The Shadows Know

Placing Shadows: Light Techniques For Video Productions is by far the most advanced of the books here, and assumes a little bit of technical knowledge on the reader's part. But if you've already shot a certain amount of digital video and are eager to improve the quality of your projects' lighting, this is a great place to start.

The title echoes a technique of great architects, whose goal isn't merely to create buildings, but to create space. In video lighting, the goal isn't just to generate sufficient light for noise-free video, but the careful placement of shadows to create — or at a minimum not destroy — the mood of the shot.

The authors bring a tremendous amount of experience, particularly in the television commercial and industrial video world. This is the perfect book for someone who's just purchased his first Lowell lighting kit, and wants to move beyond the basics of three-point lighting, or needs to light a full set, not just a one or two person close-up.

There are numerous examples of lighting hardware and filters, basic (and complex) lighting set-ups, and also lighting for indoor and outdoor shots. Indexed and at 287 pages, it's a terrific read for the right person.

As Gloman and Letourneau write in their introduction to Placing Shadows, it's now possible, even with consumer grade software, to somewhat "fix it in the mix" and improve the quality of what was shot on location using PC-based post-production software. But this can be laborious, time consuming stuff, and has its limitations (insert crude old Hollywood cliché about burnishing fecal-based matter). Ultimately, the goal has to be to get it right before and while the camera is rolling, not afterwards. Then you're adding the final sheen to quality source material in post-production, and not performing a nigh-impossible salvage job.

These books can help a beginner get close to that point, and help a serious amateur with the right tools to achieve it.