How to Light for Darkness | 5 Cinematography Techniques

Stay tuned to the end for a chance to win a prize! How do you light a scene that isn’t supposed to have too much light in general? That’s the question that we’re tackling in this episode as we take an office scene at night and make it look like something from Arrival, Nightcrawler, and The Social Network. If you want to light for drama and make sure you’re exposing everything correctly, we’ll cover the fundamentals of cinematic nighttime lighting in this episode. In this scene, we create suspense by using emphasizing ambient light and create pools of light and shadow where they matter most, along with dramatic camera moves and lighting effects. Valentina walks us through step-by-step of the production design and lighting in this office location. We’ll also talk about how to shoot the light coming from computer monitors to avoid flicker and other camera issues. Production design matters, especially when it comes to lighting. Blank white walls never look good, and they bounce light ever