Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: No matter how good a camera, good lighting is what
sells the picture
Chapter 1: The Magic of Light – What lighting does for the image
and what light is.
Chapter 2: Who and What Makes Light- the lighting crew, lighting
units, basic electricity
Chapter 3: Lighting the Subject - motivated and three point
lighting
Chapter 4: Light the shot, not just the subject – three plains of
lighting
Chapter 5: Common Practical Lighting Set-ups - cross key, chicken
coop, china ball, bathrooms
Chapter 6: Lighting for Movement – subject & camera, ambient soft
light
Chapter 7: Dealing with Daylight 1: Shooting Exteriors
Chapter 8: Dealing with Daylight 2: Working with windows
Chapter 9: Night Light- lighting night exteriors & interiors
Chapter 10: Working with Color - using color for mood, gels
Chapter 11: Light the scene, not just the shot – High Key, Low Key,
contrast ratios, exposure choice, Chiaroscuro lighting, Rembrandt,
Butterfly lighting
Chapter 12: Special Lighting Considerations & Effects– fire, water,
rain, fog, lightening, poor man’s process shot, green screen,
product shots, etc
Chapter 13: Lighting Non-fiction – Interview, Corporate, News
Magazine, Documentary, Reality
Chapter 14: Inspiration and Lighting Looks
Appendix 1: Tales from the Trade – interviews with professional
gaffers, LDs & Cinematographers
Appendix 2: Resources – Apps, books, magazines, websites, etc.
Glossary
Index
A how-to book on the art, craft and practice of lighting for film & video for students and filmmakers.
David Landau has over thirty years of professional lighting experience working on feature films, TV shows, sit-coms, game shows, commercials, documentaries, industrial films, music videos and direct-to-consumer DVDs. Landau teaches lighting and cinematography at Fairleigh Dickinson University, US, where he also created the Cinematography track of study, but continues to work in the lighting industry, shooting low budget features and corporate videos, designing lights for theatre and working as one of the gaffers on the TV series Project Runway. A five-time Telly Award winner for lighting and cinematography, Landau is a member of IATSE Local 52, the University Film & Video Association and Media Communications Association International.
It's dense, detailed, thoughtful, simply written and highly
educational. Lighting for Cinematography: A Practical Guide to the
Art and Craft of Lighting for the Moving Image might have been
created as a practicum for a 14-week course in cinematography, but
David Landau's study of the art and craft of lighting has something
for everyone, from the neophyte to the veteran.
*ICG Magazine*
Lighting for Cinematography is one of the most comprehensive and
engaging texts on the subject this reviewer has read … The author
fills the volume with outstanding visuals, including screen
captures and lighting plans from actual films and television
programs, in so doing bringing the lessons to life. Most notably,
Landau includes commentary by current practitioners, thus providing
an invaluable glimpse into the minds of creative professionals.
This is a compelling read for those wishing to improve their craft
as well as for those still learning the ropes. Summing Up:
Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates, including students in
technical programs, through faculty and professionals.
*CHOICE*
Whilst there are some great books with interviews of big time
cinematographers out there, there are few books immediately
applicable to what emerging cinematographers face on limited budget
shoots ... This how-to book addresses how filmmakers on a limited
budget and time schedule can achieve professional looking images
similar to what they see on the big screen.
*British Cinematographer*
This unique approach has been needed for a long time and there is
simply no other lighting book like this in print.
*Student Filmmakers*
A master class in cinematography! David Landau’s conversational
tone mixed with 35 years of technical experience and aesthetic
prowess results in a very accessible text that should be cherished
by students and professionals alike. Whether he is describing the
process of lighting through a window with a 1200 HMI Par with a
double scrim, 250 diffusion and 1/2 CTO or describing his method of
achieving a firelight effect with several 250W Inkies with a
mixture of amber and orange gels and run through a flicker box,
Landau’s multiple accounts from his work in the field give this
book a much appreciated practicality and voice of authority that is
invaluable for the emerging cinematographer.
*Harlan Bosmajian, Assistant Professor of Cinematography, Emerson
College, USA and Local 600 Director of Photography*
David Landau has produced an excellent text in Lighting for
Cinematography which manages to cover the practicalities of
production, the technical aspects of lighting and vitally the
artistic importance of this work. Lighting for Cinematography is
constructed to appeal and be of value to the practitioner at all
levels; it is equally full of detail for careful consideration and
quick hints and images for review before filming. Landau's book is
helpfully crammed with instructional diagrams and the chosen images
act as exemplars of technique. Lighting for Cinematography contains
a series of production skills and helpful hints and exercises;
these aspects are exceptionally helpful to the student of film
wishing to improve their understanding and technique. I would
highly recommend Lighting for Cinematography to those to wish to
learn more about this field and to all those interested in the
technique and process of film making.
*Robert Edgar, Senior Lecturer in Film and TV Production, York St
John University, UK*
Simply written and highly educational, very few books on the market
[have such a] wide perspective on the subject.
*Luca Pulvirenti, Accademia di Belle Arti di Palermo, Italy*
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