On Monday, Robin got the whole class to turn our Building 13 classroom into a functioning set so we could experiment with a number of different lighting set ups. He assigned roles for each of us, and as Darcey and I were given the task of set up the monitors, we were in the perfect position to observe how all the different methods Robin demonstrated looked on screen.

Max was our model for the morning. We set the monitors to black and white, mostly because we’ve been finding that it tends to make the contrast of shadows and highlights on camera stronger, which allows us to be more precise with our lighting choices, but we also did this because one of the monitors had been put on a strange setting where everything looked either lime green or magenta and we couldn’t figure out how to change it back.

I think this class defintely used the most equipment so far, or at least it’s been our most elaborate set up. Robin even went as far as to set up a large black screen to block out the sun coming through the windows at the back of the classroom. Combined with the black board that was placed behind Max, the black background against the hard light made for a very dramatic looking shot.

Robin went through a number of different techniques which I hadn’t heard of before, including using a tool called a cucoloris, which he got Alec to make out of a black board by cutting out a variety of different shapes. Robin then held it up to the light to show how it can create a range of different shadows, and explained how the same technique is often used in film to create shadows such as the well known venetian blind effect used in film noir.

Another clever technique Robin demonstrated was how you can use wooden clothes pegs to create the illusion of leaves creating shadows. This was far more effective than I could have ever imagined, and has made me very curious about what other simple techniques are out there to create such interesting effects.