The Beginner's Corner: Three-Point Lighting by Emily Price Published on Feb 7, 2008 11:20 AM
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I am shooting some interview video for an amateur documentary I'm doing. The video is just going to have one person in it probably sitting in front of a black wall. I’ve never done any lighting before but I want to try my hand at using some lights for this shoot. Any ideas on what the best way would be to light the interviews?

Joe

A situation like this one would typically fall under the umbrella of three-point lighting. Three point lighting is a pretty basic lighting design that is typically used for situations where a subject is standing (or sitting) in one place against a static background.

Three-point lighting involves three lights a key, fill, and back light. In basic terms the key light will light your subject, the fill light fills in the shadows, and the back light lights your subject from behind and makes them stand out from the background. Setting up 3-point light is relatively easy to do:

Key Light
Your key light needs to be set up like it’s the only light you have. One common beginner mistake is to set the key light up straight on your subject. Rather than setting up the light straight on, set it up slightly to the right or left so you’re hitting your subject at a small angle. Key lights are typically strong lights.

Fill Light
The fill light does exactly what it sounds like it does; fill in the shadows. You want to set up your key on the opposite side of your subject so it fills in the shadows on your subject face. Fill lights are set up lower than the key light and are typically face level so they can fill in all of the shadows on your subjects face. The idea behind the fill light is not to "light" the subject but rather to make the subject look like they're sitting in natural light. The fill light is there to make up for the harsh lighting you just added with the key.

Back Light
The back light is usually set up behind the subject, and slightly to one side. When you set up your back light keep in mind where you are going to be shooting and make sure you’re keeping the light out of the shot. Where you set up your back light depends, to some extent, on your subject.

Depending on the wattage of your light (and your location), you may end up with lighting that is too bright and needs to be softened.  You may also want to invest in some umbrellas or diffusing paper to soften your light if you need to, having at least some diffusing paper on hand can help you in a tough situation.

Since you’re lighting for the first time you may want to give 3-point lighting a test drive before you try to actually light someone for your documentary. 3-point lighting is relatively easy to do when you know what you’re doing but can be tricky to figure out the first few times.

See a good diagram for three-point lighting here.