What is a foot candle of light? This is a question I am often asked by people who are not familiar with lighting. This can be a difficult concept to explain to someone who doesn’t know much about lighting. A foot candle is a measurement of…

An arc shot is a type of film shot in which the camera follows its subject in an arc, usually from behind. This type of shot is used to give viewers information about the environment and make them feel like they are there with the…

In photography, there are two main types of lighting used to create images: high contrast and low contrast. Most of the time, photographers are after a high-contrast look. It’s the go-to for most portrait photography or for when you want to create images with bold…

As originally conceived by Paramount engineers Robert H. Gottschalk and William C. Garity, VistaVision was intended as a large-format alternative to other widescreen systems such as Cinerama or Cinemascope that had been developed in the early 1950s. However, the high cost of converting theaters (and…

In the simplest sense, a film gate is the opening in a camera through which light passes. Taken more broadly, however, a film gate is simply a hole that controls what an image sensor (such as film or an imaging chip) sees. This hole can…

Ambient light refers to the natural light already present in a scene before you set up any lighting equipment. Sometimes referred to as available light, ambient light is generally soft and diffuse and can come from the sun or moon, streetlights, windows, or other sources….

Rodrigo Prieto was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He is a Mexican cinematographer of international stature winning an Academy Award for his work on Brokeback Mountain and Babel, as well as a BAFTA Award for The Wolfman, both directed by American director Ang Lee. Prieto…

If you’ve ever watched a TV show or movie where there was a person behind the camera, one of the things you’re likely to have noticed is that they never seem to be shooting directly at their subject. This is because of something known as…

So you’re out there, shooting in the wilds of film. You’ve got a big ol’ camera, you’ve got a bunch of lenses, but do you have the right film? Film gauge is one of those things that seems really easy. It’s just like 35mm, right?…

What exactly is motivated lighting in film? The term refers to the idea that light should be used to add depth and meaning to a scene. Lighting is not just about giving an image visual interest; it’s also a way of adding emotion, context and…