lighting design In theatre, a lighting designer (or LD) 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 i ...

, backlighting is the process of illuminating the subject from the back. In other words, the lighting instrument and the

viewer Viewer may refer to: * File viewer, application software that decodes and displays the data in a computer file * Image viewer, a computer program capable of displaying digital images * Pocket Viewer, a range of personal digital assistants markete ...

face each other, with the subject in between. This creates a glowing effect on the edges of the subject, while other areas are darker. The backlight can be a natural or artificial source of light. When artificial, the back light is usually placed directly behind the subject in a

4-point lighting setup Three-point lighting is a standard method used in visual media such as theatre, video, film, still photography, computer-generated imagery and 3D computer graphics. By using three separate positions, the photographer can illuminate the shot's s ...

. A back light, which lights foreground elements from the rear, is not to be confused with a

background light A background light is used to illuminate the background area of a set. The background light will also provide separation between the subject and the background. Many lighting setups follow a three-point lighting or four-point lighting setup. Fou ...

, which lights background elements (such as scenery). In the context of

, the back light is sometimes called hair or shoulder light, because when lighting an

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

or an

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, backlighting makes the edges the subject's hair glow if the hair is fuzzy. This can create an angelic

halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

type effect around the head. Filmmakers sometimes use this to show that the actor is ''good'' or '' pure''.

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

productions often use this effect in

soap operas A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, where it has become something of a

cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...

of the

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...

. It is also sometimes called the kicker or rim light. Backlighting helps separate the subject and the background. Live

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

lighting designs often use backlighting to give a more three-dimensional appearance to actors or set elements, when front lighting alone would give a flat, two-dimensional look. In ''

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

'' effects in painting, such as the candlelit paintings by

Joseph Wright of Derby Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution". Wr ...

(''illustration''), backlighting helps separate subjects in the foreground and emphasizes depth. In photography, a back light (often the sun) that is about sixteen times more intense than the

key light Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

produces a

silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

. A

fill flash Fill flash is a photographic technique used to brighten deep shadow areas, typically outdoors on sunny days, though the technique is useful any time the background is significantly brighter than the subject of the photograph, particularly in back ...

used with a backlit subject yields more even lighting. The vertical angle of the back light can change the effect. A low angle can make the light hit the camera lens, causing lens flare. A high angle can make the subject's nose extend out from the mostly vertical shadow of the head, producing a potentially unwanted highlight in the middle of the face.

See also