How important is good lighting?

Professional lighting is one of the most overlooked elements in corporate video work. Oftentimes, it's the biggest reason why corporate/industrial pieces look amateurish and cheap. One of the most crucial ways you can create stand-out video content is take the time to light your shots.

A few quick and cheap suggestions:

If you don't have lighting gear, find a nearby window and shoot your interview subject with some nice soft-light coming in from the side.

Shoot your exteriors during 'magic hour' ... early morning light before the sun crests, and evening light as the sun is setting. This will almost always yield spectacular results outside.

Try to shoot when it's overcast.

Avoid shooting in harsh midday sun whenever possible.

Some really nice lighting effects can also be achieved outside when the sun is low on the horizon - both morning and evening.

This tip is a little more tricky and takes lots of practice: but try to have contrast in each of your shots. In the simplest of terms...have some brighter and darker elements in your shot...like the Harry Potter image at the top of this post. See how our eye is pulled towards Harry's face? Contrast helps focus and shape an image towards what's most important in the shot, which most often is our subject's face.

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At Matchstick Media, our focus is to deliver cinematic and filmic results to our clients. A big part of our approach is creating professional cinematic lighting for our clients in an effort to help them achieve maximum results with their content.

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