It is always good to use lighting, there is not one shot that can't be perfected with light.

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"Imperfection equals Realism"

Out door shots in general are MUCH better and more "realistic" when lights are used.

I agree with Henry. I can't think of any situation when making a movie where it's
best to not use lighting.

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

A situation that looks perfectly fine with the naked eye is not necessarily so through your camera's lens. Even if you want to light someone who's supposed to be 'in the dark,' a single light reflected or bounced off a wall or whiteboard can do wonders to illuminate your subject without creating an overwhelming amount of light. The more control you have over your lighting, the better. Take every opportunity to use it, even if it seems like an unnecessary pain sometimes.

-Jay
http://www.indie-film-making.com

true, also i read a book that says even though lighting is incredibly importaint, you CAN pass off with just a reflector. if you have no other choice.

"They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But a film? Well, thats worth a thousand pictures."

-(Own3d Studios)-

www.own3dstudios.com

Reflectors are wonderful--I use them all the time, even in studio situations (my lighting teacher always stressed that if you have a problem with your lighting scheme, you shouldn't solve it by adding another light), and they're often your only option (especially when you're shooting a day exterior on a low budget and don't have the money or infrastructure for gigantic 18k solarspots).

I'd argue that when you're lighting, whether it's indoors or outdoors and you've got at least one good, strong source, you should reach for your reflector before you grab another instrument.

Still, when you're lighting indoors, you're gonna need some actual lights, and probably sooner rather than later. Halogen work lights are acceptable in some situations, but it really helps when you have film or stage lights with barn doors for directing the light and attaching gels.

There was that one time, though, when I lit an entire night exterior with an existing street light, a pair of car headlights and an LED flashlight... not fun, but possible.

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Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com
and my reel at http://portfolio.exgfilms.com

reflectors sound cool, but i live in UK, and although there are sunny days, there are not enough to rely on reflectors

It is better to approach the answer to this question from the standpoint of controlling the lighting instead of thinking of it as "lighting" a set.

The difference is that when using the word "lighting," it implies the use of powered lamps under any circumstances. This isn't what is done on the professional level.

Instead the DP uses powered lighting units, silks, flags, scrims, bounce cards (white foam core), and shiny boards as part of his tool kit to "light" a setup in the manner that is appropriate for the story and the specific setup in terms of continuity and other potential concerns.

Assuming you are starting with a completely dark set on a stage, you then use whatever tools you need to LIGHT the set. There is a difference between "lighting" and "illuminating." When you "light" a set, you are taking care to shape the light using the tools to create the proper environment as called for by the script. Simply "illuminating" a set means just getting enough light on the set in order to get an exposure on film. Not all DP/Cameramen who claim to be "lighting" are doing more than merely "illuminating."

Beginning with a blank slate (dark set) is easy as you are free to create whatever lighting look you want to (within the parameters of resources and time, of course). But the next level up is to have to light a practical location where there may be windows that allow daylight in and you don't have wild set walls. Now you must make the decision to either use the daylight and match your set lights to that or to black out the windows so that you don't have to light around the daylight influence. That's a simplistic summary of the situation as there are many variables that will influence how you may have to deal with external windows. But the point is that now you're in the business of truly having to control the light as you deal with any ambient light that you didn't create as you add your own lighting to the environment. Rarely would you be able to get away with walking into a practical location and be able to just shoot using whatever practical light is already there (daylight and practical sources). Because of the limits of film and electronic cameras as well as the necessities of the script, you'll have to control the daylight in some way and use additional "movie" lights to create the proper environment to shoot in.

Day exteriors are in some ways the easiest to "light" and in some ways, more difficult. It is somewhat easier as you will use the natural sun to light your backgrounds. But you are working to control the sunlight that falls on your talent because natural daylight isn't very attractive on Actors, particularly when the sun is high in the sky. This is achieved by using large silks that diffuse the sunlight and remove the harsh shadows. But this cuts light off of your Actors so you then have to add light in order to keep the exposure latitude in line with the bright background. This light can be added with artificial light from very large units (ie, 20K powered by a generator) or by using "shiny boards" that bounce sunlight into the shot. This light needs to be controlled too because it can be too harsh, so you may have to bounce it through large frames with silk or other diffusion gel, like 216.

Night exteriors can be difficult because you have to light everything that you want to see, and night exterior locations tend to be much much larger than any stage set. For this reason, a DP may use large MUSCO trucks or he may float a large balloon that can illuminate a large area below. Then additional smaller units are brought in to fill in just as will be done at any other time.

So, sure, as long as there is enough light to get an exposure, you can roll film (or tape) and get an image. But that's not really lighting. And just throwing light on a subject (ie. a news cameraman using a sungun) isn't really considered "lighting" either. But CREATING an image by using light and controlling it is really what separates a real DP/Cameraman from everyone else.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com

When to use lighting: Always
When to not: Never

I think you're thinking of the act of using a lighting rig or set up where you have power running to high wattage lights. But lighting a scene can be as simple as using natural sunlight and angling your actors in just the right way so that the sunlight creates the right mood in the scene or simply maximizes the visibility of the actors.
If you are on an outdoor shoot you can use white postor board to reflect or 'bounce' light to fill in the shadows clinging to your actor if the scene permits. Here the sun would be your primary light source (key light) and the light bouncing off your poster board (bounce card) is acting as your secondary light source (fill light). So already you have a two point lighting set up and you're using only natural light.

So when do you use lighting? Always. Lighting simply means there is light in your scene and that is always. When should you use your abilities to tweak the light in your scene? Probably always. It doesn't have to be a giant truck filled with equipment. It can be as simple as arranging your actors in the right way and waiting for the perfect sunlight to fall at the right angle.

I was thinking about what you said about living in the UK with cloudy days. If you had the option (and it depends on artistic taste) but using a back light on your actors might help separate them from the background and help direct audience attention where you want it to go.
Also, I think about the movie Bottle Rocket where they light the scenes where you have a room with a big window and an open door or a wide open wall with sunlight spilling in. They adjusted exposure so that the outdoors was correctly exposed but the indoors were underexposed (everything was too dark) but then put in lights to pump a lot of light in the indoor areas so that what you see is on screen is everything exposed propoerly and you can see indoors and outdoors equally well - and it looks natural. You can't tell that there is creative lighting being done. You might be able to try something like that - though I heard that its hard.

I love the idea of a lighting free set for Dogme-esq realism but sometimes, without lighting, your shot is just gonna look crap.

If it's helpful to any of you, we've made a clip about using reflectors on set if you're dealing with low light or trying to be a bit more creative with your set up.
It's just the basics but hopefully pretty useful for the beginners.

http://beta.thesubstream.com/node/264

www.thesubstream.com

You are all being a little black and white on the subject. Are all of you forgetting about Terrence Malick.

I can?t speak for the others, but I never forget Malick. His work
with Emmy winner Tak Fujimoto, Oscar winners Nestor Almendros
and John Toll and Oscar nominee Emmanuel Lubezki is
extraordinary.

Amazing lighting that adds so much to the feel and mood of his
films.

I totally agree and my point was that he usually has ground rules that state only natural lighting is to be used.

Understanding lighting is always a difficult thing, especially the way light behaves. Using a reflector, even on an overcast day will cause the flitered light through the clouds to bounce back in the direction you are holding it. Like all light being cast from a reflector will be greatly reduced, but often this can help fill in the other side of an actors face when shooting outside if there is darkness on one side of their face.

Using lights outside, this would all be based on budgets, and yes, top Level DPs will enhance sun light with the use of artificial lights (often HMI, or Arc lights) by filtering the sun that is physically hitting the actors and substituting it with the artifical light, this good if you have the money, a power socket near by or a generator. HMI lights are expensive to run and though the light they produce is the closest we can get to emulating the sun in its colour temperature, there are cheaper ways to to this.

Sun Light - This creates high Contrast and and filter for the sun and a reflector, often not silver but white foam core would be better, is used to fill it, and a reflector can be used for back lighting if required. Be wary not to get the shadow cast from the filter.

Cloudy - Bounce cards and reflectors will help you would be surprised that in camera the difference it can see. Adding an artifical light will help, Using this technique with a moving camera will always complicate things more.

Indoors - well it is simpler as less light from the outside needs to be clocked, and if you are trying to use natural light then make sure that everything else is matched colour temperature wise as well. This you will see if you don't do it.

But it will all be down to costs and what you can and can't afford. Even trained DPs with experience in the field might still not get the right shot when it comes to outside. The sun is an amazing source of light and there is NOTHING we can do here to even come close to replicating this using articial lights. So if you have a choice, use it and help minimise the huge different in contrast it will create.

Michael Rogers
McRogson