Using Layers of Light to Create Dynamic Shots

In video and film production, everything begins with light. It's the essential element that makes cameras work, and in the hands of a skilled artist, it can transform an ordinary scene into something spectacular. However, lighting conditions aren't always ideal. You might face inconsistent lighting, low budgets, or limited gear. Sometimes you need to balance areas of high and low exposure, while other times you need creative control to layer light precisely.

Here are three distinct ways to handle and layer light in your shots.

Using Light & Splicing Shots Together

When budget or time is tight, you might need to get creative. For instance, if you're filming an interview subject sitting in front of a bright, sunlit window, you've got a problem. You can expose for your subject, but the window will be a blown-out, bright mess. Or, you can expose for the window, which will make your subject a dark silhouette. A middle-ground exposure will likely leave both your subject and the window looking bad.

A clever solution for a static shot is to film two separate takes with different exposures. In one take, you expose correctly for the subject; in the other, you expose for the window. Then, in post-production, you can combine the two. For a local TV commercial, a production team needed a shot of a restaurant's sign at night. The sign was too bright for the surrounding scenery. They shot one take exposed for the sign and another for the scenery. Since the camera was static, they simply spliced the two together in editing, cropping the perfectly-exposed sign from the first take and layering it over the second. This resulted in a balanced shot that looked professionally lit.

Filming in Multiple Light Passes

For static shots or those with controlled, repeatable camera movements (using robotics or motion control), you can film your lighting in multiple passes. This technique is especially useful for filming miniatures or products where you want complete control over every highlight and shadow.

A great example comes from the YouTube channel "Slice of Life." For a documentary, the team wanted to create a realistic sunset on a miniature dojo. They filmed the set in multiple, identical takes, each with a different lighting setup. They started with a basic, flat-lit foundation. Then, they filmed a pass with only backlight, a pass with highlights on the trees, another with highlights on the stairs, and finally, a pass with a light and fog to create "god rays."

In post-production, they layered these passes on top of the foundation shot using blending modes like "screen" or "overlay." This gave them the ability to individually adjust the intensity of each highlight, shadow, and ray of light, creating a final shot that looked like a breathtaking, real sunset.

Filming in RAW Format

Film in Raw For More Exposure Control

Another powerful solution is to film in a RAW format. A RAW file is the unprocessed, uncompressed data from the camera's sensor. It contains all the original exposure and color information the camera is capable of capturing. This gives you a massive amount of flexibility in post-production. If a shot is a little overexposed, you can simply adjust it in your editing software as if you were adjusting the camera's settings on set.

This method can be used to solve the window exposure problem in a single take, as the RAW file captures a much wider dynamic range. However, this power comes at a cost. RAW video files are huge and require a substantial amount of storage and a fast computer to process them. Plus, not all cameras can output in a RAW format, making this a less accessible option for many creators.

Lighting challenges can be a gift and a curse. They may be a headache, but they can also force you to develop creative solutions that lead to more unique and powerful results.

Learn more about our custom video production services.