Here is the current syllabus for FM3244 Lighting for Film & Video Spring 2016 at Temple University.

Here is a folder containing user manuals for various equipment to which you have access in the class.  

Here is a list of required and suggested materials for the class (and where to get them).

Week 14

Assignment: Final Essays & Portfolio

Week 13

A useful tool: AbelCine's FOV calculator. 

Also, a little (somewhat technical) article explaining RAW, UNCOMPRESSED, and LOG.

We've noticed that in *all* of your scene recreations, your versions have included more setups in the final edit than those in the actual film. We've talked about this in class. Here's an additional, short visual essay on shooting too much coverage and playing things out in a master:

How do you emphasize to the audience that something is important? Well, you could always cut to a close-up, but how about something subtler? Today I consider ensemble staging - a style of filmmaking that directs the audience exactly where to look, without ever seeming to do so at all.

Similarly, this video illustrates how staging and lighting help determine where we look in the frame:

This is an excerpt from There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007). 11 adult viewers were shown the video and their eye movements recorded using an Eyelink 1000 (SR Research) infra-red camera-based eyetracker. Each dot represents the center of one viewer's gaze. The size of each dot represents the length of time they have held fixation. http://thediemproject.wordpress.com

 

 

Week 12

Readings: Roger Deakins Q&A extracts; Vittorio Storaro interview; Owen Roizman interview

Additional Reading: ASC article on "Drive" (dp Newton Thomas Sigel); Wally Pfister on Moneyball

Assignment: Expressive Lighting

Viewing: The Conformist (1970, dp Vittorio Storaro):

 

Viewing: Deakins on Expressive Light in a scene from "No Country for Old Men"

Cinematographer Roger Deakins talks with NPR's Melissa Block about one of his favorite scenes from the movie "No Country for Old Men". See the full story on npr.org.

 

Viewing: Compositions in "Drive": 

One of the many pleasures of Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” (2011) is that the shots feel both tightly composed and weirdly unpredictable. Even though most of the images follow a simple quadrant system, Refn puts plenty of subtle touches within the frame. Let’s take a look. For educational purposes only. You can donate to support the channel at Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/everyframeapainting And follow me here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyszhou Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everyframeapainting Music: Desire - “Under Your Spell"

 

Week 11

Throwback Gripping Video:

for educational purposes only

 

Interview with "Creed" DP Maryse Alberti:

In this clip from the Movie Geeks United podcast, the hosts speak with cinematographer Maryse Alberti (The Wrestler, Crumb, Happiness). For more information on Movie Geeks United, and to access our archive of over 600 filmmaker interviews, visit http://www.moviegeeksunited.net. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/moviegeeksunite Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/moviegeeksunited

And here's an interview on "Creed"'s on "oners" with the Steadicam Op Ben Semanoff.

Audio recording of Christian Bale on DP / Gaffer set etiquette as it relates to actors.

“It was a very emotional scene,” said one set worker, who could not speak for attribution because she signed a confidentiality agreement. “We cleared everyone out of their sight-line and Shane was the only one there. And he was wandering back and forth between Bryce and Christian’s eyeline.”

Audio of actor Christian Bale's rant on the set of the new Terminator film w/ SUBTITLES of the crew. Christian Bale going crazy on the director of photography. There is no image in this video, but I subtitled the everything the director, the DP, and Bruce (the associate producer) were saying so you can hear both sides of the argument.

 

DP Andrij Parekh on lighting "Blue Valentine" with one light, starts at 14:40: 

Visit www.crafttruck.com To listen to an uncut podcast of this interview: www.crafttruck.com/podcasts The man who keeps the new school in the old school, Andrij Parekh, one of the most sought-after new DP's on the scene talks about his work in the films of "Half Nelson", "Sugar", and "Blue Valentine".

 

Sam Levy on "Block, Light, [Rehearse, Tweak], Shoot":

For full interview visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSENspOx764&list=PLYE4cpJeuaUSoiIOqxRxD5GRjoPqCGeaT For other interviews visit: http://www.crafttruck.com/ Follow us: http://www.crafttruck.com http://www.facebook.com/crafttruck http://www.twitter.com/crafttruck

 

Week 08

Assignment: Shooting-Script, Floor-plan, Storyboard

Readings: Excerpt from "Shot by Shot" by Katz. Excerpts from Rabiger "Coverage and the Shooting Script"

Bordwell on Editing and Space via "Analytical and Constructive Editing":

http://www.davidbordwell.net/

Harris Savides, ASC (RIP) Interview: 

http://www.cine-fils.com/interviews/harris-savides.html



Week 07

Great trip today at Expressway!

Here's some basic G&E tools they showed us:

 

Week 06

Assignment: Mid-term Shooting a Scene from Oscar 2016 Nominated Script

Link to Scripts

Week 05

Reading: Arsenal of Lights from Light--Science and Magic; and Gripology from Blain Brown's book.

I also want you to watch at least until about 33 minutes of this DP commentary from Mathew Libatique on Requiem for a Dream here (I've emailed you the password for it). The whole thing is worth watching, as this is perhaps the most detailed discussion by a DP on a decently budgeted, interestingly shot film: 

Week 04

Assignment: Hollywood Stills & Painting Recreation Assignment

Readings: "Hollywood Portraits"; "Arsenal of Lights" from Light--Science and Magic

Painting Reference Images: Examples from Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Vermeer, and others.

Although Freddie is making the light softer, this is definitely an example of how NOT to light for a portrait: 

A beautiful scene from PTA's one and only, The Master. I think he got the lighting right.

Week 03

In class Quiz

Readings: "Electricity" from Blain Brown Motion Picture and Video Lighting; Excerpt on Electricity from Harry Box's The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook; ---and, as a supplement, "Chapter 3: Light Fixtures: The Basic Tungsten Arsenal" from The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook.

Some Documents: How Not to Blow a Circuit ; HMI Safety

Week 02

Readings: Exposure Theory -- Ch.3, 4, 6, and 7 from Dave Viera's Lighting for Film and Digital Cinematography

Assignment: Lighting Relativity Video Due in Class on Feb. 4th

Here is a camera report form you can use for this week's assignment (and others).

Quiz from this week with answer key.

And here's our little latitude test we did in class. Ideally, we would have been able to keep the f-stop and subject position constant, and just add or take away light. But this was good enough to demonstrate the basic idea:

Here's a little video tutorial on light metering. Note that he discusses incident meters (which we covered in class) and "spot meters" (which we haven't discussed yet). 

The Full Series is available at: www.thecinematographerseries.com Welcome to the language of light! In the Lighting 100 series of videos you will be taken through the basic concepts you need to understand and master in order to creatively use light to tell visual stories. In episode 101 Ryan reveals the need for, and the use of the light meter, an often overlooked and misunderstood tool. But through the proper use and understanding, it can allow you to shape light in a whole new way. At the end of this video I show a couple of helpful tips for working with the Sekonic L-758Cine, and make mention of additional tips on my blog. You can find these tips here: http://www.ryanewalters.com/Blog/blog.php?id=5855694556099186053

Week 01

Readings: Gordon Willis from Masters of Light; "Brightness, Color, and Contrast" from Light--Science and Magic

Assignment: Lighting with One Light Due in Class on Jan. 28th