Lighting question for video?

Question

im planning on shooting a music video for my band in a nice theater with plenty of adjustable lighting. when i edit the video i want to get a realistic tone to the film. ive noticed that it is alot easier to adjust a bright scene (brightness, contrast, saturation) than a dimly lit scene. there seems to be more flexibility to work with. i use danuisoft dvdripper to adjust and then import into windows movie maker. so i guess im looking for suggestions. should i use lots of lights and darken it or the exact oppsite. i need some good ideas on a shoe string budget for making my video look semipro. thanks for your help!

Answer 1

My suggestion is to turn off all the camera auto functions (except for maybe iris), hook up a monitor, and light the heck out of it, concentrating mainly on the performers (with backlight). The close ups will have to be re-lit. You want to get as clean of a shot as possible. Anything else can be done in post. This may not make the band happy, but shoot a master shot (whole band), then a close-up of each member doing the 'whole' song. Then whatever else you had in mind. This is how they usually do it, and will take some time, at least half a day or more, and lots of planning. You should already know what you want before even going to the location.

I've written several articles on television and video production. I haven't finished lighting yet, but these might help you with some ideas:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Shoot using the bright lights... white. Make skin tones look as natural as possible. If you want to adjust colors in post production, it will be a lot easier.