Background lights often produce less intense
effects because the lighting instruments must be
placed well away from the background to keep
them out of the frame.
With the four lights in place, we can build
a complete lighting setup, Figure 16-6. Though
developed for classic pictorial realism, this
basic scheme can be used with any of the four
major lighting styles, Figure 16-7.
The basic lighting setup demonstrated here
uses four lights and only covers a space about
the size of a single action area. At large shooting
locations, the lighting can involve many more
instruments, but they tend to be deployed in
multiples of these basic layouts.
An “action area” is a spot within a location that is
fully lit because important activity takes place there.
“Natural” Lighting
Because three-point lighting can look
somewhat theatrical, many situations call for
the rim light is just barely bright enough to
visually separate the subject from the background.
In some instances, it is omitted entirely.
The brightness of key and fill lights is adjusted
by moving the lights toward or away from the
subject. Rim light, however, may be controlled by
a dimmer, since the warming effect of dimming a
light is usually acceptable in this application.
Background Light
Like the key light, the background light is
usually “motivated”—that is, it mimics light
that would naturally fall on the walls or other
background, like a wall lamp, a window light,
or spill from a room light (Figure 16-5). When
working with just a few lights, you can usually
achieve background lighting by directing spill
from the key and/or fi ll lights.
Background light intensity should be adjusted
so that subject and background seem lit by the
same environment, but the subject is slightly
brighter. Two or more background lights may
be needed to do the job.
Figure 16-5 Background light placement.
Horizontal placement Effect of the background light Vertical placement
Figure 16-6 Complete lighting setup.
Horizontal placement Combined effect of the four lights Vertical placement
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