The key light is the first and usually most important light that a

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, lighting cameraman, or other scene composer will use in a lighting setup. The purpose of the key light is to highlight the form and dimension of the subject. The key light is not a rigid requirement; omitting the key light can result in 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 silhouett ...

effect. Many key lights may be placed in a scene to illuminate a moving subject at opportune moments.

Position of camera

The key light can be " hard" (focused) or "soft" ( diffused), and depending on the desired setup can be placed at different angles relative to the subject. When part of the most common setup—

three-point lighting 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 su ...

—the key light is placed at a 30–60° angle (with the

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marking 0°). In addition to the horizontal angle, the key light can be placed high or low, producing different effects. The most common vertical angle for the key light is 30° above eye level, so that the nose would not cast a shadow on the lips. A key light positioned low appears to distort the actor's features, since most natural or ambient light is normally overhead. A dramatic effect used in horror or comedy

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

is a key light illuminating the face from below. A high key light will result in more prominent cheek bones and long nose shadows.

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

was famous for insisting that her key light be placed high.

Lighting a scene

Using just a key light results in a high-contrast scene, especially if the background is not illuminated. A fill light decreases contrast and adds more details to the dark areas of an image. An alternative to the fill light is to reflect existing light or to illuminate other objects in the scene, which in turn further illuminate the subject. The key light does not have to directly illuminate the subject: it may pass through various filters, screens, or reflectors. Light passing through tree leaves, window panes, and other obstacles can make a scene more visually interesting, as well as cue the audience to the location of the subject. The key light also does not have to be white light—a colored key (especially when used with fill or back lighting of other colors) can add more emotional depth to a scene than full white alone. In mixed indoor/outdoor daytime scenes, sunlight may appear to be a ''warm'' white, and indoor lighting to be a ''neutral'' or artificially-toned white. By contrast, moonlight appears to be ''cooler'' than indoor lighting.

Lighting choices

In many cases, the key light is a stage light for indoor scenes, or

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for outdoors. A lighting instrument may also be used outdoors to supplement sunlight or as the primary light source with sunlight or skylight serving as fill lighting. Lamps and light fixtures that are visible props on the set (called “practicals”) can serve as key lights if they are of sufficient brightness. Similarly,

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

, candles and other natural sources of light can be used.

References

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Position of camera

Lighting a scene

Lighting choices

References

See also