Home Movies (1947)

0 FIG. I — This series of photos demonstrates two lighting techniques: Fixed lighting and changeable lighting. For the long shots, 2 reflector spots were placed at camera; another was placed high to the left. • FIG. I-A — Here lighting setup is identical with that used in Fig. I. However, the two basic camera lamps were moved in with the camera when shooting the closeups shown on adjoining page in Figs. 2-A and 3-A. ^LIMP ILLljUHNilTION FOR INDOOR nmu A Simple, Fixed Lighting Method That May Be Applied In Shooting All Your Interior Scenes By DON WHILE IT is generally true that it is quite simple to light interiors for home movies, it is equally true that it is easy to hght them badly. Much that has appeared in print on how to shoot movies indoors has been oversimplified, perhaps to encourage the beginner. But over-simplification frequently leaves important questions unanswered and what results is a certain monotony that becomes apparent in the filmer's average indoor shot. One need not know all the ways in which lighting can be spoiled. One sure way is to assume that it is so simple that it can be gone about haphazardly. Lighting, exposure, composition and action are so inter-related that to give haphazard attention to any one is to spoil the effect, perhaps, of all the others. On the other hand, you do not need to know all the professional tricks for getting special lighting effects in order to produce clear, sharp, sparkling indoor movies. It is only necessary to understand the limitations of the lamps M O H L E R with which you work in amateur movie making. Then make full use of variety that is possible within these limitations. You must always: (1) have enough light; (2) balance your light; (3) expose correctly. And it is important to give undivided attention to your lighting as one essential step in getting ready for final shooting. Usually that step comes after you have decided on your scene and your action, your composition and your camera angle. Then plac your lamps to do the most effective job; at this step regard it as a separate must — do it, and then forget it. Naturally this step is impossible if we do not have a plan for placing our lights. That's where the trouble starts. Once we get a clear idea of the really simple and easy things that lamps must do, we can avoid this trouble. Then we can put lamns where they'll do the best job and the factor of luck, good or bad, can be largely eliminated from our lighting. One lazy way around the problem of placing lamps is to put one or two right at the camera, clamped to the tripod, and shoot everything "flat." It works out rather well when it is used by itself, particularly in color. After awhile, however, such shots can become monotonous on the screen. This monotony can be relieved, of course, by side or backlighting but even then, each time the camera is moved toward or away from subject, the relative positions of the back or sidelights must also be changed. This means that the ratio between the camera lamps and the side or back lights is destroyed. Also, each time camera position is changed (and the front lighting units along with it), two problems arise. If you have ever had the experience of coming to the end of a lamp cord when freedom to move just a foot more would allow getting the shot just the way you want it, you know how clumsy it can be to have extension cords trailing along with the camera each time it is moved. Or if you have ever forgotten to change the diaphragm setting to allow for a new shooting distance as you move in, or out, you probably know that doing all your filming with lamps right at the camera forces you to divide your attention between the scene you are trying to film and the mechanics of filming it. That's bad! There is another fundamental way to light pictures that avoids these problems. It allows you to set and forget your lighting so that you can concentrate on what you are taking. At the picture taking instant your mind is free of any thought to lamps, lighting or exposure. Also the camera is free to move in from a long shot, to a medium shot, to a closeup, without giving any further attention to lamps, lighting or 20