Don’t put those holiday lights away just yet. Here are a few interesting, handy, and cost effective ways to light your video content.
It’s the first week of January, the festive season is over, and it’s time to take down the decorations for another year…or is it? Looking at both dramatic content such as short films or music videos, and online content such as reviews and discussions, we’ll see why you shouldn’t put away those lights just yet.
Location and Space
The issue with lights used for the tree or placed around windows is that they’re not practical for filmmaking because you cannot direct the light. Some only have a flashing function, and well, they’re just not bright enough to cast sufficient illumination on a subject. Perfect for photography and introducing beautiful bokeh in portrait shots, but there are only a few elements in which we can use these lights in video content outside of an actual holiday film.
As always, I recommend watching the video, but you can also find the written transcript below.
VIDEO
First of all, let’s look at a location — as seen in the tutorial — as a presenting environment. In one of my first tutorials on the channel, we looked at using tungsten lighting to create depth to the composition (watch here). However, an ARRI Fresnel is not cheap. As such, not everyone is going to be able to put up a lighting fixture like that to create an exciting background composition, and maybe you just don’t have space. Nevertheless, with standard holiday lights, especially the spherical kind, you should be able to use these lights to mimic the same effect in creating compositional depth. If you open your aperture all the way, it should also produce some excellent bokeh.
Background
However, as seen in the tutorial video, I’m using a backdrop stand to place the holiday lights, and not everybody has stands or the space for them. If you’re creating video content from a small space, you can look at using these — fairy lights.
There’s a lot of content online that looks like this:
Creators sitting in front of a desk giving a review or discussion. And, although a lot of people have nailed the key light in making sure they’re illuminated correctly, you may find the background sometimes looks uninspired. In my example, I was acting as a book reviewer. We have a bookshelf in the background displaying Star Wars novels. And, by placing the holiday lights along the bottom row of the shelf, it’s given the environment a bit of detail. While, of course, it’s not going to illuminate the room or anything of that standard, when presenting something from your room segment, it’s a great addition to the background.
Likewise, they’re also useful for adding that extra bit of detail to the background in narrative pieces for what would be, otherwise, bland backgrounds.
I’ve used these fairy lights for a music video and in a short film/monologue. Of course, they can only really be used in a few manners, as it’s going to look silly if it’s added to every background shot. But for a bedroom — a child’s room — it seems natural.
Because these lights are incredibly small, compact, and powered by batteries, you can also think about how to use them in small spaces to create an interesting effect.
A few years ago, I was working on this indie project, and we placed some holiday lights in a small box with some atmospheric spray and was able to create an interesting fantasy effect.
Now, of course, not all lights you wrap around your tree are a warm white, nor do they stay on without blinking. Most are multicolored and flash. Is there a time or place when you can use these fast blinking colorful lights?
When to Use Blinking Lights
Well, I don’t know if you guys remember, but a number of years ago Video Copilot released Twitch, which was an After Effects plug-in that caused your footage to, well, twitch.
Recently, I found an ancient video from a 2008 school project in which I had used the plug-in. It was great for causing a distressing moment, a character intoxicated or perhaps poisoned, and, as seen in my clip, very overused at the time of release. Well, these lights are great for creating that kind of visceral effect.
Using the lights in a flashing motion, I was able to introduce the twitch-like element, but within a practical aspect that shines appropriate light casts to the correct area (see video).
Although, as you can see from the B-cam, I had to bring the lights in super close to even achieve a direct result with the light falloff.
When I started on this tutorial, I had set out several circumstances in which you could employ flashing holiday lights for creative use. But truthfully? There aren’t that many. I think it’s important to remember — these lights are supposed to be beautiful and pleasing to look at, not distracting. Therefore, they’re not going to emit enough light to be practical for illuminating a subject. Unless used in abundance, you’re going to have to bring the lights in very close for a direct form of illumination. While they may hold a handful of creative uses (as noted throughout the video), I think holiday lights are going to be primarily useful for adding extra detail to an uninspired background.
Bonus mention: In Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring, Galadriel’s eyes reflected to show her level of magic and wisdom. This was achieved by rigging up a number of holiday lights.
Top image via Sayfar.
Looking for more practical lighting tips? Check these out.
- 13 Photographers on Lighting Techniques for Small-Budget Shoots
- 2019’s Top 10 Awesome Film and Video Lighting Tutorials
- Using Tungsten Lighting in a Daylight-balanced Scene
- Top 10 DIY Lighting Rig Tutorials to Light Up Your Set
- Color Temperature and 3 Point Lighting Basics