"A theatre lighting designer works with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create the lighting, atmosphere, and time of day for the production in response to the text, while keeping in mind issues of visibility, safety, and cost."
So, basically, there is a person who designs lighting situations to account for shadows, outfits, angles, time of day, the contours of the space, the skin tones of the subject, and every other thing in a performance space to give the audience the right mood, feel, impression, and experience that the director wants.
I called a young man who is a lighting designer and asked him about some of my lighting challenges.
There was a huge glare on my glasses. I attempted to sort this problem, but I could not do it to my satisfaction, so I just tell without my glasses. I do have some videos with my glasses, but those tend to happen when my natural light in the area is bright enough to allow me to forgo one of my ring lights.
Here is the tutorial I watched about glasses glare. I suppose if I decide to re-design my lighting set-up, I could buy the type of lights he's using, and that might solve the problem. If you wear glasses, this might be helpful to you.
Armed with my research, I went about setting up lights and shooting videos.
Sometimes I was successful and sometimes I was not. Some videos came out too dark and had to be reshot, and some videos were lovely, and I could use them.
I moved from my living room to one of the bedrooms upstairs. That space is now exclusively my "studio". I store everything up there, and my lights are set. It also has two big windows, so I get great natural light...providing it isn't night time or raining.
I bought some ring lights, and I have two standing lamps. I also have spotlights.
With all of this light, I have managed to light my videos to my satisfaction, but it was a long slog of trying to figure out how to do it.
backdrops on my daughter's old bed!
My performance outfits and a little changing area!
My "work table" lights and a backdrop.
Here are my recommendations:
1. Find a space you want to record and stick with it
2. Use the lights you have. Supplement if you must
3. Try different things until you get the quality you want
4. Ask for help if you need it
5. If you can, buy your lights from an outfit that works with videographers, and can offer advice when you purchase. B&H comes to mind, but there are lots of them, so go out and find what works best for you.
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