The letter

One letter a week, starting soon.

The week's signal, what the makers shipped and what the reviewers found, and the editor's note. No tracking, no ads, nothing else.

We keep your address, your language and the date you joined, nothing else. Every letter has a one-click unsubscribe link that deletes the record.
Cinematography3 min read

LESSON 100

Three-point lighting in depth

Key, fill and back, placed with purpose.

IN THIS LESSON

  1. The three roles
  2. Where the key goes
  3. Fill and the fourth light
  4. Practice: building it step by step

The three roles

Three-point lighting is a standard method in film, video, theatre, stills and computer graphics. It uses three light positions to shape a subject and control its shadows. The key light is the main source; its strength, colour and angle set the whole look. The fill light comes from the other side, usually softer and dimmer, often up to half the key, to lighten the shadows the key creates. The backlight, also called the hair or shoulder light, sits behind the subject and draws a rim that separates it from the background.

Where the key goes

In the classic set-up the key light sits 30 to 60 degrees to one side of the camera. The most common height is about 30 degrees above eye level, high enough that the nose shadow does not fall across the lips. A key from below distorts features, because daylight and room light normally come from above, and is used for horror or comedy. A high key sculpts cheekbones and lengthens the nose shadow. Marlene Dietrich was known for insisting her key be placed high. Outdoors the sun is usually the key.

Fill and the fourth light

The fill is often placed lower than the key, near the subject's face height, and it can be a reflector rather than a lamp: a white card or even a white wall bouncing the key back gives a softer, subtler effect. Leaving out the fill produces strong contrast, which is the point in low-key work. Adding a fourth light aimed at the background gives four-point lighting; it can remove shadows cast on a wall, draw attention to the set and add depth to a flat frame.

Practice: building it step by step

This is working practice. Turn on one light at a time and look at the result before adding the next. Place the key first and judge only the shape of the face. Add the fill and raise it until the shadows hold the detail you want. Add the backlight last and keep it subtle unless you want a glow. Our earlier lesson on light for photo and video introduced the idea; this one is about placing each lamp with a reason.

Try it today

  1. 01Seat a friend by a plain wall with one lamp as key.
  2. 02Move the key from 30 to 60 degrees and watch the nose shadow.
  3. 03Add a white card on the other side as fill.
  4. 04Add a small lamp behind and above as a backlight.
  5. 05Film ten seconds at each step and compare.