![\"\"](\"http:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/pbblogassets\/uploads\/2014\/07\/film-and-video-production.jpg\" "\\"film-and-video-production\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nSoft lighting is great for indie-films. It can ‘wrap around your subject<\/a>‘,\u00a0hide skin flaws<\/strong> and cast shadows with soft edges. Common techniques for creating soft lights are using soft boxes or diffusers directly in front of a light source. However, if you want your light to be even softer, book lighting<\/strong> is the way to go.<\/p>\n In essence, book lighting is bounced light that is diffused before hitting the subject. The result is a consistent soft light<\/strong>. Normally when a lighting director is wanting to create a book light they will use a bright light source such as a 2K fresnel or Maxi Brute and bounce it off a white object such as bead board or foam core, then the light will go through a diffusion panel.<\/p>\n Due to expensive equipment costs and a (somewhat) long set up time<\/strong>, book lighting is a technique that\u2019s often avoided on indie-film sets. However, instead of buying “name brand” equipment there are a few alternatives you can use to save money.<\/p>\n The trick to getting great book lighting is to have an extremely bright source. Your LED video light probably isn\u2019t going to be bright enough. However, a shop light should do nicely. Just be careful, touching a shop light after a 7 hour shoot is like touching the surface of the sun<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Next you\u2019ll need a bounce source. In his post on book lighting,\u00a0Shane Hurlbut<\/a> suggests using a bleached muslin which you can online for only a few dollars<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lastly, you will need some sort of diffusion panel. While you could go out and buy a LEE diffusion panel<\/a> for over $100, a semi-transparent shower curtain will get you similar results for a fraction of the price<\/a>.<\/p>\n The book lighting setup should look something like this:<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget that in order to create book lighting you will need quite a few stands, clamps, and rods<\/strong> to hold everything in place.<\/p>\n The following videos show us what this book lighting set-up will create:<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Image Courtesy of Hurlbut Visuals<\/a><\/em>
\n<\/a><\/p>\nWhat is Book Lighting?<\/h2>\n
Book Lighting 101<\/h2>\n
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\n<\/a>Images courtesy of Hurlbut Visuals<\/a><\/em>
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