When I was at LDI I got a chance to talk with some friends for a longer period of time than life usually allows. Two of these people were Ben Dynice and Tim Kang. You know how your friends can contain more than one surprise? I was delighted to find that Ben and Tim (and the rest of the team that used to be at Quasar Science) had done a first season of YouTube videos called The Science, which explains major concepts of color and light. I love education, so I checked it out.
The first video does an amazing job of defining (and redefining) three point light. Rather than pure theory (which I can enjoy, but I know few people do), they have a 360 degree lighting setup and they just show you what nearly any point and any width in the 360 degrees will look like on a person. They also demonstrate and clarify contrast and what color can do to expand the visual world you are creating.
I love this series so much and was shocked to see only about 1300 views. This material is really powerful. It takes theory and concept and over and over again displays it in action in such a way as to empower you to make your own choices. And don’t get it twisted that this is just for on set people. Though that is obviously what it is geared towards, live events people should dive into this series as well. The topics are:
1. The Four C’s of Portraiture Lighting
2. Testing LED Color Response using the 4 F’s
3. Learn How to Predict Your Light’s Output
4. The Realism of Image Based Lighting
5. Color Control in LED Light Engines
6. How to Create Interactive Lighting
7. The Pitfalls of Lighting with LED Walls
Here are my translations of the titles if that helps anyone:
1. What Does a Light Do from About Any Angle or Color
2. “White” Lights are Not All The Same
3. How does Light Expand and Dim over Distance
4. Define “Color” AKA- Why are there So Many Color Pickers?
5. Pixel Mapping- Why?
6. Pixel Mapping- Can this NOT Look Blown Out?
7. The Limits of strict RGB
Never mind that for all intents and purposes, live events people should be ready to have their work on camera at any time and there are more and more live elements creeping into on set. All of these topics matter to both on set and live entertainment. They are laid out clearly and briefly and would benefit any programmer/designer.
Do yourself a favor and in between various holiday celebrations- give these videos your time. I think you’ll be happy you did.
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Mark LaPierre is a programmer in film, television and theater based out of Albuquerque. He grew up in live entertainment and has been a designer/programmer for musicals, concert dance, live music, circus and corporate. Mark is a proud member of IATSE, an ETC Eos trainer and an enthusiastic trainer of many other platforms and subjects. He offers remote console coaching in 30 minute to 4 hour times as well as a full range of training in person. If you enjoy his content, please consider commenting on his posts on the website to appease the Algorithm.