Lighting

How big is the light?

Small lights:

Small lights, like bare bulbs and sunlight, cast strong, hard shadows. They can be softened with a diffuser, or you can fill them to reduce the shadows - with another light or reflector.

Medium lights:

• Medium lights, like light from a window or Chinese paper lantern 
• Great balance - big enough to be soft but small enough to be atmospheric 

Big lights:

Such as a cloudy sky or reflected off of a white wall. They give off very even lighting and soft shadows, with little atmosphere. Easiest type to use and also good for detailed photos and group shots.

Direction of light

Light from directly in front is flat and characterless. Three quarter light, from a 45 degree angle is an average/normal place to start in traditional light setups. Light from directly above tends to make people's eyes disappear into shadow, unlike light from the side is very atmospheric though very hard to work with. Light from below gives people a scary look, similar to rim light, from light behind the subject is very atmospheric.

Light from the front.

45 degree angle.

Light from below.

Light from the side.

Rim lighting.

Light from above.

Outdoors

• Using daylight is easiest on days where there is little cloud cover and therefore you can shoot in any direction and get good shots.
• Sunlight is trickier as it can cast harsh shadows and dazzle your subject. For a subtler effect, use it as rim light (behind the subject, out of shot) as in the shot above.

• Low sunlight is tricky to work with but it can be very atmospheric: many films are shot in the rich ‘golden hour’ light just after dawn or before dusk.

Indoors

• You could bounce a powerful light, like a builders’ work lamp, off a reflector, a white wall or the ceiling. You can also use work lamps to shoot low-key (sidelit) closeups. Or you could buy a set of film lights. Halogen film lights get very hot; LED arrays use less energy and run cooler.

Conclusion;

In our film opening, we are going to try and use big lights, to keep a simple and effective atmosphere. We will also try to use outdoor lighting. We will experiment with more atmospheric and detailed shots like rim shots and lighting from below to try and follow the theme  of horror genre. 45 degree angle is going to be the easiest to use and therefore we will possibly include that too.