Three Point Lighting

An important style of lighting that can be used in most cases for filming or photography is Three Point Lighting. This is achieved by using three different points of light: the key light is the main light focusing on the subject in the piece and is generally lit from above and very slightly to the side of the subject. The fill light is a smaller light placed close to the key light and is positioned slightly below the subject. Lastly is the back light and is used to light up the background behind the subject. The back light helps create more depth to the area and amplifies that it is indeed a 3D scene you are shooting.

The steps to create three point lighting are listed as such:

1. Start the shoot in darkness to make sure there are no default lights to interfere with the three lights about to be introduced. When the first light is introduced, there should be no other light in the scene.

2. The next step is to introduce the key light to light up the subject and work out where most of the shadows lie. This will act as the main light source for the piece. It is important that the key light is brighter than all of the other lights being used to light up the front of the subject.

3. Introduce the fill light to make the subject more visible as it extends the lone light given off by the key light. The fill light can be used to strike the illusion of secondary light sources such as lamps or reflected light. The light given off from the fill light should be the opposite of the key light (e.g. if the key light is on the left, the fill should be on the right). It should also be lower than the key light.

4. Finally, introduce the back light to make it more clear that the subject is away from the background. Back lights can be as bright as you require to create a rim of light (also known as the rim light) around the top of the subject.

I can see three point lighting being used very well for stills photography as the way the light hits the subject makes it more clear and highlights the details. In relation to our project, I could see myself use this next time I work in a studio space or an indoor shoot but I prefer to use ambient light when outside. When using a green screen like we did, I prefer how we did with simply using two key lights above the subject almost acting as dual spotlights to make sure the green screen is evenly lit, as are the actors.

(Source: Three Point Lighting guide from Moodle)