American Cinematographer - July 2019 - 15

Well, not so fast. While threepoint lighting is invaluable for understanding the basics of classic lighting
positions, it should not be taken as a
rule for every lighting setup.
Personally, I think three-point
lighting is responsible for more confusion when it comes to the subject of
lighting than any other single concept.
This is because, as we all soon discover
when we step behind the camera, it's
popular to have the actors in a motion
picture actually move. When an actor
moves from one position to another, do
you maintain three-point lighting? Does
the lighting move with them? Should
the three points be so broad that they
cover the actor in each position?
Truthfully, it all depends on the
narrative - the story, the mood, the
time of day - as well as the environment, the individual cinematographer's
lighting style and the individual director's vision.
If you're shooting a stationary
subject such as a talking-head interview
for a documentary, three-point lighting
is a very useful technique - one that
I've used literally hundreds of times. Or,
if the actor walks into position and sits
down, you might have them land in a
three-point setup with a key, fill and
kicker.
But it's important to understand
that in many other situations, your lighting may well not have three points. You
might be working with only a key or only
a backlight. The key, fill and kicker might
all be coming from the same side of the
subject. You might have multiple fill
lights or multiple keys. Maybe you have
a situation with a key, two fills, an edge,
a backlight, an eye light and even more!
I generally identify the key as the
primary motivated source of light,
regardless of whether it's positioned
between 3:00 and 9:00 around the
actor. If you're in a daytime interior and
sunlight is coming through the windows,
then the window light is most often
identified as the "key." This is equally
true whether the windows are next to
or behind the actor; in the latter case,
the "key" light might come from
between 9:00 and 3:00, anywhere
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July 2019

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American Cinematographer - July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2019

Contents
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - 1
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - Contents
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - 3
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - 4
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - 5
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American Cinematographer - July 2019 - Cover3
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