Planning: Lighting

Lighting is a very important part of any media production. If used effectively, it can have a large impact on the mood and emotions of the audience. Bright lighting portrays happy emotions, whilst a dark scene creates emotions of fear or sadness.

Because my chosen song is based on the end of a relationship, a lot of my scenes will feature dim lighting. However, the content of each scene must be visible. Therefore, I must carefully choose what devices I use for lighting in my video to achieve the right balance.

Option 1- Natural Lighting

One option I have is to use natural lighting. Because the majority of my narrative shots are set outside, it would make sense to use natural lighting. There are multiple advantages of using the sun as a light source in my production. One is that it is completely free, and saves me from having to invest in any artificial light sources. Additionally, it means that I will not have to transport any lighting equipment, which makes filming easier.

However, because of the time of year, I will have to carefully plan when I am going to film. This is because I need enough light so that the audience can still clearly see what is happening in each shot. To do this, I will have to take note on what time it starts to get dark, and keep this in mind when making a Filming Schedule.

Option 2- Artificial Lighting

My second option is to use artificial lighting for my music video. A benefit of using this is that I have control over the amount of lighting that features in each shot. I can use this to help influence the emotions of the audience watching my music video, and help portray the mood of the song.

 However, there are some disadvantages to using artificial light. One is that the cheaper lighting equipment only has On and Off settings, rather than an option allowing me to control the amount of light that is created. This means that I may struggle to create the intended emotions in my music video.
Also, the chosen equipment must be small enough to transport to my locations. This means that larger equipment may be unsuitable to use, as I may struggle to get them to each location. It will also waste time having to set up the equipment at each location.