highlights.
2. LOG IS NOT LIGHTING
Shooting in Log mode may get you a few stops of leeway, but it does nothing to the actual disparity in the lighting ratio of your scene. When shared on rec709 screens, hard choices still have to made on what gets blown out and what gets muddy/noisy in post.
3. KILL THEN FILL
To stay in range, you can either fill silhouetted subjects or kill harsh toplight /backlight sources. Filling almost always cost more money than killing. But there is always a sweet spot if you kill a little before you fill. For example, scrims and diffusers can help to reduce the amount of backlght / toplight so that less wattage is required to match the incident backlight/top light. (The black fabric mesh of hifi speakers grille offers a few more stops of "ND' then the best commercially available scrim for anyone shooting backlit scenes.)
When the reverse scenario is true ( ie the background is severely underlit) do not exacerbate the difference with a strong key, instead change your lighting strategy to achieve more background /foreground separation.
4. INVERSE SQUARE LAW
This is pure common sense. A light gets brighter and larger/softer as you bring it nearer your subject. By framing your subject tighter, you can bring LED panels very, very close to your subject. LED panels don't give out as much as heat as the incandescents of yore, so take full advantage of that! .(COB LEDs however can still put out plenty of heat)
Opt for butterfly lighting with the source hovering inches above the subject if the backlight is very strong.
5. DON"T MAKE A HARD LIGHT SOFT
With today's wide range of LED lighting solutions it's just counter-productive to diffuse a point source and lose expensive lumens when there are very large and inexpensive LED mats that can pump out hundreds of watts of soft light. Save the fresnels and par-cans for shots that require focused beams and hard shadows. Use mats and panels for softboxes instead.
6. LEKO YOUR COBS
Today's LED COBs are hundred times larger than the tip of an old halogen bulb, so say good bye to razor sharp shadows from modern fresnels. The only way to cast sharp shadows with a COB is with a little help from a leko projector over your light.
7. MAKE YOUR HARD LIGHT HARDER BRFORE YOU MAKE IT SOFT
This is antithesis to Tip 5 above. BUT, when it is impractical / dangerous to install an LED mat in a location, a leko can concentrate the full output of a COB into a large bounce /ceiling, creating a virtual, heatless soft light source without unintended spillage. Waste not, want not!
8. PRACTICAL EXCUSES
This is somewhat a jedi mind trick. If your lighting is subpar for any reason, revealing the practical lights on camera seems to serve as a psychological balm for the viewer.
For example, Include the window and the tungsten lamp in your shot if you have a nasty mixed temperature scene you can't fix. It doesn't really matter if the light actually comes from the practicals, just so long as you can attribute blame to it!
9. LOCK AND LAYER
This is a simple workaround for interviews where there is insufficient LEDs to light both the subject and the background satisfactorily. Choose a STATIC background and then lock down the shot with a sturdy tripod, Shoot in manual focus mode.. Light the talent as per normal. After completing the interview, redirect the lights to illuminate parts of the background that did not overlap with the talent . Take care not to change the camera focus and framing as some lenses may breath quite a bit. . Re-composite the two optimally-lit layers in post. Works best for loosely framed shots. This trick can also work for overexposed background such as against a window. Simply frame the talent against the darkest part of the scene (for example, an adjacent highrise building instead of the sky) and allow the rest of the window to blow out. After the interview, record a clean plate without the talent, this time exposing for the exterior by changing any parameter except aperture (otherwise the DOF may change) Mask and recomposite the 2 layers.
10. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Don't get too hung up on lighting formulas. There is no right or wrong lighting, just appropriate or inappropriate lighting within a context/scene. LIght is visible, but has no mass and volume. Learning to control light with optics, modifiers and placement can be both exasperating and exhilarating. But with practice and observation, you will be able to formulate your own efficient set-piece strategies for different scenarios.
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