How to Set Up Four Point Lighting

When I was younger I did not appreciate a properly set up lighting system. To me lighting was simply a way to illuminate the subject. For me back then if we could shoot outdoors or with all the house lights on then that was enough. I look back now and want to strangle that guy! Sure lighting in its simplest form and function is to illuminate something. It is designed to “light” up a room. But even think about that phrase “light up a room”, good lightning in its simplest form brings life, warmth,and completeness to a room. People pay good money to have fashionable lighting fixtures in their homes and offices. People will shop and look for hours for the right light and lighting fixture decorations. Good lighting is important to people. How much more important is good and creative lighting to the filmmaker and photographer? How much more important is good lighting to the artist? In the hands of a good designer, lighting can be a form or art. Lighting is a story telling agent the same as a paint brush, pencil or in our case a camera lens. Lighting informs us about the mood of the characters or talent. Lighting tells us if the scene is warm and inviting or cold and menacing? Lighting shares the feeling of the scene with us even before an actor or speaker opens their mouth. Many people put all their film budget on the right camera and lenses. It’s important when setting out on a film making adventure to put great thought into what kind of camera and lens you want. But don’t forget to put as much thought and emphasis on the right kind of lighting set up. In my opinion there are two different lighting set ups that artist like to use.

The first set up that I think about is an umbrella lighting set up. This is an arrangement that is normally done by still flash photographers. These specially made umbrellas are designed to reflect and throw light. They are meant to cast a lot of light over a lot of space. You can set the intensity levels differently so that that you still get the desired effect. They can also be set up in a flash setting to get a blast of intense lighting on your subject.  Just because this method is used primarily by photographers that does not mean that videographers can’t use it. I love and use my umbrella system a lot when shooting video.  

The second is a traditional videography lighting set up. Lights are set up to be cast in a more directional manner. One of the major tools to give direction and shape to light is the barn doors. Barn doors are a fitted metal piece with flaps that turn up, down, or in to sculpt the light beam. With barn doors your bright, booming beam gets turned into an on purpose piece of art. Modern studio lights also come with slots for ND filters and color filters. You can get a blue filter and ad a blue hue to your scene. I personally love LED light panels. LED’s are set up with a dial so that you can change the intensity, and even the color of the light. You can go from a indoor 3200K to a day light color or 5600K. K in this instance stands for kelvin, how we measure the color temperature of light.  LED’s can be fitted with barn doors as well thusly in my mind making the perfect light sculpting fixture!