Since my role in the film we are about to shoot is cinematography, lighting is extremely important in making the shots visually appealing. Here are some notes about the lecture and classes about lighting that made an impact on me.

• Lights are hot. I know that sounds stupid and obvious, but since I’ve never used a proper lighting set-up before, I can totally imagine myself rocking up to the shoot on the day without gloves. I wouldn’t have thought to do that.
• Key/Fill/Back lights. I had a basic understanding of the typical 3-point lighting set-up from Cinema studies last year, but actually preparing a light set-up is different to analysing how a scene has been lit. The actual types of lights that Robin and Paul showed off, like the red-heads are definately important to be able to distinguish between.
• You don’t always need film lights for a scene. An outdoor day scene doesn’t need lights. It can use a whiteboard to bounce light onto the actor but it doesn’t lighting fixtures.
• C-stands. Important tools for light accessories like the black boards to cut light. Also on the note of blackboards, the further away they are from the light source, the cleaner the shadow.