| A | B |
|---|
| Key light | Primary source of light in a shot, usually located to the side of the camera lens |
| Fill light | Located on the other side of the camera, opposes and softens the shadows thrown by key light |
| Background light | illuminates the background areas and adds depth |
| Available light | Illumination that actually exists on location during filming, either natural (sunlight) or artificial (street lamps, candles, fires, etc.) |
| Scrims | translucent sheet of material used to soften or diffuse light on a shooting set |
| Filters | pieces of glass or plastic fitted in front of the lens to control the color or quality of light entering the camera |
| Floodlights | A studio lamp that illuminates a relatively wide area by flooding it with light |
| Spotlights | Studio lamp that illuminates a relatively small, specific area. |
| Baby spot | A spotlight with 500 to 1,000 watts of illuminating power |
| Senior spot light | A spotlight with 5,000 watts of illuminating power |
| Fiver | A spotlight with 5,000 watts of illuminating power |
| High-key lighting | Lighting that creates bright, even illumination and few conspicuous shadows |
| Low-key lighting | lighting that produces less illumination than high-key lighting, and therefore a darker atmosphere and tone |
| High-contrast lighting | lighting that creates a stark contrast between bright light and heave shadow |
| Back lighting | lighting in which light comes from behind objects or people being photographed, producing halo-like highlights around the subject or when light is especially intense, showing the subject in silhouette. Also called Rembrandt lighting |
| Limbo lighting | lighting that eliminates background light and isolates the subject against a completely dark (or neutral) field |
| Rembrandt Lighting | lighting in which light comes from behind objects or people being photographed, producing halo-like highlights around the subject or when light is especially intense, showing the subject in silhouette. Also called back lighting |
| Depth of field | The distance in front of the camera lens within which objects appear in sharp focus |
| Area Lighting | Lighting that illuminates a specific area of a film set rather than the entire set, usually with spotlights rather than floodlights |
| Realistic | A style of filmmaking that endeavors to depict physical reality much as it appears in the everyday world. Typical realistic techniques include the prominent use of long shots, eye-level camera angles, lengthy takes, naturalistic lighting and sound effects, and unobtrusive editing. |
| Naturalistic | A style of filmmaking that is starkly realistic and avoids any semblance of artifice. |
| Expressionistic | A style of filmmaking that distorts physical reality in some way in order to express strong feelings about it. Typical expressionistic techniques include the use of distorting lenses, extreme camera angles, bizarre lighting and sound effects and fragmented editing. |
