The photo below was shot with so-called formula or 3-point lighting effectthree-point lighting.

Even though some lighting directors say there is no such thing as a "formula" for lighting, the formula we'll discuss will provide excellent results for most of your video work.

Later, we'll have a series of examples that shows this formula in action.

If you study this photo you may detect four light sources:

one on the left (the key light ) of the right (a much dimmer fill light )

one on the hair (a back light ),
and on the background (a background light )

Note: black and white photos and movies are often preferred when studying lighting because lighting effects are more readily apparent without the dimension of color. By the way, in case you are wondering, we call this three-point lighting, even though it involves four lights. Since the background light is not really on the subject, it doesn't count in three-point lighting.

The combination effect of these four lights (put in exactly the right place, at exactly the right intensity and with the right quality/coherence), creates an optimum over-all effect.

We'll start with the key light in this module and take up the other lights later.

Key Light Considerations

As the name implies, the key light is the main light.
" The key light highlights the forms, dimension
and surface detail of subject matter."

In terms of coherence or quality the key light should be in the middle of the hard-to-soft range. As you can see from some of the illustrations in these chapters, light that is either too hard or too soft is not desirable for most subject matter -- especially people. A "middle ground" is achieved with a Fresnel light.

key lightIn three-point (formula) lighting the key light is placed at an angle of between 30- and 45-degrees from either the left or the right of the camera.

In the photograph of the model at the start of the module the key light is on the left, just as it's shown in the drawing on the left.

Forty-five degrees off to one side is best because, among other things, it brings out more texture and form (dimension) in the subject. For the sake of consistency, the 45-degree angle will be used throughout this discussion.

This brings us to the rule we'll need to keep in mind, especially if multiple cameras and camera angles are involved in the production:

Light for the close-up camera.

In multiple-camera dramatic productions you will have to confer with the director during the camera-blocking phase of preproduction to find out which cameras will be taking most of the close-ups of each person.

Does it matter if the key is on the right or the left? Possibly. There are four things you need to think about in making this decision.

Person's best side Put the key on this side. It will emphasize the positive and downplay the negative facial characteristics.

Follow source Is there an apparent source of light in the setting such as a window or nearby table lamp? If so, be sure to key from this direction.

onsistency In most settings it will look a bit strange if two people are sitting next to each other and one is keyed from the left and one from the right.

What's most practical If there is a wall or obstruction on one side of the subject -- a possible problem when doing on-location shoots -- you will generally want to key from the side that will enable you to use a 45-degree angle.

One thing you don't want is to "put lights everywhere" in a frantic effort to wipe out every shadow from every conceivable camera angle. In a studio setting where there are multiple areas to light, you can end up with scores of lights. Three-point lighting for a close-up position will end up being 20-point lighting, which is the same as poor lighting.
" In typical studio and on-location news programming the best lighting effect is often sacrificed in favor of rather flat, shadowless lighting, which is simpler, less demanding, and holds up over more camera angles."

It's not unusual for a large set in a major dramatic setting to require more than 100 lights -- but they are grouped to light specific areas. Unless basic lighting simplicity is preserved on the major close-up talent positions, things can end up in a mess, which brings us to another lighting guideline

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