Paul Middleton Lighting Tutorial

Paul Middleton Lighting Tutorial

With a lot of important jobs within studio production another big aspect of that is lighting. I have not yet had the chance to work on lighting however, with the tutorial our class got from Paul Middleton I would say that he has taught me more than enough for me to handle lighting as a job. Although his dog he brought in was a bit of a distraction it did not take away the passion he had for lighting in which he projected to the class. 

With me being rather clueless about lighting, when we were told we would be having this tutorial I was a bit unsure whether I would like or dislike lighting. However, as I mentioned lighting for me was unusual territory for me, so in that sense learning a new skill is always a benefit. He taught us a lot about hard and soft light as which were most effective in the case of different shooting techniques depending on the genre of the show. He also made demonstrations of how to work the lights from the ground floor and how to change the direction, wideness of the light by hitting the barn doors and positioning them in certain ways and how hard and soft the lights were by using a rod and twisting either left or right to get the desired lighting.

He taught us about different types of lighting for example LED, Fresnels and Scoops, informing us on how they work, but also what they’re best used for, e.g. LED lighting is best used for shows that require coloured lighting as these lights can be changed colour from a lighting mixing desk. For example if a show need to represent day time colour, then LED lighting would be the best for this. Fresnels are more big and bulky and are particularly popular in studios because they can be used for almost anything and are very versatile. Scoops produce a lot more of a softer light than fresnels, however as there is no lens on scoops the light is not projected and anyone or any significant distance.

Having only spent 40 minutes with Paul, I learned so much more than I could imagine, they way in which he taught us about with with demonstrations, was a lot more encaging for me anyway because it helps me to remember all about the lights and what they do when I can see for myself the lighting in action. From this tutorial I am a lot more interested in lighting whether it being in a studio environment or within more of a concert/festival environment. For future projects I would like to put myself forward to take on a role within the lighting aspects of a production team as I feel it is a hands on job and it something that for me would not be boring in any case.