Research on Lighting- Jennifer

When making a film/ trailer, its generally about capturing light. By using a bright light, it captures the viewers eyes. Also, the way a scene is lit will depend on how the audience relate emotionally to the film. The angle and direction of the light gives the audience an idea of what time of day the film is set as it creates a sense of realism.

Colour Balance 

The colour balance also known as the white balance, is a technique used to ensure that a photographed object or setting is captured with its real colours.

The colours in the wheel above are made from the three primary colours, red, blue and green. Where the three colours overlap in the middle, we get a neutral grey which is somewhere between black and white.

A proper camera white balance has to take into account the colour temperature of a light source, which refers to the warmth or coolness of the light. Our eyes are good at judging what is white under different light sources, however, digital cameras have difficulty with auto white balance (AWB) and can create an unsightly blue, orange or even green colour cast.

Colour Temperature

Colour temperature describes the spectrum of light which is radiated from a balckbody with that surface temperature. A blackbody is an object which absorbs all incident light neither reflecting it or allowing it to pass through. 

The graph above shows how 5000k produces roughly neutral light where as 3000k and 9000k create light spectrum's containing  more orange and blue wavelengths. This proves that shorter wavelengths contain light of higher energy. 

Hard Light


Hard light cast shadows on objects or a person. Photographers usually use background lighting without reflectors to create a edgy look.

Soft Light 


Soft light is the light that is used to wrap around objects casting with soft edges , by using a single light source you can control both the background and the light on the object.

Fluorescent Light Bulbs


A Fluorescent light converts electrical power into useful light more effectively than an incandescent light would. However, it cost more than an incandescent light because it needs a ballast to regulate the current through the lamp.

Incandescent Light Bulbs 

This type of light bulb is generally used in households and commercial lighting for example table lamps. These light bulbs are gradually being replaced for other electrical bulbs, as they do not last long also creates different kind of mood in peoples households.