Question

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

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Answer

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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.

  • Put your key light to the side of your subject, not the front
  • Expose for the bright side, let the shadows fall off
  • Use negative fill (a dark side or flag) to deepen contrast
  • 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)?

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