How to light a night scene quick and easy!

Today I have a fun tutorial for you that will show you some quick and easy cinematography techniques. In the video I talk about lighting, camera composition and also set dressing plus how to enhance the shot using some very quick VFX.

Here is the video tutorial

As you can see, I only use 1 practical light as the key light. It happens to be an oil lamp but in your case you can use a candle, torch maybe even a flashlight. Other than that I use 2 lights to show a bit of the environment plus to help separate the actress from the background. Both of those lights happen to be from Aperture but you can use any light really. If you do want to see all the gear I used in this example then follow the links below. One really great addition to any filmmaker these days is to have a solar generator. Especially the larger one I own which is the Inergy Apex. This thing is a monster and will power your lights for hours. I also provide a link to where you can get it plus a 10% discount code.

Gear I used in this video:
➡Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K:
B&H https://bhpho.to/2r87V2O
Amazon https://amzn.to/2T1YFJU
Adorama http://bit.ly/2JNJobr
eBay https://ebay.to/2ATt1XM

➡Aputure Light Storm LS 1c LED Light
B&H https://bhpho.to/2NvOi2l
Amazon https://amzn.to/2xtUOfa
Adorama https://adorama.rfvk.net/qLLrY
eBay https://ebay.to/2FNoB6U

➡Aputure LS C120D II
B&H https://bhpho.to/2NtpUy8
Amazon https://amzn.to/2xwElGI
Adorama https://adorama.rfvk.net/9jjv5
eBay https://ebay.to/2KVJIZ5

➡Aputure Light Dome II
B&H https://bhpho.to/2NuN2fK
Amazon https://amzn.to/2JbuVY9
Adorama https://adorama.rfvk.net/5DDO2
eBay https://ebay.to/2XqKcga

➡Inergy Apex Portable Lithium Solar Generator 1100Wh
https://glnk.io/p5q/tom-antos
Save 10% with discount code: ANTOSFILM

➡400Wh Portable Lithium Solar Generator Power Station
Amazon https://amzn.to/2xpJNLM
B&H has a similar one to the one I use https://bhpho.to/2Nx2vvL
eBay https://ebay.to/2Ji4QW4

I did the fireflies using this After Effects preset https://creationeffects.com/swarms.html

Get 2 Free Months of Skillshare Premium https://skl.sh/tomantos3

By the way, I did another lighting tutorial in this series where I show how to light a night scene inside. You can read about it HERE or watch the video below.

—————————————
DISCLAIMERS:
Some of my links have an affiliate code, allowing me to make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks!

The opinions expressed in this video were not influenced by or paid for by any outside individual or company. I use and test lots of products that are sent to me or that I buy myself. In the end, I only talk about the products that I find interesting.

This video was sponsored by Skillshare

#cinematography #filmmaking #nightlight

3 thoughts on “How to light a night scene quick and easy!”

  1. Nights are kinda hard to light, and good news is that genius are there to help us make things look professional. I have a movie I’ll be working on, and I have some similar scenes and a similar lantern. Keep it up Tom. You’re one of my favorites !

Leave a Reply