what separates Hollywood DPs from you

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0:00 -Intro
0:34 - The importance of light motivation
1:35 - How to establish the natural light direction
3:00 - Importance of camera placement
5:04 - Determine the type of light on your subject
6:40 - The Cinematic Eye
7:42 - Think about your color temperature
10:11 - Final thoughts

[cedarjonesfilm]

There is another important skillset that separates many of us from them: the power of networking.
I spent 15 years learning the hard skills, buying the gear, watching every film and commercial I could get my hands on, worshiping the works of Roger Deakins, Vittorio Storaro, Tonino Delli Colli, and many others... but I wasn't getting work. My reel got no attention, my work was all personal projects. Once I started getting off my computer, going out, and meeting other folks through cold emails, and at networking events, *that* is when I started to up my game as a commercial DP. Crafting the light is a huge skill. So is crafting yourself.

[obiwanmartyn]

While I agree for the most part I also agree with this too Sean Astin asking legendary Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie on the set of lord of the rings on a set with light where there was no source for it. "Where is the light coming from?". Lesnie replied, "Same place as the music."

[olafurkiljan]

I feel like you are giving all the credit to the DP. The Gaffer does ALOT. There is also a reason why DP´s will work again and again with the same Gaffer because they know how good they are.

[eugeivashchenko]

I'd argue the major factor is that they have big-name production designers on the team. They're kind of the unsung heroes of cinematography. I realize that some of the best cinematography I've seen has just been pretty par-for-the-course cinematography in incredible locations with incredible set dressing.

If you're an indie film guy who's self-financing, put as much budget into the set/locations as the lighting and camera packages and you'll be amazed how easy it is to get your best results ever.

[lg.studio]

Had the pleasure to work as an assistant gaffer on a movie under the lead of a professional just last month. During those 2 weeks of shoot i have realized I know nothing about lighting a scene. The experience was eye-opening. It is just unbelievable how underrated this craft is in the eye of the public. Thanks for the inspiration and informative content.

[lomil]

Photographer here starting a video project with zero knowledge. Yours are the best, most helpful videos I have found, thank you so much! Also quite enjoyable to watch, perfectly paced, nothing wasting my time, beautiful footage to aspire to.

[alexbender]

Film making is a collaborative process. A DOP is only as good as the people around them and no matter the inherent talent or any individual, it takes a combined effort to deliver the so called “Hollywood” quality. Production design, colour palette, fantastic costume and make up. As some have said here in the comments, DOPs receive a lot of credit for the look of a film, and whilst they are undoubtedly a big component, they’re not solely responsible for what ends up on screen. I personally believe that regardless of budget, good work stands out because of fantastic design choices and not due to what camera and lens package someone used. Stick by your aesthetic principles and the rest follows

[WillDaRosa]

It's everything and nothing. Production Design, story, performances....and masterful writing.

[WhySteve]

We get so used to corporate shoots doing the same old 45 degree soft lighting setups that we do that in our narrative work as well and then things look so artificial. Until you realize, when it's a harsh desert midday scene in a "Hollywood" movie, guess what, it's going to look top lit, gritty and harsh, because, that's literally the environment. Great video like always Mark! And great way to show all the haters from the last video :)

[viktorragnemar]

One good tip I got while starting out is that you don't press record until it looks the way you want. Then you need to stop and think about why it doesn't look the way you want and you need to adress it head on - instead of thinking maybe you can grade it later.

[josephdungan]

Nice job! I teach high school film and this video will be something I will be adding to help students understand the need to go a bit further with controlling or planning the lighting in their scenes.

[finsnapper]

Mark Bone, Sir. You are a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you for your contribution to education on YouTube, please keep up the stirling work old bean.

[realjackeal]

This was amazing. Thank you for the informational video!

[careenaalexisfilms]

I should really comment more. I really just wanna let you know that I appreciate your videos way more than you know Mark. I'm an outdoors YouTuber as well on my other channel Careena Alexis, and filming my camping trips grew my love for filmmaking so much that I started immersing myself more into filmmaking and now run a videography business and I have learned SO MUCH from you. Thank you so much for the extremely well presented, well explained wisdom! Also fellow Ontarian here :)

[jaketryan]

Fantastic content as always! Found your channel amongst the many creators in this field and have to say that I was skeptical at first. Whether it’s a subscription service, course, or Lut pack, it seems like everyone is always trying to sell you something in their educational videos, but I’ve learned (or reinforced) so much quality information in the last week alone! You have an amazing communication style verbally and in the way that you edit your videos and the community is a better place because of it! Thank you sir!

[ActorsWithIssuespodcast]

GREAT breakdown. Bad lighting is my biggest pet peeve when watching short films or no-budget projects my friends are in. Every other aspect is usually great, but lighting ends up an afterthought because the op is doing everything themselves.

[CompositeNation]

Amazing work brother! This is ver inspiring to keep on my filmaker journey! Thank you for the great knowledge <3!!

[tyrelletsitty]

Very informative, thanks for sharing this breakdown. For the example at 3:50 I think a slight tungsten rim on the shoulder would be great, and help balance out the daylight and lamp light.

[joinjanis]

awesome! thx so much for taking the time explaining.

[jockturner]

I think it’s important remember general audience aren’t thinking “Where is this light coming from”. They aren’t even wondering what is lighting the actor. If the shot looks nice and realistic enough you dont need to worry too much about justifying your lights and the audience will be immersed all the same. This is with in reason of course, if you show a huge window and then cut the light off your actors face or fill it with some pink light out of nowhere that will draw in questions. However, for example, if you’re filming a dialogue between 2 people and the light, if it was realistic, would only really look nice on 1 character and not the other, something like one character it’s nicely lit by the sun and then the other would be getting full face with the sun, dont be afraid to mould that light so it also looks good for the other character as well. Cut the light to one side or place some diffusion on top to soften it. The audience wont notice and it’ll look much nicer.

For an example of that in this video, the section where Mark talks about the sky light justifying the side lighting on all the people, thats not skylight, light hitting them. It should be landing right on the top their heads, which would make them look quite ghastly, but in the film its much closer to a Rembrandt. The skylight justifies the existence of light in general but it doesn’t have to dictate it’s direction.