Film Noir Lighting

Film Noir, or black film, is a type of film that can easily be attributed to classics such as the Humphery Boggart films of old (Maltese Falcon, King of the Underworld, ect.). If you're looking on how to create the effect yourself without a big budget, check out this video! Jo ...more

During the age of silent film and film noir film was limited to only variations of black and white. While this aided greatly to produce scenes of dire intensity (a starkly lit shot of a man in an alleyway, for instance), this also meant that actors and actresses had to wear to ...more

In this video from Fashion Face, we are shown how to do a 1920's pink film noir makeup look that was actually requested by Courtney Love and originally created by a makeup artist for the brand Illamasqua. This is an extreme look, and there are a lot of tools and makeup involve ...more

This is a creative idea for a great light effect for any video project. If you're a cinematographer and are open to knew and creative ideas (and cheap!), then this colorful, moving lighting effect is perfect for your film. You'll need three plastic cups, a 5/16-inch metal rod ...more

Mike from the SubStream's "Film Lab" has some tips regarding lighting, gripping and gaffing. Mike's soul screams for Rosco's magic Cinefoil wrap (aka Black Wrap, aka shroud-of-death wrap). Made from black holes. Learn what it's used for and how to use it! It's really just thi ...more

This video tutorial belongs to the Film & Theater category which is going to show you how to build a light diffuser to improve your film lighting. Joe Richardson explains how to do this. You will need four pieces of pine wood 1" x 2" x 8 feet long, framing nails, duct tape and ...more

This video covers the basic positions and uses for three point lighting: the hair light, the fill light, and the key light.

This is The Substream's "The Film Lab" series on lighting basics. This episode covers Rembrandt Lighting. Mike and Rajo teach you how to light like an old dead Dutch dude (who was really good at lighting dudes, to be fair). This is a common drama lighting. This is Rembrandt ...more

No matter how desperate they are for work, most actors will not let you crush their heads for your film. The potential for career development afterwards would be limited. This video will teach you how to crush a head with special effects for a film and then how to use three-po ...more

Xander and Calvin give some helpful tips on how to light your films and videos! You can use common household lamps or ones at the hardware store. Remember, safety, get some workgloves.

Continuing on with budget lighting, we explore using Fluorescent and LED lights, along with using available light, bouncing it with a reflector. These setups will work great for interviews, video casting, vlogging, and the likes. These lights use less power and also generate m ...more

This is an absolutely fundamental concept and is important to development as a filmmaker. It's a really simple pice of shorthand that cinematographers and gaffers use to keep track of lighting setups across different shooting days. It's called a lighting ratio or a contrast ra ...more

Know a little bit about film lighting, but can't quite grasp the concept of using light meters to measure light for proper exposure? You can't rely on your video camera to accurately capture what you see, so you need light meters to properly and accurately capture what you hav ...more

Lighting techniques for your feature or short film. This video covers three point lighting techniques.

In this episode, Peter and I talk about Lighting. We go over the different types of light and show examples of each.

Mike from the SubStream's "Film Lab" has some tips regarding film lighting. See how to use these super cool (literally and figuratively) lights called Kino lights. These fluorescent Kino Flos are perfect for when you want soft, even light that doesn't draw much power. Get the ...more

Three point lighting is the standard used to illuminate a subject for amateur film, video, and even theater application. The Key light was a 500 Watt halogen shop light, set up at about the 2 o'clock position relative to the woman, just above the height of her head. The Fill ...more

This tutorial shows you a quick rundown of ten different lighting setups for films. Whether you're looking for a silhouette, a documentary or confessional style look or something else entirely, you'll be able to find something useful in this tutorial.

Is it your life goal to direct and produce a science fiction saga so tremendous and fantastic that people will be saying, "George Lucas who?" after they witness it? Then you need to begin your journey to geek stardom by learning the basics. Take a gander at this video to lear ...more

Ian Beckman of Azerothian Super Villains fame introduces the third installment of How 2 Machinima. This series of tutorials is aimed to introduce both the fundamentals and advanced techniques of WoW machinima-making. Use Adobe Premiere to model machinima and create proper mach ...more

We've been told most of our makeup-applying lives that you either emphasize your eyes OR your lips, but never both to avoid overload. And while this rule of thumb works for occasions like your sister's wedding and work, there comes a time when a girl must rebel and allow herse ...more

You've got a camera, you've got some shooting know-how, and your audio is sounding sweet. Now, what about lighting? This video shows you three options for lighting your film.

Have you played Heavy Rain on the PlayStation 3? It's an interactive drama with a film noir touch, where the four protagonists are on the hunt for a serial killer. And this serial killers name? The Origami Killer. No, he doesn't kill origami, he kills young boys, and leaves a ...more

Thirteen isn't an unlucky number for this Limbo walkthrough; it's the number of videos in this series, a series which shows you the complete process, through trial and error, life and death, and as least amount of edits as possible. Limbo is a minimalist game, specifically a ...more

In this Ovation TV original special, acclaimed photographer Gregory Crewdson shares with us his insight into his photographic techniques. Like a film, he uses a lot of production, a lot of lighting, a lot of set design. He is an American photographer best known for elaborately ...more

Lighting is everything when it comes to creating a good solid video/film. You will see a great example of a ringlight made of 12 lightbulbs arranged in a perfect circle with a cut-out to allow your camera to be in the middle to capture the best light. You will get an idea of j ...more

A green screen lets you add any sort of background to your movie in post-production. Part of a successful green screen shot is properly lighting your set so you can easily add the special effects later. Teach your camera crew these tips for your next film!

Some film makers fall into a few pitfalls when working with a green screen. This video lists a few common problems, such as having your talent wear costumes in similar color keys or using uneven lighting, and how to avoid them completely.

In this tutorial, Broadcast Designer Jason Brown will show you how to knock out a vector logo from Adobe Illustrator into a 3D logo in Maxons Cinema 4D. The tutorial also touches on basic texturing, lighting and animation. Creative Cow is a support community for digital video ...more

Low budger project? NO budget project? Lighting is a key part of any film, so you don't want to skimp on it. This tutorial shows you how to set up some inexpensive lighting systems when you're filming a documentary or interview.

You will see a great way to light and set up a blue/green screen for your next video. There are a lot of tips that will come in handy if you want to film on a blue/green screen and don't want to pay outrageous fees to do so. The key in setting up is to block out all outside so ...more

The second game in the The Scene of the Crime series of Flash adventure games, The Scene of the Crime: Golden Doll is a cool film-noir mystery experience. This video will show you how to beat it. Tasselfoot has devoted much of his personal and professional life to playing and ...more

If you're trying to film a romantic dinner, you'll want the setting to seem dim and candle lit - but you'll still want the lighting quality of the film to be good. Here's how you can shoot an effective dimly lit scene.

Some tips on how to do professional lighting on the cheap. This video provides low-price lighting tips for students and amateur film-makers alike.

In this tutorial, we learn how to improve cinematography lighting. The first style is used in music videos and some film. The second is a very naturalistic lighting that is showing real world lighting. The last type is minimal, where you are using natural light only. Turning o ...more

If you're trying to film on a budget, this tutorial is perfect for you. Instead of spending money on expensive professional lighting equipment, you can use these inexpensive alternatives (like using tin foil as a reflector or a shower curtain as a diffuser).

A cyclorama shot is a 360 degree panoramic, photographic view of a scene. It's set on a cylindrical platform and is designed to make the viewer feel like he is standing in the middle of it all. A cyclorama shot is a really cool thing to embark on in photography or film. Check ...more

Thinking fast on his feet is second nature to lighting rod tennis coach Fabián Nuñez Seixa. In this film he rockets you through the baseline rally and really improves your tennis game. Baseline rally in tennis. Click through to watch this video on videojug.com

Watch shader writer, Mario Marengo, explain spectral wavelength and how to utilize it within Houdini. This presentation was recorded at a Toronto Technical Evening hosted by Side Effects Software. Shaders generally work in RGB color space. This is limiting when trying to repli ...more

Making an animated film? This short and easy animation tutorial provides beginners the bare minimum to begin creating a claymation or stop motion animation film. This instructional video shows how to move claymation characters, how to control the lighting, and how to create a ...more

Shooting home video is fun, and is a great way to get started on the path to a film career. But one thing that can kill your video is poor lighting. Not everyone is rich enough to a professional light kit, so what do you do to compensate? In this video you will get some great ...more

If you're a digital 3D modeler or animator, you should check out this 3ds Max video tutorial to see how to use real world lighting calculations to get soft, beautiful lighting in your scene with radiosity. Autodesk's 3D Studio Max is a customizable and scalable 3D modeling an ...more

Mike from the SubStream's "Film Lab" has some tips regarding grip gear. Century Stands, more commonly referred to as C-stands or grip stands, are the most commonly used film equipment and can be seen on virtually every film set. C-stands are a grips best friend! And their not ...more

This is a video of a lecture, and shows any photographer the best way to set up night shots, starting with equipment (lighting is especially important, for obvious reasons) and then moving on to tips and strategies for framing good night shots.

I know it sounds odd, but not every bit of action in a film takes place during the day. Sometimes it's necessary to shoot some scenes at night. This instructional video explores the basics of lighting for a nighttime shoot.

Yes, this 3ds Max video tutorial will show you modelers and digital animators how to add more believability to your lighting with physically accurate lights, as in photometric lights, so enjoy. Autodesk's 3D Studio Max is a customizable and scalable 3D modeling and rendering ...more

Mike and Rajo from the SubStream's "Film Lab" have some tips regarding production, specifically... cinematography and gaffing. Discover Lighting Basics for filmmaking. The eyes are the windows to the soul... so leave a light on, or people will think there's no-one home. Learn ...more