Cinematography has begun!

We started our Cinematography classes this week, a little late but the lesson was great. We looked a lot about the warmth of different types of light and how they effect you white balance. In general the majority of the lesson was that kind of interesting and useful info about the various light we use. Before that however we discussed descriptions of light. Here are some of the best : chiaroscuro, High key, Low key, Warm, Cool (colour), Natural, Artificial, Diffused, kick, fill, Quality (hard, soft, sharp), Fluorescent, Direct, Reflected, Shallow, Deep, Shadowed, Even, Flat, Strength (Bright, Dim, Dull), Hight, Ambient, Spread and Duration! Thats a lot of description, it is worth noting the immediate connection of some of the words, warm and bright for example conveys happy emotions.

Onto kit and terminology:

Kelvin: Measure of the temperature of the light also the unit used in the white balances.
ND Filters (like on the camera but for lights)

Diffusion Filters (filters that make it dimmer or tint it slightly.I found this helpful list of ranges of diffusion(1))
129 - Heavy Frost
216 - White Diffusion
220 - White Frost
216 - White Diffusion
250 - 1/2 White Diffusion
251 - 1/4 White Diffusion
252 - 1/8 White Diffusion
253 - Hampton Frost
228 - Brushed Silk
F1 - Opal Frost
F2 - Light Frost
F3 - Rolux

Lamps (lights)
Arri 300w (similar to a dedolight)
Dedolight
Kinoflo
Diva light (Kino flo diva, a mini Kino flo)
Chinoflo (Cheap Kinoflo)

Bubbles: (bulbs) (Never touch a bubble)
Inky Dinky - 100W
Mizar - 300W/500W
Redhead - 850W
Pup - 1Kw

Lighting Grip (stands and equipment)

C Stand (Century stand, heavy duty light rig)

Finally we talked a little about using dimmers. On Mizar's with dimmers the change in the amount of light also effects the colour temp. As the lamp gets dimmer it gets warmer. With bigger flurescent lights like the Kino flo the dimmer brings out magenta colour spikes. 

So a good technical filled lesson teaching a lot of little things about lighting, incredibly useful for being on sets in the future.

Bibliography:
Websites:
1. http://www.videogrip.net/scrims-filters-c-9/diffusion-filter-pack-30-x-30-cm-p-202 Date Visited: 08/02/12