Lighting with Book Lights | Cinematography 101
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Of all the different methods for softening light, a book light is commonly understood to be the easiest way to get the softest light. Originally designed to get you soft light in a smaller working space, the book light uses bouncing and diffusing together to soften the light. Because it uses both methods together, the light has to struggle to get to the subject, and the result is a sourceless light with good wrap. Today on 4 Minute Film School, we’re going to show how to set up a standard book light and a few different variations of what you do use in a book light.
In this video, Matt from the A-Team shows how to set up a book light on set, as well as different materials that you can use to get different looks with your book light. First he places the bounce material. Sometimes the bounce is part of your set, such as a wall or the ceiling, but most of the time you have to place a bounce board. Next, he picks a light to use in the book light, and aims that at the bounce. The placement of the light in relation to the other parts of the book light can affect how much output you get out of the light. Lastly, he placed a diffusion material on the other side of the light. This works to soften that bounced light.
The main aspects addressed in this video are variation of setup, and light output. The variation of setup refers to the amount of different ways you can create a book light. There’s no right way to do it. The main thing is understanding the technique of bouncing and then diffusing that light. Light output refers to how bright the light is that you’re using. Book lights result in a good amount of light loss, so starting off with a bright light will ensure that you have enough light to get a good exposure on the subject’s face.
Of course, there are countless ways to soften your light. You can bounce light, you can diffuse it, you can double diffuse it. While book lights might seem more complicated than other techniques, it can be a good go-to setup if you need to get soft light quickly. Keep in mind that any way you can make the light struggle to get to the subject, the more indirect the light will be, therefore making it softer.
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Пікірлер: 124
Once I was shooting outdoors with the sun behind the subject. I was pretty close to the subject, so to fill in the shadows I just took off my T-Shirt. Magically my pale body created a soft bounce, which was perfect for the scene.
@DomrachevNikita
3 жыл бұрын
White t-shirt is my must have clothe for shooting
Finally it's my time to have a great story for this challenge! I literally used a sheep as bounce once! I was shooting a short marketing video for a house builder. They were doing marketing directed at farmers so we were shooting on farms alot. I was shooting a detail shot of some equipment that was backlit and didnt want to run all the way to my car, so I tossed some fresh grass/leaves beside the equipment and one of their sheep came closer and stood in the direct sunlight giving me almost like a cloudy, lantern like bounce! I was dissappointed when they didnt end up using the shot, even tho it wasn't all that great, but I felt it deserved to be included!
@JErock25
4 жыл бұрын
Great lighting assistant lol
@MadManchris
4 жыл бұрын
@@JErock25 The baaaaahst
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
Haha that's amazing. I hope you have some BTS of that
@MadManchris
4 жыл бұрын
@@aputurelighting No bts unfortunately.. the interviewer i work with usually does instagram stories while I shoot b-roll, the video(without the clip is) on youtube. I might still have the footage somewhere if I browse my old disks :)
@cwfilmproduksjon5345
4 жыл бұрын
Update; Couldn't find the footage. It's passed a year and stuff like that leaves my drives after 12 months .. :)
ONE OF THE BEST LIGHT TUTORIAL THAT I HAVE WATCHED
I love book lights!! I often use a shower curtain to bounce lights. Not necessarily weird but when a client sees it they are alway apprehensive., until I show them the monitor!
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
Haha I feel you there. It's so annoying when people think your work isn't good because you know how to light on a budget.
Weird material I've once used for a bounce : gaffed toiled paper bands in order to achieve a big square ^^
Stressful day of shooting, had a big-name actor on set for an hour or so to do a cameo spot and he was eager to get out early to catch a flight. While setting up his scene our PA left to pick up another actor from a train station with our bounce-card, and a couple of extra little things in his car and we didn't notice till we were just about finished setting up the scene. No matter what we did we could NOT get the lighting soft enough and we were too far out in the middle of nowhere to call someone to bring something. I tried to center myself and think about what I could do when it hit me. YOGA! I went into my backseat dug up my off-white YOGA MAT, and we used that. Actor did his take in one shot and was on his way before our PA even came close to heading back. Yes, the day was saved by a frigging YOGA MAT as a make-shift bounce!!
@BLiu1
4 жыл бұрын
incredible save!
@DommoDommo
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks brian! We ended up using that shot too!
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
That's incredible! Yoga for the win!
I've literally used my very pale irish grips body. I swear to god. And it worked. He was very good about it and laughed the entire time!
For sure, the weirdest thing I used to bounce light was a cake. I was shooting some images before a wedding, and when someone bringing the cake passed by me I got an instant beautiful reflection on my subject. So I asked if the person with the cake could hold and wait for a second so I could take advantage of that unexpected light and everything worked perfectly
The most unusual thing I've used to bounce light is a 20m tall sculpture called The Dream in StHelens. It's made from dolomite which reflected the setting sun back into my subject's facing beautifully.allowing me to shoot contre jour with only available light and yet have an ethereal fill lighting up his face. Sadly, it's a bit too big to keep in your lighting bag for everyday use. :)
not bad!! simple and the graphic of the info text is really cool! keep it up! 😀👏
I once used a white t-shirt as a bounce material. Thanks for the walkthrough.
Sometimes being the bounce yourself is a great idea! Wear a white hoodie! Once I had to light in a dark location with really narrow corridors, so instead of setting up a lot of c-stands, I placed the light near the wall, stood infront of it so the light bounced off my white hoodie, and then through a silk that I was holding. Gave the whole scene a soft lift with only one lightsource - and me replacing 2x c-stands with bounce and diffusion :) Great for a quick soft lighting set-up when you don't have a lot of space.
Awesome video! I once created a bounce using strips of gaff tape that I stuck together. Desperate times call for desperate measures!
Ah, a classic tale - 4 score and like 5 year ago, I was shooting a project for school. Late October, very chilly. Not a problem, most of the shoot is indoors.... Most of it, save two shots. We snag the first shot as the sun sets. Longest setup of the day, but it came together beautifully. Went inside and shot the rest of that location, taking us long into the night. Alas, driven by a drive that had yet to die within us, we shot until we needed no more, save for one final shot, a nighttime exterior. Most of the crew works on striking the set, while I (the cinematographer), the director, and the talent go out to get this final shot. As the prompt implies, we found ourselves needing a bounce board. I call over our grip and ask him to run to the car to get one. To my horror, he refuses, on the grounds it's already been packed. I'd later discover a five in one reflector was one of the last things packed, literally on top of the pile, but luckily for him I didn't know that at the time. The rest of our splinter crew, tired, cold, hungry, argue with him, and rightfully so. We were shooting on the side of a house. The car was out front. This wasn't a Herculean task. In hindsight, I could have just called over someone else. I could have run and grabbed it myself. I could have done a thousand things... but with tensions as high as they were, it was clear the only reasonable answer would be socially acceptable nudity. I strip off my shirt and declare that I'LL DO IT. They stop and stare, my unhealthily pale flesh practically a light source itself. I will be the bounce. It was on that frigid October night that I learned the meaning of friendship, of home, of not having lazy slackers on set, and that if the whole filmmaking thing doesn't work out I could probably make a decent living as a piece of gear. And sometimes, that's enough.
We were shooting in a beach and didn't realize until it was too late that we didn't bring the reflector, but there it was... In all it's splendorous whiteness... The majestic lid of the cooler, our savior! Not only kept the drinks cool, it really saved the day!
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
Haha that's awesome! And then you can celebrate getting the shot by cracking open a cold one!
For one of my past short films, I used some silver packing bubble rap glued to a music stand to bounce some light on my actor.
Although I do not think it is wierd, but I used a large silver food tray that my mother had and when it was a very strong light I used the curtains in the living room, it is not necessary to say that my mother wasn't happy after I use everything up for one photo
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
That's awesome! The silver food try sounds more like a reflector than a bounce, but I'm sure it worked well!
That nova though!
One time I taped a bunch of paper towels together and used that as a bounce. Worked great
Lately to save energy, space, and setup time, I’ve been going whole hog on bouncing lights into the ceiling or corners of the room for key and fill on several small commercial shoots done in households. It lets me quickly change light directions and try different looks within seconds and also gives me larger area sources that can be very soft. I should mention that these are usually high key commercials, so spill is usually not an issue. Even if it wasn’t, contrast can be adjusted to taste using negative fill.
I used a 5’x5’ tripod projector screen which has one white surface and and the other side silver surface, gives me options of softer and harder reflection.
We were shooting in a studio during the weekend and had forgotten to add bounce boards to the booking. Luckily there was an abundance of grey, foldable tables so we just put them on their sides and placed empty cases behind them for support. Didn't give as much fill as we wanted but it was better than nothing.
Cool video
We were shooting a horror short in an abandoned hotel and used a fiberglass bathtub to bounce back into the room. It gave the shot a cool creepy vibe.
I love this
I'm a redhead and one time I just stood next to the talent with my shirt off to act as a reflector.
Once I used my white shirt to bounce the light while interviewing. I didn't want to slap the talent by hard light straight on his face, I pointed light on my white shirt to bounce it from myself and it softened a bunch and made it more pleasing. 😎👌
One time I was out of any sort of stands and only had a white sheet to use as a bounce - so someone ended up wearing the sheet over themselves (like a cheap ghost costume haha) and we bounced the light off of them onto the talent. They could've just held it but it was towards the end of the shoot so I think everyone was tired at that point, didn't feel like holding up the sheet for too long haha. Definitely the weirdest bounce for me!
Hi I used my white T-shirt for bouncing light on set in last resort ahah x)
I've used my hand as bounce material for a super close up
The best bounce I've seen was a bunch of old magazines taped together cover to cover to make a 4x4 reflector.
I would love to see a lighting tutorial of that light bounce technique by Roger Deakins. Somehow a variation of the book light but even more soft.
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
That would be cool! We'll keep it in mind
I used my white uniform polo shirt as a bounce cuz I could not put any thing heavier on the stand. And it also helped (kinda) control the light from bouncing off the opposite wall 😅😁
Dp wanted an unbleached muzz bounce and we didn’t have it in the truck, so we used a 4x4 piece of plywood we had in the truck. Got us in the ballpark.
Thank you
👉🏻 The weirdest thing I've used for bounce material was the cover for an *attic access hole* .
To archieve a soft light(not for filming,, but for online classes😛), i bounced it with my specs case😂i just using a cheap LED desk light lol :p
There was one time when we are shooting and the actress is constantly talking to the lead actor and even with some kind reminders the actress just couldn’t shut up (It was a low budget shoot and she is appearing for free so we didn’t want to raise our voice at her) . At the same time the lighting department is missing a bounce board and the solution presented itself as soon as we lay eyes on the actress wearing all white. The rest is history. Two birds with one stone and we had a way smoother shoot for the lead character’s shots that day!
I once had a PA wearing a white shirt stand just out of frame to bounce some fill onto the subject 😅
Can we use a thermocol to bounce the light in the process of book lighting?
Weirdest bounce material: Broke a mirror, glued the shards to string, suspended strings and mirror shards off of a c-stand arm at varying heights, shot a fresnel into the hanging mirror shard cluster, and lightly turned a fan on below them to create spinning, waving movements. The room was lit up like a random disco ball. It was pretty magical.
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
Wow that sounds amazing! You can't fake that type of random light reflection
I have used a shower curtain as a bounce before, but hey it still did the job
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
Shower curtains are great! Super cheap and great for bouncing or diffusing.
Cool 👍👍👍
I bring sheets of corrugated plastic (lawn signs) to shoots until I can eventually get my hands on some proper diffusers and cloths.
I asked the restaurant I shot the product of, for an aluminum foil in order to bounce back the natural light coming from the window to highlight the product in the photograph. It worked out well.
Would be nice to see Book Light vs the bigger Light Dome considering the similarity in size
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
That's a good idea, it would be cool to compare those two!
I used my bare palm as a bounce material once. We were shooting a patch shot (after pack up) of an extreme close up of the eyes of the character and it was almost a stop under than what i wanted it to be, both of us were wearing black and i didnt have anything handy, so i just placed my bare hand right beside the camera and the backlight bounced off my palm as a fill! We made fun of that throughout the rest of the production
I don't know if it's the weirdest, but to save time, I've used the white grip truck as a bounce rather than have the grips pull frames.
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
Haha I've been wanting to try that.
Emergency space blanket 3M spray glued to a refrigerator box for exterior bounce (shiny board).
I used a white T-Shirt as a bounce material.
What do you use in the video as the bounce board? And where can you get it?
@xHOTDAMNxHBx
4 жыл бұрын
Home depot insulation board
Reflective tray from under a ready-to-eat salmon from grocery store. Sometimes you even have the luxury of a silver side and a gold side.
Is the 120D strong enough for a booklight? Or maybe one should use two 120Ds in order to increase their reach?
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
I've used 120Ds in book lights and it worked ok. Two 120Ds would probably work better but depending on how wide the shot is you could be fine
I’m here for the MC. I use a silk
Wait, what did you call the knuckles at 1:49? 🥜 's?
The weirdest thing I’ve used to bounce light is a thick white round neck t-shirt cut open in half for more spread. The result was extremely soft due to the thickness of the T-shirt.
Hey A Team, what bounce board do you prefer to use for a book light setup?
Am I the only one who liked just the bounced light more than their final setup?🤣
@bongosapien9474
4 жыл бұрын
Felt the same way too, I liked the Fresnel with the bounce was more dramatic but not too hard
Platypus clamps? I know them as Pelican clamps! This grip lingo is crazy😂
@FiniteBoy
4 жыл бұрын
I know them as a "Duckbill"
💎
once I used the light reflected from the eyes of my cat. I wanted to record his eyes in the dark so that's the only way to do it. Does that matter too? ;-)
i often use my cardboard box to bounce light ! kinda weird but it does work.
Just had to use a "studio safety" binder to fill in the bottom half of my face. Gotta do what you gotta do.
Made a bounce out of a gaffers cream T-shirt XXL gaff taped to a wall for a key light
Was doing a children's playing with toy scene on the ground floor, 15k full length film........we used the bottom of a cheap twin size mattress that has that weird polyester bottom for liquid protection. Yeah it worked....... but not doing that again lol.
Weirdest bounce ... pizza box ... but it was delicious! Can't say that about too many bounce cards;)
😍😍😍😍
i once bounced a Redhead 650 off my friends pale chest to light my talents face.... my friend now wears a hoodie every time on set
White t-shirt for bouncing
Walking on sets, either wear black shirt to not bounce any light, or white shirt to do so. Even clothes reflect the light and in the small report-kind-a style with 1 light, I point to myself to bounce of me than shoot straight on talent's face and make it hard as tree in a forest on winter 😂
Hey...someone needs to tell the Deity crew to clean up their mess. Their vocal booth it taking up valuable space!
On a hot summer day we bounced of the white skin from our grip guy to achieve a soft light
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
Wow that's a dedicated grip!
Filming a bedroom scene and used some white pillows when we realised we forgot a bounce 😂
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
Very "soft" bounce, am I right?
A bunch of white pillows on a table to brighten up someone's face as they sat in a chair.
The ceiling
I've Used Tissue Paper For Adding More Diffusion And Made a Person Wearing White shirt Stand Still For Bouncing The Light On The Subject
Weirdest bounce: a white dominoes pizza box, opened into a v orientation
I had to expose my superhero identity and turn my skin completely into 216 diffusion.
A Magic Ball... Not the kiddie version, the adult version, was pink and all i will say its that worked better i think it would... Also that was interesting day.
I used a food plate for a bounce. 😂😂😂
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
I've done the same thing! MW bouncing off a styrofoam plate
I once used a slip that belonged to my wife. Fortunately, I was able to get it back in her dresser before she knew it was missing. We're still happily married, am glad to report!
A white car and big white bus....
Weird use of bounce = Long sheets of Baking Paper
I used aluminum foil, the kind you wrap sandwiches with.
surfboard
I've used people as a neg...
Weirdest bounce: White and dirty gym mattress. I was shooting a sports scene .The actor really smelled that sweaty environment. lol
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
Very method bouncing haha. I'm sure you could get a lot of good looks for various levels of dirty mattresses.
Sounds fake but we used a pair of old tighty-whiteys to not only diffuse an hmi but also the holes in it created separate shafts that spackeled the wall.
@aputurelighting
4 жыл бұрын
Wow you don't hear that every day, but whatever works! I'm very curious why you had underwear on hand haha
@theBizzaroWorld
4 жыл бұрын
@@aputurelighting it was a dad's garage and he had a box of old rags for oil spills I think. The elastic was perfect, no need for clips haha.
Once I used a human being wearing a white tshirt as a bounce board
The weirdest thing I have used as a bounce is my car
Toilet Paper :)
My white grocery bag
Paper towels
Tutorial is too fast