Three-point lighting is a traditional method for illuminating a subject in a scene with light sources from three distinct positions. The three types of lights are key light, fill light, and backlight.

• Key light. This is the primary and brightest light source in the three-point lighting setup. It gives a scene its overall exposure. Cinematographers typically position this main light slightly off to the side of the camera and the front of the subject, on a light stand at a 45-degree angle to the camera, which creates shadows on the opposite side of the subject’s face, giving it dimension and depth. The primary light creates the mood of a scene. Depending upon its position and the supplemental lights used in the overall lighting, it can create a high-key image (evenly, softly lit and atmospherically upbeat) or a low-key image (high contrasts, deep shadows, and very moody).

• Fill light: Mirroring the key light on the opposite side of the camera, the fill light literally fills in the shadows that the key light creates on a subject, bringing out details in the darkness. Typically, this secondary light is less bright than the key, and cinematographers control the overall feel of their shots based on how much they dim or lighten the fill light. A dim fill light, where the fill ration is high, creates a high-contrast, film-noir type of shadow, while a brighter light with a lower, more balanced ratio gives the subject a more even look. The second light isn’t always a light: it can be a reflector, a bounce card, a wall, or anything that bounces back some light onto the subject to fill in the shadows. Together with the key light, the fill light determines the mood of a scene.

• Backlight: The third source in this lighting technique, the backlight (also known as the “rim light” or “hair light”) shines on a subject from behind, completing the light setup. This creates a rim of light or outline around their head that pushes the subject away from the background and gives a sense of depth. Typically, cinematographers position the backlight directly behind the subject or high enough to be out of frame, opposite the key light, and pointing at the back of the subject’s neck.

How Is Three-Point Lighting Used?

There is no set formula for how three-point lighting is used. This often depends on the scene, the subject matter, and the overall mood that a cinematographer or photographer wants to evoke.

• Good lighting creates a more interesting and dynamic image where the subject is seen with more dimension and where the cinematographer has more control over shadows.

• The lighting setup helps bring dimension to characters. Three-point lighting also helps shape a subject to bring out the best or worst of them.

Frontal lighting

Frontal lighting is lighting that emanates either from behind the camera or from the camera itself. Built-in or on-camera flash is a frontal light. Frontal lighting has one big advantage. It evenly illuminates your subject so metering is fairly straightforward. However, it tends to flatten a subject. The shadows cast by frontal light are behind the subject, out of sight from the camera’s point of view. Shadows help to give a sense of shape and form to a subject. Without shadows a subject’s shape becomes more ambiguous. Shadows can also add drama to a photo. Frontal light lacks drama, making a photo look more like a record shot and be less interesting for this reason.

Side lighting helps to define the shape of your subject

Side lighting

Side lighting is light that falls on a subject at roughly ninety degrees to the camera. This means that one side of a subject will be lit and the other side will be in shadow. In terms of helping to convey a subject’s shape and form this is ideal. Of the three directions, side lighting creates the strongest sense that a subject has three dimensions. There’s always a catch however. The catch in this instance is contrast. Side lighting doesn’t evenly illuminate your subject.

Early morning or late afternoon light raking across the landscape is perfect for emphasising texture.

One side will be more strongly illuminated than the other (the contrast will be greater the harder the light is but the principle holds true even for softer light). One solution is to use a reflector or supplementary light to gently illuminate the shadow side (the key is to lighten the shadows without overpowering them).

Although this lamb is backlit there was enough ambient light to ensure that contrast wasn't too high. Note the attractive rim lighting around the back of the lamb.

Backlighting

Backlighting is caused when the light source is behind the subject shining towards the camera. If your subject obscures the light source - and if you expose for the background rather that your subject – the result will be a silhouette. Silhouettes look flat, almost like a cardboard cut-out. If the shape of your subject is strong this can be very effective.

Strong backlighting usually results in a silhouette. However, it’s less so when your subject’s shape is more ambiguous. If you don’t want to create a silhouette then you’ll need to also illuminate your subject. Flash is one of the easiest way to do this, a technique known as fill-in flash. The strength of the flash will determine the balance between the exposure for the background and your subject. Less is often more. Too much flash and you run the risk of losing the sense that there’s any backlighting at all.

• By placing a soft key light slightly off center with a 2:1 fill ratio, a cinematographer creates a soft, flattering look that also tends to hide blemishes in the skin when your subjects are people. This soft lighting is called “high key lighting” and creates an optimistic, upbeat, youthful, light, and airy mood that is common in sitcoms and comedies.

• If a cinematographer opts for a higher fill ratio, like 8:1, the key light casts sharp-edged shadows that contrast sharply with the light. This is “low key lighting,” which creates a dramatic, mysterious, unsettling, and alienating mood and can display a range of deep negative emotions. As such, it is common in dark dramas, thrillers, horror, and film noir.