Lighting is Key.

The other day I got a message from a Twitter friend. The message said, “$199 for a shot of a man opening a present. I don’t get it.”

There is a very important production attribute that is so often overlooked by amateur and semi pro videographers and that is lighting. In answer to my twitter friend’s comment a shot of a man opening a present with a home camcorder, no lighting and no professional set is NOT worth $199. Now if that shot is created with a broadcast quality camera that costs over $200 per day to rent and the shot is lit and shot by a lighting expert and Camera man who costs $500 per day and the clip is shot in a studio that is $800 per day to rent then that clip you saw for $199 is a bargain.

Lighting is the most important aspect of video production. You can make a lesser camera look great with proper lighting. Consider this sample of amazing things that can be done with proper lighting.

Take the shot when the first guy lights the kids candle who is sitting on the stairs. One might think that he could easily recreate that clip. However, to make it look as good and maintain comparable production values a producer will spend far more than $199. This is one of the reasons why people purchase stock footage. This is one of the reasons why the stock video industry works.

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