Log inSign up free
Features
BlogFAQ
Log in

Question

What is Paul Rogers's definitive guide to optimizing lighting for cinematic videos?

Updated February 26, 20261 min read

1 answer · 0 votes

Paul Rogersdefinitive guideoptimizing lightingcinematic videos

Answer

From Paul Rogers

0 votes

Hi, I’m Paul Rogers from That Creative CEO. Love this question.

My “definitive” lighting rule for cinematic video is simple: shoot on the shadow side. Most beginners blast light straight at the face. Pros shape light so the story lives in the contrast.

  1. Put your key light to the side of your subject, not the front
  2. Expose for the bright side, let the shadows fall off
  3. Use negative fill (a dark side or flag) to deepen contrast
  4. Add a soft backlight only if it serves the mood

Want me to walk you through this step by step for your specific setup (phone vs camera, indoors vs outdoors)?