From the course: Video Product Lighting Techniques

Understanding product lighting

From the course: Video Product Lighting Techniques

Start my 1-month free trial

Understanding product lighting

“

- Product video lighting builds on the foundation of still lighting. You're lighting for your subject, the background, considering framing and composition, exposure and shutter speed for motion. Now, with video, you have to think about where and if your product is moving, how your camera is going to follow it, keeping lights, bounce cards, and sometimes crew out of your shot. And all this happens simultaneously. It can be a lot to think about. My very first experience lighting a product was a glass bottle. I had the crazy idea to animate it with stop motion. Make it spin, slide in a white abyss kind of space. Pretty ambitious. I had a few Lowel Tota hot lights and a still photo umbrella. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. In hindsight, it was easier to imagine the shot than to actually do it. What I really needed was to find the right tools and techniques to master my lighting for video. I was in college, and I quickly learned what all-nighters were about, and I fell in love with lighting. I was checking out as many C-stands as Sarah, our cage manager, would allow me, and moving hot lights around my apartment in Philly, until I figured out what those annoying hotspots were on the side of the bottle, my roommates floor lamp. I was intrigued to find where all those reflections were coming from, and how they could make or break the shot. I was just wanting to make a cool looking shot, but I was learning the dynamics of video in the meantime, how to control specularity, fine tune angles of instance, and discovering how not to burn myself or the apartment down. Over the years, I've continued to build upon my tools and techniques needed to assist filmmakers with their lighting needs. And now, I want to share this information with you. Let's dive in.

Contents