lighting_for_video v1.0.0

name: "lighting_for_video" description: "Light video that looks expensive: the three-point setup (key/fill/back with real positions and fill ratio), motivated practicals, window light that sculpts instead of flattening, color-temperature matching (Kelvin table + white-balance rules), and a cheap-fix playbook for no-gear situations. Use when filming talking heads, interviews, vlogs, product shots, or any scene where the lighting looks flat, amateur, mixed, or harsh." metadata: { "includeInPrompt": true }

Lighting for Video

Purpose

Make any camera look better by controlling light: position the subject and lights so the image has depth, match color temperatures so cuts don't look orange-then-blue, and get pro-looking results from a window and household lamps when there's no budget. Pairs with color_grading (which assumes the footage was lit well first) — lighting is the first 80% of a good image.

Workflow

1. Kill the ambient

Turn off every overhead, lamp, and stray light you didn't choose, and block window light that shifts during the take. You can't control what you didn't add — build the look from zero instead of fighting the room.

2. Place the key light

The key is the main light: it sets exposure and mood. Put it at 30–45° to one side of the subject, at or slightly above eye level, pointed at the face — this creates natural-looking shadow falloff and depth. Flat straight-on light (like a ring light aimed dead ahead) makes a face look 2D; an angled key makes it three-dimensional.

3. Add the fill

On the opposite side from the key, add fill at roughly half the key's strength — softer, not equal. Its job is to soften the key's shadows, not erase them; erasing shadows is what kills depth. A dimmed second light, a bounced key, or a white foamcore bounce card all work.

4. Add the back/rim light

Behind the subject, slightly higher than their head, aimed at head and shoulders (keep it out of frame). This separates the subject from the background — the difference between "person standing in a room" and "subject in a space." Essential when the background is dark or when subject and background colors match.

5. Work the window

A large window is a free softbox. Sit the subject so the window is 45–90° to their face — side window light sculpts, front window light flattens. Control the shadow side with a bounce card: white foamcore gives roughly 1 stop of fill, a silver reflector nearly matches the window, black foamcore (negative fill) deepens shadows for drama. Never put a bright window directly behind the subject unless you want a silhouette — the camera exposes for the background and the subject goes black. For a blown-out window: lower the exterior with ND gel sheets on the glass, add ND on the lens and bring light back onto the subject, or let the exterior blow out on purpose to focus the scene on the interior.

6. Motivate and match color temperature

Every light in the scene should match the color of its motivation (a lamp glows warm, a window glows cool). Use the Kelvin table in references/kelvin.md. Mixed temperatures make one part of the frame orange and another blue. If everything can't match, make the mismatch deliberate (a cool rim against warm practicals is a classic). White-balance the camera to the key light's temperature, and re-balance any time you change location or light source.

7. Fix it with nothing

No lights? Window + reflector + foamcore gets you a full two-point interview setup (see references/budget-kit.md). At minimum: kill the overheads, face the subject toward or beside the biggest window, and bounce something off the shadow side. That one change beats any camera upgrade.

Full setup recipes per scenario (talking head, window interview, night interior, outdoor) live in references/setups.md; the Kelvin table and white-balance rules in references/kelvin.md; DIY gear equivalents in references/budget-kit.md.

Output Contract

• A lighting plan: subject placement, light positions (angle + height per light), and intended fill ratio — before any equipment moves.
• Matching color temperatures across all lights, or an explicitly deliberate mismatch, with the camera white-balanced to the key.
• From any shoot using this skill: footage where the subject has clear separation from the background, one coherent color temperature, and no flat straight-on wash.

Operating Rules

1. Kill ambient first, always. A "good" light plan layered on top of uncontrolled room light is just more uncontrolled light.
2. One light, one job: key exposes, fill softens, back separates. Never raise the fill to do the key's job.
3. Depth beats brightness: a dim subject with separation looks expensive; a bright subject against a flat wall looks cheap.
4. Match Kelvin values before touching color in post — white balance is a production job, not an edit job.
5. Window behind the subject = silhouette. If that's not the intent, move the subject or the camera, don't "fix it in post."
6. Never state a light's color temperature from memory — check references/kelvin.md; household bulbs, studio tungsten, daylight, and shade differ by thousands of Kelvin.