Lighting contrastmeaning

The light meter is set to give the aperture reading of middle grey. The aperture has to be more open on the dark side to get middle grey, and closed on the light side.

Visualcontrastexamples

So, there’s no need to look at the face for high key or low key lighting. You look at the background. That tells you everything you need to know.

This is specific to cinematography because in cinematography you are lighting spaces and scenes most of the time. All the shots taken in that scene and space have to match. Getting the mood right is critical.

Lighting contrastphotography

The lighting contrast ratio on the face is only one half the story. The other contrast ratio is the difference between the lit side or key, and the background.

Contrastsensitivity

If you have a white background or grey background, by which I mean about two stops above or below middle grey, but the foreground is underexposed or even black – it’s called a silhouette.

The most common technique used from the earliest days of cinema is to have the background one stop darker than the subject.

Just looking at my comments I ment to write your best. I hope you were not offended by my haste in writing. I’m very sorry if my comment was taken the wrong way.

Hello there, I watched your video and for the most part it is fine. The explanation of contrast is very good. I do believe you are mistaken on the calculation of contrast ratio.

My question is how did the aperture of the lit side f/5.6 and whereas on the shadow side is f/2.8???? Means how did the light meter read a wide open aperture on a shadow side and a narrow aperture on the light side? Can you please answer this question to me????

Sparkle light

On the other hand, when a scene has a low contrast (small difference between the brightest and darkest portions of the face), we say the scene is high key. Lighting used to get this look is called high key lighting. Here’s an example:

This is called low key lighting in cinematography. I use the term in the way I’ve learned it from books and cinematographers interviewed in ASC magazines.

If it’s only half a stop above, the contrast ratio is half a stop. For really moody and dark scenes the contrast ratio can be 4 stops or higher. Gordon Willis frequently used large contrast ratios in his lighting style. The typical average is about two stops, though it varies from scene to scene, depending on what the cinematographer is trying to achieve.

Note: Photographers use contrast ratios that are 2:1, 3:1, etc. This is not used by cinematographers due to the way lighting is done traditionally. I’ve never found any good reason to use this system either, because it just complicates things for no real benefit.

Contrast ratio is calculated at 2^ of the stop difference between the key side and the fill side. For instance, if your key is at 5.6 and your fill is at 2.8. Then you have a difference of 2 stops.

If the key reads f/5.6 and the shadow side reads f/2.8, the difference is two stops (f/5.6 to f/4 is one stop, and f/4 to f/2.8 is a second stop). The contrast ratio is 2 stops. We say “two stops over” or “two stops under”, and mostly don’t even use the word ‘ratio’.

The best example I can think of is The Shining, in the bathroom scene. It’s lit to high key, but the mood is anything but. And for the reverse study Manhattan, where the lighting is mostly low key, but the subject is comedy. You can break the rules as much as you want.

Lighting contrastexamples

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That’s it. There are no other variations possible. Sometimes you fall into a grey area, but that doesn’t really matter because the cinematographer’s eye and experience will tell them what the mood is like.

Now let’s go in the opposite direction. When the subject is correctly exposed or overexposed against a bright background, we have high-key lighting.

If we have a grey background with either a grey or white foreground, it’s just normal lighting. This is what the majority of scenes look like:

When a scene has a high contrast (great difference between the brightest and darkest portions of the face), we say the scene is low key. Lighting used to get this look is called low key lighting. Here’s an example:

There are two aspects to flat lighting. You can just light a face flatly, where the contrast. ratio on the face is the 0, or no difference. But in cinematography, when people use the word “flat lighting” they also might mean the lighting contrast of the scene as a whole.

Contrastsensitivity test

The fill side or shadow side will generally match the background. It’s rare to have a dark shadow side but nowhere in the room is it that dark. That will look unnatural.

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If everything is in the realm of grey, the background is one stop below on average, which is below the two stops we need for grey.

Not all terminology has a logical basis. Some have just evolved over the years. The same terms in photography might mean different things.

High-key lighting is used in many sitcoms and comedies, because the world is always a cheerful place. It’s easy to remember because the background will be brightly lit and cheerful. No unnecessary shadows to spoil the mood. Cartoons are a great example of high key work.

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After all, lighting is just one aspect of mood. Humans also use other cues like the actor’s wardrobe and expression, and the context of the scene, what’s happened before, etc.

When the background is dark to the point of underexposure, or actually underexposed, or even black, it’s always low key lighting.