Lesson

Light: Inside

The first thing that comes to mind when I have to shoot a video inside is: what’s the the light like there? The right light in your video can make your video look a lot more professional. And it’s super, super simple. Check out my explanation in the video below.

As you can see in the video, it can already make a big difference if you move yourself or the object. The simplest solution: stand in front of a window. So never have your back faces to a window or a different light source, because then you get the opposite effect – as you could see in the video.

Lights
In case it’s not possible or impractical to shoot by a window, you can also light your video with lights. Make sure to use white lights (regular yellow light bulbs make you look… you guessed it.. yellow). You can find a few production lights I found helpful in on the right side of this page.
The cheapest solution you might not have to spend a dime for? A construction light. But, beware, construction lights can get really hot (use work gloves) and produce a lot of bright light. The best thing to do is to bounce the light off a white wall, for indirect light.

3-point-lighting
One good technique to properly light a person or object, is through 3 point lighting. This basic principle is pretty simple: light with 3 sources from different angles. The key light (in front), the back light (behind the person), and the fill light (for any remaining shadows). 

In this smartphone eCourse, we won’t go too much into detail about three point lighting. But, it’s good to be familiar with this basic rule. If, for example, you wanted to build a (temporary) studio inside, 1 light would not be enough. And if you’re recording a video inside and you just can’t seem to get the lighting right- it might not be because of the lights, but more so the technique: are you lighting your object the right way?

For now, I would mainly use daylight, and if you’re shooting inside – make sure to use white lights!

 

You can change the entire mood with lighting

 

Karen Cobb