Interior Lighting

3 Point Lighting

The basic light set up is called 3-point lighting. It consists of 3 lights that all serve different functions.

Key Light:
This is the brightest light source. Keep in mind, your eyes are always drawn to the brightest part of the frame. Its a good idea to angle the light about 45 degrees above and to the side of your subject.

Fill Light:
This light fills in the shadows created by the key light. It should be placed in front of your subject and on the opposite side of the key light.

Back Light:
This light separates subject from the background. It falls on head and shoulders from behind creating a rim of light that visually separates the subject from the background. This is really useful if the subject is wearing clothing that is a similar color to the background.


Defusion is the art of spreading out light. An example of defusion is the white frost on a light bulb. You can soften or defuse light by bouncing it off a wall or the ceiling or using defusion gels on your lights.

Be careful using lights. Take precautions and beware of FIRE and WATCH THE WATTAGE - be careful about overloading circuits

Its a good idea to have your talent avoid wearing anything flashy or white on camera. These things are really reflective, tend to give off a lot of glare and will bleed into the other colors.

Try to simulate the natural lighting of the room. This will make everything appear natural.

The light in any given shot should always be motivated, in other words the light should come from the same angle as the precived light source. If someone is sitting at a table and there's a lamp on the table the lights you set up should make it look like there is light coming from the lamp.