Lighting

Lighting is very important as it is able to reflect moods and is able to create ideas within the audience. The parody genre usually aims to make fun of upbeat and happier songs, there aren't that many parodies of sad songs that exist. The lighting usually is not specialised, however it tends to match the lighting used in the video it's trying to imitate. 

During a double Media lesson last year, we were brought to a lighting and colour workshop hosted by Mr Rosenberg in the media suite. The aim of the workshop was to teach us how to use lighting effectively when filming. We were taught about three main lights involved in filming:

Key light - First and usually most important. It is used to highlight the form and dimension of the subject. It shines directly upon the subject and serves as its principal illuminator; the strength, colour and angle of the key determines the shot's overall lighting design.

Fill light - Is used to reduce the contrast of a scene to match the dynamic range of the recording media and record the same amount of detail typically seen by eye in average lighting, what is considered normal. It also shines on the subject, but from a side angle relative to the key and is often positioned lower than the key which balances it by illuminating shaded surfaces and lessening chiaroscuro effects, such as shadow cast on the face and nose. It is softer than the key, preventing stark contrasts.

Back light - Is used to give the subject a rim of light to separate the subject from the background and highlighting contours. It shines on the subject from behind, often (but not necessarily) to one side or the other.

Mr Rosenberg then showed us how this would work practically:

We were also shown how the lights could be used against walls to give a different type of background image, which was an example use of colour effects. 

Colour is also extremely important when it comes to filming the thriller. The aim is to get the right colour in the right places so that the audience will react to the video as they would a professional film. First and most importantly, white balance must be retained, and without this, the colours of the video will be completely incorrect.

Mr Rosenberg also brought colour filters so we could see how to film with other colours. Colour filters aren't important for thrillers, but it gives us an idea of editing the clip to be in black and white.



When thinking about lighting for my music video, I knew that I was going to film a lot of it outside during the day, so natural lighting was going to assist me which would leave me no need to use that much artificial lighting. However, I then had to use the green screen in a studio, which required a lot of artificial light so that I could receive the best picture quality in order to place images clearly in editing.