Lighting Workshop

Lighting Workshop

During the lighting workshop there was many hazards that we needed to take into consideration whilst filming. The hazards that we should be wary of when filming are:

1) Electrical hazards.
Whilst handling electronic devices, there is always a possibility in getting an electrocution. It is a necessity to check whether if the wires, cables and sockets are not damaged before using the lights. This is done to ensure the possibility of electrocution is decreased.

2) Heat Hazards.
When using lights heat is produced. Due to the lights using a high number of Watts, the lights will produce a lot of heat. So to prevent burns when applying a gel or a white sheet in front of the light, either make sure you do it before the light has been turned on, or if you are using heat protecting gloves. The lights should also be kept away from other objects to ensure that they do not burn or melt any other objects.

3) Fire Hazards.
The possibility of a fire should be taken seriously. There is a possibility that the lights could create sparks and ignite flammable materials. It is vital that the lights are operated properly.

4) Trip Hazards.
The cables and stands should be taken in consideration whilst in use. As the stands are tall and the base is small, the lights could easily get knocked over. The cables are long and black, so if someone is not paying attention, it can be easily tripped over. As well as this, the legs of the stands are also very small and if in a dark room, can be tripped over also. To help reduce the problem, tape can be used to tape the wires to the floor as well as the light stand legs.

5) Light Hazards.
The lights are very bright. When turning on the lights, it is a good thing to inform everyone that they are being turned on. As the lights are very bright,  if the person being filmed looks directly into the light, they could easily damage their eyesight.

Whilst using the lighting, and the green screen combined; it was necessary to remove as much of the shadow as possible. This is so that the shadow would not appear on the video and affect the overall look of the music video clip that we produced. We used three lights at three different points to help remove as much of the shadow as we possibly could. The image above shows how we laid out the lighting. 

Due to the brightness of the light, we attached diffusers to the barn doors to soften the lights. This helps the overall look of the person being filmed and also helps reduce the amount of light that is reaching the person who is being filmed.

The group and I also played with the effects of lighting. We applied coloured gels to the barn doors to give an urban and fun look to the film. We applied a purple gel and it gave the desired effect that we were are all looking for. However, we all concluded that the gels should use either a white or black background as the green screen that we had set up in the background removed the 'wow factor' from the purple gel that we had applied on the light.