This week, we started in much the same way as last week except, we were able to control the lighting in building thirteen with the use of bounce cards. One of the things we instantly noticed as a group was that we were vastly more indecisive about our lighting setup because we had so many more choices.

Robin could “no longer avoid” pulling out some real lights. We used a number of different fixtures and one of the things I learned was how the focussing process works when you’re with a crew. We also had a demonstration of three point lighting, which of course is one of those things that you don’t really ever use in real life but it was still an interesting demonstration.

In our theory class on Wednesday, we discussed focal length in relation to light and the way it affects the image. It was interesting to watch Robin’s videos on different lighting setups and in some cases, setups that didn’t involve artificial light but were extremely well lit and well controlled. Again, there seems to be this common theme of controlling light vs. just putting up a whole lot of lights.

It’s amazing just how much more conscious of lighting I am in my daily life but also when watching films and video. This class has also got me thinking a lot about my own previous works and how I would light them differently just from the sorts of discussions that the class generates during our theory lessons on Wednesdays.

We also learned some really helpful terminology around lighting and camera this past week. We seem to fill the white board very quickly. I’m really glad we discussed the different ways to describe aperture, especially between whole stops and the different ways to describe depth of field. One of the things this class is teaching me in practise is to slow down during the early process of cinematography. To take the time to calculate what’s going to happen before you press record and make sure you actually get the shot you want before you get to post.