hey matti, this is one of the best videos you've made. because you are learning, we are learning. i know u been feeling discouraged with youtube lately and want to do more. but stuff like this is more. if you want to start a cinematic journey and are getting into more feature films and stuff like that, do it. just bring us around with you.
It's so cool to see how experimenting with lighting techniques can change the mood of the look. Also it shows that there is no limit to lighting. Out of the 2 cove lights, I preferred the cove lighting pointing up as it's more dramatic. Thanks for sharing Matti
Can’t wait for future videos. I like that youre getting back to this type of content. I’ve missed it and most other people have stopped talking about the basics and just talk gear.
Love the direction you're taking your RUclips channel. I felt like I watched a lot of your content a few years ago, then I started working on set in the industry and it wasn't as useful to me. Seeing your new adventure trying to get more into narrative cinematography has brought me right back
Hey, Matti! About for "down" lighting onto the Muslin... Consider placing the muslin at 45° to the floor. Look closely at Deacon's photos with Judi dench. The muslin is angled 45°. If you did that, you could put the light stands behind your muslin and away from your talent. I really love that somebody respected and popular in the videography space on RUclips is talking about advanced lighting techniques like this. BRAVO!🎉
so to go off the Judi Dench example, the lights are placed behind the muslin / diffusion material, and when shined through the frames, the light still has a nice soft upward bounce? I am curious if at higher intensities if the light will penetrate the diffusion and not angle up as much
Love this, 22 minutes feeling like 5 because of your excitement! It feels like the beginning days of camera youtube, where people just showed off what they learned today, instead of making perfectly scritped tutorials which feel like they were built for retention. Would love to see more of those vids just testing stuff out. Much love! :)
Loved this video and playing with lights. I used to do that so much when I used to shoot fashion... now I am lazy but it is nice to see someone else to do it. One thing though... why manual focus? The constant out of focus drives me nuts... lol
Hey matti, the reason why the uplighting works better in this situation is 1. because of the angle, it dosnt hit the background as much, do it provides more of a purposeful feeling edge on you. 2. the way the face is structured lighting from underneath creates more shadows and definition on the face in a micro scale, because their is more blocking the light from hitting everything, look at. your lips and the shadow formed on them, look at how your eyes still maintain good contrast. its all about depth.
Put the C-stands behind the muslin, boom the lights out overhead and spin them around to aim down at the muslin, simple fix for having the stands clogging the light path. This is a good all around technique for the reason you found where you could move around the room and it still looks naturally and evenly lit.
The "uplighting" thing is something I always think about when people say "never use a bounce card from the bottom but rather from the top to fill" but then I always think to myself, "but don't our shadows get filled from light bouncing from the ground though?"
Good point. I think as long as it's just fill and less powerful than the key light it should look pretty natural, right? I remember in The Hateful 8 Tarantino & his DP did a lot of bounce light off table surfaces when characters sit down at the table and it looks great...
This was so useful! I work for a fully digital church, and live streaming is a large aspect of our production. Lighting in a smaller studio space has been a challenge, and I want to try to implement what I can from this. Thanks Matti!
I did a job with Deakins - 25 years ago - I was too young and dumb to actually pay attention to what he was doing. Definitely one of those scenarios where I wish I could have a do-over.
Great example of how much value we get out of experimentation. A few things I thought about while watching this video: 1) “Uplight” is not the correct term in my opinion. If you were pointing the lights directly at you from that angle, it would be uplight. But since the light is bouncing and diffracting at many angles, you are really getting lit from all over (bottom and top), replicating the natural environment, but in a more controlled way. 2) I find that cove lighting is best for narrative work where talent may be moving around. It also helps control the fall off when you want to have very tight control of ratios. 3) With talking head/interviews, cove lighting requires too much flagging to control the environment for my taste. Thanks for sharing! Looked like a lot of fun.
great video man - for me it's 2 big things - 1. Noses. Noses when I'm lighting w/ lights I'm never happy with the shadows and this completely eliminates that - probably many people don't mind or care, but it's just an observation that it's much more flattering for nose shadows. 2. Up or down direction isn't going to matter much (in my opinion) for the look since the cloth is a a big source - it's more about where the spot hits the cloth vs where the spot comes from. I think Deakins adjusts this primarily based on the location. I say that because they look very much the same to me and I've seen his setups for both and I think its the convenience regarding where you can put the physical lights. 2 behind the scenes that are popular of his is one where it's low in a kitchen with 2 actors (decaprio?) and another where the lights are high w/ Judy Dench sitting on a couch. The only caveat to that is in the couch scene w/ Judy the actual cloth/reflectors are themselves angled up which WOULD change the vibe much more-so than where the actual lights themselves are if that makes sense. Anyway, this is the best way to learn is to actually do it.
Sorry for being too honest, but after almost 4 years of watching your videos, I'm finally starting to feel like you're making real videos rather than "trying" to make videos with some ads, Your last videos are full of very useful stuff and I'm thankfull for you sharing this, keep it up
hey matti, looks decent, the angle of the muslin matters for the angle of bounced light, you can allow is to curve down onto the floor like an exponential curve for a better light wrap, or you can have muslin bounces on frames at 30to45degrees on c-stands creating the cove light wrap. Glad you're bringing this to your audience. excellent job
totally love that you're just trying everything out, to see what happens! and that upward cove light is indeed magic! big thanks, very informative, indeed learned a ton!
As a fellow cinematographer, I loved this missed focus, dead mic, “janky” video lol Loved seeing you play. We don’t always have to have perfect production especially for RUclips 🔥🤙🏼
Been watching your video forever and I think this is my favorite so far. Been playing around with different lighting techniques myself lately and this video came at the perfect time. Thanks Matti!
I found this video very helpful in showing me what the 2nd farther, more distant, light can do to create a more sculpted look. It's something I had in the back of my mind but never tried out when I actually set up interview lighting on location. So thanks for that. Particularly if you have a window in the background, as you have here, for motivation of that light.
I always lit my talking heads from down below just because I wore a cap most of the time and I would've had a big shadow hitting my face but something about this uplighting always resonated with me very well. Now I finally know why- thank you :)
videos that test things in real time are some my favorites. Thanks for sharing! Do you think there would be much a difference if the two softbox lighting was lowered and angled upwards? Similar to the first cove lighting setup? Maybe not practical due to the size of the softboxes...
I dunno, the last shot immediately made me think ‘Gone Girl’ 😅. Which is is friggin amazing that you recreated how to capture that vibe!!! Everyone thinks ‘slap on a lit’ and you just proved the nuance in the little things that make perfection
If you put c-stands behind the fabric and put the lights on an arm it would get them out of the way for the down angle, but I see what you mean about the uplight version, it has more dimension. Cove lighting might take longer to set up initially, but being able to move around in the space should make for a faster shoot once you get going. Appreciate you taking us along on this journey.
Yea that’s a good point but that means way more c stands which I don’t have 😂 Yes exactly! More setup but then saves tons of time later. I really like it.
I'm pretty sure I remember Deakins saying on the forum he lights from the ground mostly from convenience of not having the stands. It's funny how convenience can be mistaken as stylistic intent. I'm sure its a mix of both though. As you said, maybe he knows what he's doing! Love these videos mate. I reckon I could experiment with lighting all day and it's fun to geek with creatives like you. I'd love to see these tests in a full wide shot with multiple characters. That's where the real challenge is.
Hey Matti i love ur channels so much but can u please tell me specifically what lens was used here? 19:15 Thank u so much i wanna buy it it looks insane
Without a doubt the most useful and informative channel of it's kind! Salute to you Matti! Your work is awesome and can be enjoyed by everyone. No matter how much (or little) experience the viewer has, there is always valuable information! The magic comes from your enthusiasm and it is contagious! Inspiring, demystifying and motivating.
Why didn't you fix the audio with Adobe voice enhancer once the mic died? The lighting is sick. I try to use that method when the set allows it. It's great to eliminate the "sourciness" 🤪
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
hey matti, this is one of the best videos you've made. because you are learning, we are learning. i know u been feeling discouraged with youtube lately and want to do more. but stuff like this is more. if you want to start a cinematic journey and are getting into more feature films and stuff like that, do it. just bring us around with you.
It's so cool to see how experimenting with lighting techniques can change the mood of the look. Also it shows that there is no limit to lighting. Out of the 2 cove lights, I preferred the cove lighting pointing up as it's more dramatic. Thanks for sharing Matti
Yea I think I settle too fast with lighting but should really experiment and try more things!
ruclips.net/video/W5FZ8sXy2a4/видео.html
Can’t wait for future videos. I like that youre getting back to this type of content. I’ve missed it and most other people have stopped talking about the basics and just talk gear.
Yea me included 😔 turning down most embargo gear videos
@@mattih well at least you are making an effort to break away from that stuff. It hasn’t gone unnoticed and is really appreciated!
Love the direction you're taking your RUclips channel. I felt like I watched a lot of your content a few years ago, then I started working on set in the industry and it wasn't as useful to me. Seeing your new adventure trying to get more into narrative cinematography has brought me right back
Hey, Matti! About for "down" lighting onto the Muslin... Consider placing the muslin at 45° to the floor. Look closely at Deacon's photos with Judi dench. The muslin is angled 45°. If you did that, you could put the light stands behind your muslin and away from your talent. I really love that somebody respected and popular in the videography space on RUclips is talking about advanced lighting techniques like this. BRAVO!🎉
so to go off the Judi Dench example, the lights are placed behind the muslin / diffusion material, and when shined through the frames, the light still has a nice soft upward bounce? I am curious if at higher intensities if the light will penetrate the diffusion and not angle up as much
So so appreciate your humility in sharing these things as you learn them. Truly helps the rest of us learn alongside you.
Love this, 22 minutes feeling like 5 because of your excitement! It feels like the beginning days of camera youtube, where people just showed off what they learned today, instead of making perfectly scritped tutorials which feel like they were built for retention. Would love to see more of those vids just testing stuff out. Much love! :)
Enjoyed this from start to finish mate. Super interesting stuff!
Looking forward to seeing what wonders you can pull off with that Arri.
holy moly
I love tutorials like this that are more experimental, especially when it comes to lighting. It really helped me look at lighting in a different way!
Loved this video and playing with lights. I used to do that so much when I used to shoot fashion... now I am lazy but it is nice to see someone else to do it. One thing though... why manual focus? The constant out of focus drives me nuts... lol
Hey matti, the reason why the uplighting works better in this situation is
1. because of the angle, it dosnt hit the background as much, do it provides more of a purposeful feeling edge on you.
2. the way the face is structured lighting from underneath creates more shadows and definition on the face in a micro scale, because their is more blocking the light from hitting everything, look at. your lips and the shadow formed on them, look at how your eyes still maintain good contrast. its all about depth.
Lewis Potts has some great videos on lighting and I think he did one on Deakin's cove set-up. Really enjoying this type of content, Matti!
Yeah, Lewis’ channel is great too
Put the C-stands behind the muslin, boom the lights out overhead and spin them around to aim down at the muslin, simple fix for having the stands clogging the light path. This is a good all around technique for the reason you found where you could move around the room and it still looks naturally and evenly lit.
The "uplighting" thing is something I always think about when people say "never use a bounce card from the bottom but rather from the top to fill" but then I always think to myself, "but don't our shadows get filled from light bouncing from the ground though?"
Good point. I think as long as it's just fill and less powerful than the key light it should look pretty natural, right? I remember in The Hateful 8 Tarantino & his DP did a lot of bounce light off table surfaces when characters sit down at the table and it looks great...
Exactly! I think the uplighting in The Hateful 8 also contributed to how conspicuous the characters are.
hands up if u think gear DOES MATTER!
Excellent example of how a light can be softer but contrastier at the same time.
Really cool! 🙏
Love your style man. Genuine curiosity & passion without any ego whatsoever. Can't wait for more.
Love this format…the viewers learning along with you. Super fun
This is probably one of the best lighting experiments/breakdowns I've seen! Love how in depth you went 🙏
love this. deconstructing and re-creating scenes from movies was always a good practice for me.
Wow I love where this channel is going. Hated all the pushing random gear. So happy you’re diving into deeper aspects of film.
This was so useful! I work for a fully digital church, and live streaming is a large aspect of our production. Lighting in a smaller studio space has been a challenge, and I want to try to implement what I can from this. Thanks Matti!
I did a job with Deakins - 25 years ago - I was too young and dumb to actually pay attention to what he was doing. Definitely one of those scenarios where I wish I could have a do-over.
Great example of how much value we get out of experimentation. A few things I thought about while watching this video:
1) “Uplight” is not the correct term in my opinion. If you were pointing the lights directly at you from that angle, it would be uplight. But since the light is bouncing and diffracting at many angles, you are really getting lit from all over (bottom and top), replicating the natural environment, but in a more controlled way.
2) I find that cove lighting is best for narrative work where talent may be moving around. It also helps control the fall off when you want to have very tight control of ratios.
3) With talking head/interviews, cove lighting requires too much flagging to control the environment for my taste.
Thanks for sharing! Looked like a lot of fun.
great video man - for me it's 2 big things - 1. Noses. Noses when I'm lighting w/ lights I'm never happy with the shadows and this completely eliminates that - probably many people don't mind or care, but it's just an observation that it's much more flattering for nose shadows. 2. Up or down direction isn't going to matter much (in my opinion) for the look since the cloth is a a big source - it's more about where the spot hits the cloth vs where the spot comes from. I think Deakins adjusts this primarily based on the location. I say that because they look very much the same to me and I've seen his setups for both and I think its the convenience regarding where you can put the physical lights. 2 behind the scenes that are popular of his is one where it's low in a kitchen with 2 actors (decaprio?) and another where the lights are high w/ Judy Dench sitting on a couch. The only caveat to that is in the couch scene w/ Judy the actual cloth/reflectors are themselves angled up which WOULD change the vibe much more-so than where the actual lights themselves are if that makes sense. Anyway, this is the best way to learn is to actually do it.
Do more of these nerdie videos Matti! Time flies when watching. Super interesting 🙂👌🏻
Sorry for being too honest, but after almost 4 years of watching your videos, I'm finally starting to feel like you're making real videos rather than "trying" to make videos with some ads,
Your last videos are full of very useful stuff and I'm thankfull for you sharing this, keep it up
i love cove lighting and Roger Deakins. I used to use it all the time for my studio shots! I might bring it back!
Ah very interesting! Also mindblowing how much effort goes into lighting a scene in movies.
This is actually amazing to learn. Love that it’s so simple.
hey matti, looks decent, the angle of the muslin matters for the angle of bounced light, you can allow is to curve down onto the floor like an exponential curve for a better light wrap, or you can have muslin bounces on frames at 30to45degrees on c-stands creating the cove light wrap. Glad you're bringing this to your audience. excellent job
DUDE THIS IS AMAZING! That big rig would make a great big time logo!
13:50 that’s that sweet spot between clearly lit and motivated. 15:38 Looks more motivated by the window.
So much nuances. So much personality and personal preferences and feelings in photography and cinematography
i love this shift in your content Matti! Video idea: break down of famous shots from latest movie (light wise).
plz do this!
Yessss Matti!!! I’m loving this journey you’re on, I’ve been playing with cove lighting from the beginning when I took a deep dive into roger deakins
totally love that you're just trying everything out, to see what happens! and that upward cove light is indeed magic!
big thanks, very informative, indeed learned a ton!
This was an epic watch from the start to finish. I was very interested and loved the way you compared it all. Cove lighting for the win.
It’s crazy how much light changes everything. Great video I’ll try to work on my lighting a lot more after watching this.
This was awesome thanks for taking the time to document this Matti!
Didn’t think there would be that much of a difference between the up and down cove lighting. That’s great knowledge to have on set. Thanks!
This video is Gold!! Thank you Matti
Epic ! Good Work Matti. Really enjoy your content 🔥
I really loved this video. Thanks!
Proper lighting is so important!👌🏽
So true! That’s why I wanna play around way more with lighting 😊
you have great on-screen chemistry with yourself, I don’t know how else to say it
@mattih ru shooting in HDR??? for some reason the video looks darker on my macbook pro 2015, but much brighter and vivid on my Iphone 12 pro :s
This is just 100% Roger Deakins. So amazing.
Oh! This is nice. Can't wait for the rest of the series!
One of the best videos you've done so far.
As a fellow cinematographer, I loved this missed focus, dead mic, “janky” video lol Loved seeing you play. We don’t always have to have perfect production especially for RUclips 🔥🤙🏼
Your skin tones look really great with the fill on the left side of your face (screen). Definitely will use this set up!
I love how excited you get about what you do. It really makes me want to create as well. Crazy. 😊😊👍🏼 Have a wonderful day Matti
🙏🏻 😊
This was an AWESOME video. Thanks for the experiment
Your talking head looks phenomenal. Haven't watched the video yet but have it on pause. Love the color grade as well.
Very impresive dude, this channel is now on another level
Thanks man 🙏🏻 I’m just learning and having fun
This was great - I like this format. Good direction for the channel!
Been watching your video forever and I think this is my favorite so far. Been playing around with different lighting techniques myself lately and this video came at the perfect time. Thanks Matti!
what lens did u use here at 19:15? Please tell me it's amazing
Amazing how much of a difference the covelighting facing up makes.. it's so moody, I love it. Thanks for sharing!
Super helpful especially for low budget shooting when there isn’t a lot of time for setting up over and over.
I found this video very helpful in showing me what the 2nd farther, more distant, light can do to create a more sculpted look. It's something I had in the back of my mind but never tried out when I actually set up interview lighting on location. So thanks for that. Particularly if you have a window in the background, as you have here, for motivation of that light.
i really like the cove uplight does to ur face. somehow makes it more cinematic like im watching leonardo acting haha
Awesome test, you have defiantly given us a lot of food for thought, great video Matti!
We need another Film Riot and Matti collab
Watched it entirely. Great exercise. Thank you.
I like the dim look at the start of the video definitely want to try it because it looked more unique than typical RUclips videos
Just set up a tent outdoors 😂 - perfect top lighting…(love the cinematic lighting ideas here)
I always lit my talking heads from down below just because I wore a cap most of the time and I would've had a big shadow hitting my face but something about this uplighting always resonated with me very well. Now I finally know why- thank you :)
Loving these kind of videos❤️
Love it! Which camera & lens did you use to film this RUclips video?
Lighting setup is very essential
videos that test things in real time are some my favorites. Thanks for sharing! Do you think there would be much a difference if the two softbox lighting was lowered and angled upwards? Similar to the first cove lighting setup? Maybe not practical due to the size of the softboxes...
That woulda been a great thing to try! Curious how it looks. But the cove definitely made things soooo much more natural looking.
this was a fun exercise to watch
I dunno, the last shot immediately made me think ‘Gone Girl’ 😅. Which is is friggin amazing that you recreated how to capture that vibe!!! Everyone thinks ‘slap on a lit’ and you just proved the nuance in the little things that make perfection
As in, you have shown how lighting can effect mood. No other video exists that illustrates this so simply. Kudos
Uplight works well with a practical light like a lamb. Works great with a dinner scene. It's cool
always love learning from Dawkins' approach - top tier
If you put c-stands behind the fabric and put the lights on an arm it would get them out of the way for the down angle, but I see what you mean about the uplight version, it has more dimension. Cove lighting might take longer to set up initially, but being able to move around in the space should make for a faster shoot once you get going. Appreciate you taking us along on this journey.
Yea that’s a good point but that means way more c stands which I don’t have 😂
Yes exactly! More setup but then saves tons of time later. I really like it.
@@mattih I only have one c-stand myself. 😂 Really surprised about how pleasing and not distracting the reflection in your glasses was.
@@mattih Please tell me what lens u had used at 14:25, I love how it looks. sorry for being annoying i just wanna buy that lens asap
Interesting! The cove lighting is very cool, also much better on the glasses glare
Is that a website at 1:11 that shows color grades of various movies, etc? If so whats the url? I've been trying to find a resource like that.
love the newly found enthusiasm ❤
my favorite video already!
Good lighting is good color grading
Haha not the same thing at all! But both are important
I'm pretty sure I remember Deakins saying on the forum he lights from the ground mostly from convenience of not having the stands. It's funny how convenience can be mistaken as stylistic intent. I'm sure its a mix of both though. As you said, maybe he knows what he's doing! Love these videos mate. I reckon I could experiment with lighting all day and it's fun to geek with creatives like you. I'd love to see these tests in a full wide shot with multiple characters. That's where the real challenge is.
What ND level are you using for this exercise?
Hey Matti i love ur channels so much but can u please tell me specifically what lens was used here? 19:15 Thank u so much i wanna buy it it looks insane
Its insane to me that such minimal changes can impact the lighting so so much. Great video friend.
What fabric did you use for your cove light?
I like it. Ill try some uplighting like that
Great format to explore and share as you learn! Refreshing.
Loved the video. Even though I don't have the equipment you do, this opened my eyes to potential new lighting setups. Thanks, Matti!
loved this!
This was a very fun video to watch!
So coool! Love it 👏🏽
I'm starting to learn that lighting is a preference
Yesss! This is so true. And the popular “style” changes over time.
Really appreciate this deep dive. Hugely informative. Thank you!
Without a doubt the most useful and informative channel of it's kind!
Salute to you Matti! Your work is awesome and can be enjoyed by everyone.
No matter how much (or little) experience the viewer has, there is always valuable information!
The magic comes from your enthusiasm and it is contagious!
Inspiring, demystifying and motivating.
Matti bought a camera so detailed, we can see stains on his glasses.
Why didn't you fix the audio with Adobe voice enhancer once the mic died?
The lighting is sick.
I try to use that method when the set allows it.
It's great to eliminate the "sourciness" 🤪
Great film Matti!! Learnt a lot! Love these lighting films👏👏