guide when making additions to, and subtractions from,
your lighting setup.
Skin Tones
Because skin tones are the only “true” means by
which a viewer can adjust the color balance of his
television set, it is obvious that skin tones must be
reproduced accurately and naturally. Proper lighting is
the chief way of accomplishing this task.
One way of reproducing natural skin tones is to light
the set evenly. If a talent moves from a light scene to a
dark scene, the talent’s face should be kept as evenly
lighted as possible. The difference between the dark
scene and the light scene should be accomplished
through backlighting and not the lighting on the talent.
Since extreme shadows take on their own color, you
should avoid casting them on the face of the talent.
However, do not eliminate facial shadows altogether.
Lighten them with fill light instead. A certain amount of
shadows are necessary to give character and dimension
to the face.
Do not permit color reflections from clothing or
scenery to fall on the talent’s face. Likewise, avoid the
use of colored lights to light the talent (except for special
effects). Save the colored lights for lighting the
background.
ENG LIGHTING
When you leave the confines of the television news
room or production studio for an ENG assignment, your
main concern will be the availability of lights. If you are
outdoors on a sunny day, there is not much of a problem.
But when you move indoors or shoot at night, you will
need a portable, lightweight and versatile lighting
system that either runs on batteries or plugs into a wall
outlet without blowing fines.
Before we cover the components of ENG lighting,
keep in mind that the television lighting principles
previously covered also apply to ENG lighting.
Portable Lighting Kit
Portable lighting kits will supply you with the
lighting equipment you need in most situations. They
normally include the following pieces of equipment:
l
l
l
l
Lighting instruments
Tripods
Short power cables
Battery packs for each light
l Accessories
Additionally, you may want to include a set of
insulated gloves, heavy-duty masking tape or gaffer’s
tape and at least one extra bulb for each lighting
instrument.
There are many commercially available selections
of ENG lighting kits. They usually provide at least
enough instruments and accessories for your basic
lighting needs.
The color temperature of ENG lighting kit
instruments is 3200°K. They are usually variable-focus
lighting instruments that may be adjusted for use as a
key, fill or backlight.
Accessories.
Your light kit should contain accessories, such as
barn doors, screens and scrims (fig. 14-30). They are
covered in the following text.
Figure 14-30.—Barn doors, screen and scrim.
14-27
