If you need to soften and even out some harsh light but want to do so without emptying out your wallet, there are plenty of alternatives to expensive professional-grade diffusers. In this video, The Film Look lists a few household items that are not only dirt cheap, but are incredibly effective at diffusing light and even withstanding the high heat of your lighting unit. Check it out below:

Today, I want to go over a term I just learned called "Nose Room". It may sound intrusive, but it's actually a pretty cool pretty cool way to frame a shot.

Cinematography and photography have quite a lot in common. In fact, considering video is just "moving pictures" at the end of the day, there's really more in common than you might originally think. That means there's also a lot of crossover with the terms and lingo between the two disciplines. Who knew.

But those are not the only solutions to inexpensive DIY diffusion. T-shirts, sheets, garbage bags, and even printer paper can make great diffusers, but you just have to keep all flammable materials a safe distance away from any lighting unit that produced heat. If you're working with LEDs, they produce almost no heat, so you can feel free to slap pretty much anything right on them. Furthermore, paper lanterns, or china balls, are essentially lights with diffusion built right in, so you might want to consider keeping a few handy.

If you're interested in learning what nose room is all about in both video and still photography, join me as we go over the definition, look at some nose room examples, and unpack just why cinematographers and photographers use this setup.