In digital cinematography, several key ingredients go into making the most effective recipe for a visual production. One factor that should always be a priority is the concept of lighting.

The curriculum in Full Sail University’s online digital cinematography area of study consists of several classes and projects focused on lighting.

“Lighting in cinematography is extremely important,” says Program Director Bob Truett. “It sets the mood, it sets any emotions that you're trying to convey, and it's crucial to the story itself.”

Four courses in the curriculum cover various aspects of lighting. The first is Composition and Visual Design. Taught by course director Randy Baker, this class looks at basic foundational concepts in lighting. Students learn the job of lighting in visual storytelling, how it creates tone and mood, and using light to create 3D depth. This includes three-point lighting using a key, fill, and backlight, the unique role of each light source, and how to effectively position and focus each light.

“It takes three lights at three different intensities on three sides of an object to make a 2D object look 3D,” Randy explains.

In Project LaunchBox, digital cinematography students receive a camera and a GVM three-point light kit that they start using in this class. The kit contains two different types of 80-watt bi-color lights and a third bi-color LED light for a fill. It also comes with a 5-in-1 reflector, three full-size stands, and a desk stand.

“The students start with a comprehensive video on the light kit, followed by weekly, live class demonstrations of how to use the lights,” Randy says. “They then do practice sessions which culminate in the students using these techniques in the weekly shooting assignments where they must demonstrate what they have learned.

“We also look at how to supplement their light kits by using practical, ambient, and natural lighting techniques. If you’re shooting outside, you always need to make sure you know where the sun is every minute. You must learn how to make the sun work with you and not fight it.”

He emphasizes the four C’s of lighting: contour, contrast, clarity, and color. This idea is designed to help cinematographers look at lighting in a more creative way. Other topics he highlights include hard vs. soft light, the differences between direct, diffused, and reflected lighting, short vs. broad sided lighting, and the five key light styles.

“There is good light, there is bad light, and then there is the light that works best to tell your story,” he says.

And what is his primary advice when it comes to lighting?

“If you shoot under bad [light], you're going to get bad-looking images. If you shoot under mediocre light, you are going to get mediocre-looking images. But if you shoot under great light, you're going to get great-looking images. The hard part for students is learning how to not shoot under bad and mediocre light and thinking they can fix it in post-production.”

The next course in which lighting plays a significant role is Project & Portfolio II: Film and Video.

“We take them through doing photo storyboards, and they have to do basic exposure, white balance, proper focus,” says course director Michael Hanly. “So we kind of start the three-point lighting there as practical, hands-on [experience]. And then they have to shoot a pitch of their story as the final project of Project & Portfolio II: Film and Video. So they've got to actually set up their lighting kit and… present their story with proper exposure, color balance, the whole thing. They have to prepare a shot list, a lighting plot… And then they actually have to do the project, and 50 percent of the overall final project is devoted to lighting.”

Michael also teaches Fundamentals of Production I. This class covers pre-production and production workflows. He believes a trial-and-error approach to lighting is often necessary for students to understand what works best.

“I try to get them to experiment… pull out one light and see what it does, then build on it,” Michael says.

The final lighting-focused class is Location Lighting. This course dives deeper into advanced lighting techniques and examines how light impacts mood and emotion.

“Lighting definitely is [at] the forefront of your character development and emotional appeal,” explains course director Ryan Funk. “We utilize contrasts and colors and different types of lighting movement or absence of light to express the intensity or the psychological implications of that moment in the story.”

Ryan teaches students about the emotional impact of contrast and color tints. Students explore household lighting, exterior lighting, and S-Log for color correction. They also look at camera filtration, a process that uses a lens filter designed to change or improve the quality of an image or balance light exposure.

According to Ryan, it’s important to properly handle lighting during a production instead of trying to fix it after the fact.



“Being able to do that in [real time] is going to save a bunch of money and a bunch of time in post-production, and it also is going to increase the productivity on set,” Ryan says.

“If you're doing color correction or enhancing colors of your lighting, that's one thing. But if you're trying to pump up the gain of a camera, then you're going to start getting digital noise and… that can ruin your shot. You want to plan for these things. You want to make sure that everything that you could do, you did in production,” Bob adds.

The bottom line is that lighting is simply one key piece of the puzzle to make a memorable production.

“Everything you do… You’re directing your audience on what they hear, feel, and see,” Bob says. “You have so much control of your environment. You direct the focus.”