6 Cinematic Lighting

Tips All Filmmakers

Should Know
What You Will Learn
Introduction Chapter 4: Motivate Your Light Source
• Brief overview of the importance of lighting in • The concept of motivated lighting and its role in storytelling.
filmmaking.
• Examples of effective motivated lighting in commercials.
Chapter 1: Creating Depth - Through Physical Space
Chapter 5: Light for Your Wide
• The significance of depth in cinematic composition.
• Why we light the wide shot first
• Practical tips for achieving depth with lighting.
• Techniques for lighting wide shots.
Chapter 2: Creating Depth with Lighting
Chapter 6: Bigger Key Will Give You a Softer Lighting
• Strategies to use lighting for enhancing depth
• Exploring the relationship between key light size and softness.
perception.
• Application in different shooting environments.
Chapter 3: Shooting on the Shadow Side
• Conclusion
• Explaining the technique and its visual impact.
• Encouraging experimentation and creativity in lighting.
• Real-world examples and applications.

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Introduction
Hey everyone, Tenfold here!
First off, thanks for signing up to our Education Platform and downloading our Cinematic Lighting PDF.

At Tenfold, we love unveiling the “secrets” that are often gate kept in the industry.

It’s not an easy space to navigate, and after years of trials and tribulations, we wanted to share some helpful tips and tricks that
might be useful for your journey as a videographer, cinematographer and everything in-between.

But first.. A little intro to cinematic lighting.

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The Art of Cinematic Lighting
In the world of filmmaking, lighting is not just a technical necessity; it is a powerful tool for storytelling. As a “new age”
cinematographer, I have built simple strategies and rules that help us move quickly and efficiently on set.
Cinematic lighting can set moods, direct the audience's attention, and even convey emotions and themes. This guide distills our
years of experience into six essential lighting tips that every filmmaker should know, whether you're a videographer looking to
become a director of photography or an experienced filmmaker looking to refine your craft.

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Chapter 1: Creating Depth - Through Physical Space
As a cinematographer, one of your key skill sets is your ability to assess a room or space that you’re shooting in.​
Often, you will be tasked with building out someone’s vision.​
That means regardless of the space that is provided to you (oftentimes you have no decision on this matter), it’s your job to go into
that space and confidently know to make it visually appealing.

Theory: How do you create depth?​

There are a few ways to create depth in your image.​
In this chapter, we’ll discuss shooting into the corner of the room or using elements in the foreground to add depth to your shots. ​
This technique creates layers in the scene, making the space feel more expansive and immersive.​​

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Chapter 1: Creating Depth - Through Physical Space
Example 1: Using your environment to create leading lines and depth

Here’s a great example of using your environment to create depth. By backing off into the corner, you get the stairwell as foreground,
the character as the mid ground focus.
You also extend past the window for an expansive background. The lines here all lead your eyes to the main characters. This
approach is natural and is pleasing to the eye.

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Chapter 1: Creating Depth - Through Physical Space
Example 2: Creating depth by shooting into the corner

Here’s a classic example of shooting into the corner. This shot has tons of interest in the foreground, while the filmmakers highlight
both characters in their space.
The use of frames (the doorways), and the leading lines in the shot help pull your eyes directly to the characters.

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Chapter 1: Creating Depth - Through Physical Space
Example 3: Shooting into the corner allows for converging lines​

The further you extend the room in your image, the more expansive the world feels. If you were to shoot this character dead on,
you’ll find that a flat wall behind your character gives no context, and is not flattering as it’s often flat.​
In this image, the door acts as the foreground. The character is the focus (mid ground), and the room and space are the background.​
By adding the door into this frame, you’re getting a more 3-dimensional image. You can accentuate this by pushing through the
door to showcase the room’s dimensions.
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Chapter 1: Creating Depth - Through Physical Space
Example 4: Having depth available makes your life a lot easier

There are certain locations that provide you with all the depth you need. Find the shot that creates a more 3-dimensional feeling to
your image.
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Chapter 1: Creating Depth - Through Physical Space
Key Tips:
1. Place your character in the appropriate location to allow for foreground and background elements to enter the shot. This might
not always be the most approach decision though.
2. Find leading lines within your environment to help guide your viewers' eyes and focus.
3. Use depth to build separation between the character and your environment.​

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Chapter 2: Creating Depth with Lighting and Positioning
This tip is a mixture of lighting, composition, and production design.

Creating depth with lighting involves strategically placing light and shadow to
give a three-dimensional feel to your scenes.
Oftentimes, this is referred to as “Salt and Pepper”

Salt = Light; Pepper = Shadow

Your goal with this technique is to have a repeating pattern of salt, pepper, salt,
pepper.

By creating a salt and pepper look with lights in your image, you're creating
more dimensionality in your image.
Your eyes will naturally scan a full image and decide where it will land. Use this
to your advantage when planning your shots.

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 Chapter 2: Creating Depth with Lighting and Positioning
Example 1: Using Light and Shadow to your advantage

This is a great example of using salt and pepper and light to create depth.
First, we are shooting into the airplane's corner, providing us with great leading lines and giving us foreground and background
elements.
In this image, we see the blue light acting as the salt, and the extras as the pepper. This image has a constant repetition of light and
shadow. The main light being on the character in the center. This automatically draws your eye to the focal point (the hero character).
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Chapter 2: Creating Depth with Lighting and Positioning
Example 2: A trifecta shot - Depth, Lighting, Placement

Being able to use production design to help build depth in your shot is extremely helpful.
In this example, the play on colour is helping build depth across the scene. The yellow and blue mixture are complementary colours
on the colour wheel, which is a naturally appealing colour scheme. Knowing your colour wheel is key.
Same as in Example 1, you have the surrounding character’s in darkness, but there is a constant repetition of salt and pepper.
The main character is being kicked out by a key light, making her the main central focus in this. 12
Chapter 2: Creating Depth with Lighting and Positioning
Example 3: Taking it to the extremes

This is a unique example of using light and shadow as your main way to create depth. If this was shot dead on the ground the
viewpoint of the walkers, it would be fairly flat.
By raising the shot 20 feet into the air, you can now see the shadows on the floor which give texture and dimension.
You’ve stacked the moving characters to create more movement and interest.
You also are using the position of the sun to help create more shapes and visual interest.
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Chapter 2: Creating Depth with Lighting and Positioning
Key Tips:
1. Be intentional in how you frame your shots. Find your framing, set your camera and then light the scene. Try to add lights
around the scene where appropriate to help provide more dimension to your shots.
2. Contrast is key: Combine bright and dark areas to create a sense of depth. Use depth as a tool to lead the eye. As a
cinematographer, you are choosing where the viewer’s eyes go. Keep that in mind on set as you block your shots.
3. Be mindful of time. It’s awesome if you have a ton of time to get 1 shot and plan that perfectly, but oftentimes on set, you’re
dealing with problems and things are constantly shifting. Try your best to plan for each shot so you can spend your time on
set dialing the shot in.
4. Based on the job you're working on, you can typically use color contrast to enhance depth perception. Whether that’s in set
design, or if you’re using a mixture of daylight and tungsten temperature lights to blend the two, find ways to make your
subject pop.​

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Chapter 3: Shooting on the Shadow Side
Cinematic Lighting is all about creating depth in your image. You can achieve depth in multiple ways (we’ll be diving deeper into that
shortly).
We can achieve it through the physical space or with lighting.
What is the shadow side?
Shooting on the shadow side is about capturing your subject with the main light source behind them, creating a play of light and
shadow on their face. This technique adds depth and visual interest to your shots, making the scene more engaging and three-
dimensional.
It's particularly effective in conveying moodiness or introspection. Take a closer look at the commercials you watch. Oftentimes, half
the actor’s face is in darkness (the side closer to the camera).

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Chapter 3: Shooting on the Shadow Side
Example 1: Shooting on Shadow Side

In this example, we are shooting on the shadow side of our character's face. The light is coming from the opposite side of the room.
This is providing depth to our character and adding dimensionality to his face. The mixture of light and darkness, is what draws the
viewers' eyes to the character.
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Chapter 3: Shooting on the Shadow Side
Example 2: No direction (no shadow)

In this example, the lighting is coming from an overhead light. In this case, the image looks much flatter. This might be a creative
choice, but you will typically find this type of lighting in documentaries where the crew can not change lights and is shot in a Verité
style.

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Chapter 3: Shooting on the Shadow Side
Example 3: Using the position of the sun to create a shadow side

During your career, you will often find yourself shooting outdoor scenes. The goal is to find the right position of the sun in relation to
your camera. You want to have the sun backlight, or hit your talent at 45 degrees, so that the light is wrapping around 1 side of their
face.
You can use apps like “Sunseeker” during your location scout / tech scout to see where the sun is going to be in the sky at what
time. By knowing where the sun is, you can properly time your shots to have more visual interest on your character.
Imagine this was shot during high noon. There would be no shadow on the character's face. You might see racoon eyes under your
talent's eyes, and the background buildings would be fully lit, instead of the soft shadows you’re seeing in the back. 18
Chapter 3: Shooting on the Shadow Side
Example 5: Using a mixture of light + negative fill to create your shadow side

Here’s how we approached this shot.

On that day, there was a steady stream of natural light coming in from the back window. To add the shape on his camera left of his
face, We brought an Apurture F22 (2 x 2 Light Panel) set 2700K, to warm it up. We aimed that directly onto the camera left of his
face.
Next, we brought in a neg (negative fill - often a 4x4 black floppy), to kill any light that was spilling onto the camera right side of his
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face.
Chapter 3: Shooting on the Shadow Side
Key Tips:
1. Make sure the key light is on the opposite of where the camera is. If the light is in a fixed position (like the sun), make sure you
position the character and camera accordingly.
2. You can create a shadow side with negative fill. The closer you move the negative fill towards your talent, the darker the shadow.
3. Try to stay on the shadow side, shooting on the light side flattens your character and image.
4. Make sure you plan ahead. As a cinematographer/videographer, you want to be intentional in your decisions. Your goal is always
to create the best looking image. This is such a small detail but can add so much additional depth and interest to your shot.​

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Chapter 4: Motivate Your Light Source
This chapter is about understanding where your lights are coming from, and how that affects your scene and image.
To ensure that your viewer is fully immersed in your images, your goal should be to create a natural organic image. You want to
create an image that feels real and grounded.
Oftentimes, if a scene is super natural and unrealistic, it can disconnect you from the story and visual (unless that’s part of the sell).
In the commercial and narrative storytelling space, the goal is to make a natural-looking scene. (This varies depending on the project)
Understanding the core concepts of motivated lights will help elevate your r​​elationship with your lighting and filmmaking.
What does motivated light mean?
Motivated lighting means using light sources that mimic real-world lighting, like lamps or windows. This approach adds realism and
believability to your scenes.

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Chapter 4: Motivate Your Light Source
Example 2: Natural light + Lamps (TCS Waterfront)

In this next scene, we waited until it was dark outside to

shoot a nighttime interior.
We used the small lamp on the front bannister to act as the
“motivating light”.
This was the motivating light for the interior. In actuality, we
had a larger key light hidden outside of the camera left,
which is actually our main source of light, lighting the scene.
The motivator allows us to build around the warmth and
colour.
Naturally, a lamp that was small with a shade would not
provide enough output to light this scene. (The magic of
filmmaking)

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Chapter 4: Motivate Your Light Source
Example 3: Adidem Asterisk (Sophisticated Fun)

In this scene, we are using the lamps to motivate the warm

lights of the scene.
Behind the scenes, we have a large soft top light lighting the
entire space.
By associating the warm lamplight to the soft spill across the
image, you create a more cohesive visual and story. Your
mind will naturally connect the two (the visible light source
and the invisible one above).

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Chapter 4: Motivate Your Light Source
Example 4: Using the surrounding lights (The Taylor)

In this scene, we had to shoot coverage around this restaurant. The sign was a bright red, but it didn’t provide much output
onto the main street.
To help blend the two worlds together, we brought a red tube to light our two talent.
These two shots back-to-back in the edit flow very well, because we used the motivating light from the previous scene
(RubySoho sign) to sell the red glow.

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Chapter 4: Motivate Your Light Source
Key Tips:
1. Be prepared. Know what you're working with. Once you are aware of the space you’re working with, you can decide what the
appropriate motivating light is. Is the shot being motivated by:
a. The sun, the window, the ceiling light, the lamp, the moon, the store window.
b. These things need to be accounted for, so that you can appropriately use it.
2. Make it feel NATURAL! Keep it simple, you don’t need to overdo it. Motivating lights is a technique to help the audience visualize
where the light is coming from. It allows your visuals to feel more cohesive. If you just suddenly had a blue light in the middle of a
cooking scene without explaining it, it might feel a bit jarring to the viewer
3. Ensure that the direction and quality of the lights match where the light sources are coming from.
4. Use the right equipment to match your lights. Use lights / bulbs / tubes that have variable settings that you can use to match the
lighting across the scene.

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Chapter 5: Light for Your Wide
When it comes time for production, you might be wondering… where do I start?
What does Lighting the Wide mean?
Lighting for wide shots involves lighting a larger area while maintaining a balance between the subject and the background.
Why you should start with the wide?
We always suggest lighting your wide shots first. This is for a few reasons:
1. It takes the longest to light.
With a wide shot, you see everything in the frame, meaning you have to have all your lights and stands outside of frame.Usually
this shot takes the most work and time, but once this shot is set, you’ve now established what your entire scene will look like and
can build around that.
2. When you light wide first, moving in for your mediums and tights is much easier.
When your frame gets tighter, you aren’t capturing as much in the frame, which means you can bring all your lights and grip
equipment closer to sit right outside of the frame.
3. If you need to go back to the wide, you can just remove all the additional lights you brought in.
Don’t get stuck in the trap of starting too tight and not knowing where you’re going from there, because relighting scenes and
losing track of time are not a great way to approach productions.

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Chapter 5: Light for Your Wide
Example 1: Starting with the Wide (Adidem Asterisk - Sophisticated Fun)

In this example, we started with the wide shot first. It was

the most time consuming and technical.
Lighting for a wider space meant that we had to get all the
details correct, the lighting direction and overall ambiance of
the scene.
This sets up the scene for the mediums and the tights.
In this scene, we couldn’t have any stands or negative fills in
the shot. You also see more detail in every corner of the
image, which takes much longer to prep.

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Chapter 5: Light for Your Wide
Example 2: The Medium

For the medium, all we did was bring in a negative fill just outside of frame on camera right and a bounce on the left.
Because we had lit the wide first, it doesn’t require much to bounce light around, and to build more contrast on the face.
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Chapter 5: Light for Your Wide
Example 3: The Tight

With the Tight, we moved in a bounce (camera left) and a negative fill (camera right).
We didn’t touch any of the lighting setup because everything was dialed in from the wide.
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Chapter 5: Light for Your Wide
Key Tips:
1. Use broader light sources to cover the entire scene evenly.
2. Control shadows and highlights to avoid losing details in wide compositions.
3. Ensure that the lighting complements the scene's mood, since this carries forward into all the scenes. This will save you time in
the long run.
Chapter 6: Bigger Key Will Give You a Softer Lighting
When it comes time for production, you might be wondering… where do I start?
What does Lighting the Wide mean?
Lighting for wide shots involves lighting a larger area while maintaining a balance between the subject and the background.
Why you should start with the wide?
We always suggest lighting your wide shots first. This is for a few reasons:
1. It takes the longest to light.
With a wide shot, you see everything in the frame, meaning you have to have all your lights and stands outside of frame.Usually
this shot takes the most work and time, but once this shot is set, you’ve now established what your entire scene will look like and
can build around that.
2. When you light wide first, moving in for your mediums and tights is much easier.
When your frame gets tighter, you aren’t capturing as much in the frame, which means you can bring all your lights and grip
equipment closer to sit right outside of the frame.
3. If you need to go back to the wide, you can just remove all the additional lights you brought in.
Don’t get stuck in the trap of starting too tight and not knowing where you’re going from there, because relighting scenes and
losing track of time are not a great way to approach productions.

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Chapter 6: Bigger Key Will Give You a Softer Lighting
Example 1: Soft Diffused Light (Large Source) (TCS Waterfront)

In this scene, we used the largest light source of all, the sun.
It was shining through the window sheers, a light muslin material.
The sun being furthest away, and shining through a light muslin sheet gives you a nice soft diffused light. 31
Chapter 6: Bigger Key Will Give You a Softer Lighting
Example 3: Low intensity light, but closer

In the next shot, we are only using the lamp on the table as the key. It’s at a much lower intensity but it’s much closer in distance.
Although the intensity is lower, the source is so small. The smaller the source, the harsher the lighting.
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Chapter 6: Bigger Key Will Give You a Softer Lighting
Example 3: Low intensity light, but closer

In the next shot, we are only using the lamp on the table as the key. It’s at a much lower intensity but it’s much closer in distance.
Although the intensity is lower, the source is so small. The smaller the source, the harsher the lighting.
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Chapter 6: Bigger Key Will Give You a Softer Lighting
Key Tips:
1. Spreading your light source wider will provide a more even output, and spread the spill of light. Often a single source spot light will
be… spotty. A panel light like the Arri S60 or Aputure Nova with diffusion will provide a wider softer light.
2. By pulling a light source further away from the subject, you are lowering the output but spreading the light direction.
3. If you are aiming for a softer source, use diffusion or multiple diffusion fabrics.
Techniques like shooting through diffusion or book lights (bouncing light off of another surface first) allow your source light to
spread it’s output across a wider field of view.
As a simple reminder:
Moving the light and diffusion closer will create harsher, spottier light.
Moving the light further away, will make it softer, but you will lose output.
If you don’t have enough output, soften the light be adding diffusion or using a book light. There are a million ways to light a scene.
Start with the basics and problem solve as you go.

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Conclusion
This guide is just the beginning and a small culmination of ideas and tips we’ve learned along our journey.
Each project brings unique challenges and opportunities to use lighting creatively.
We encourage you to experiment with these techniques, adapt them to your style, and see how they can enhance your storytelling.
We have gone through many paid projects, spec projects and have made mistakes along the way. We encourage you to work with
professional gaffers that understand lighting, and to experiment.
Work to build your own unique voice and style, and over time, these tips will be second nature to you

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