Earlier I mentioned that a single light setup worked best with a soft light source.
Let’s now take a look at the difference between soft light and hard light—and
when one is more appropriate to use than the other. Many DPs have shied so
far into the “super-soft” light camp that they never use hard light. As a result,
everything they shoot looks like a portrait studio picture.
The first thing to understand about hard lighting is that we only see it naturally
in a few settings: sunlight on a crisp, clear day, moonlight on an equally clear
night, and when there is some intense and concentrated artificial light source,
such as a welding torch in the scene. In nearly every other situation, the light
will be somewhat diffused. After all, many days are slightly overcast and the light
in our homes bounces around off of white walls and is filtered through lamp
shades.
In most situations, the goal we’re striving for is to create the impression of
realistic lighting and a natural look. In other words, we don’t want the scene
to look “lit.” Later on, when we cover simulating reality in greater depth, we’ll
delve deeper into this topic; but for now, let’s just take a brief look at the appropriate
situations to use soft or hard light.
The key is observation. Hard light is eminently necessary and desirable for some
situations, especially those times when you wish to simulate intense sunlight or crisp moonlight. But for most situations, some level of diffusion is called for.
Lots of Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s were lit entirely with hard lights
and thus often lacked a feeling of natural lighting. Some diffusion (
perhaps a light frost or tough spun) on that fresnel will create a little more natural effect.
Soft lights really come into their own when lighting interior scenes, where a lot
of the illumination in reality would be filtered through lampshades or bounced
from white walls.
But don’t abandon hard lighting as a creative tool; it can be used to great
effect in certain situations. An example would be the ITV-produced Poirot
series from several years ago, starring David Suchet. Many episodes in this
series, especially evening interiors, use hard light effectively to create a very
particular feel.
Observation, flexibility, and imagination are the greatest tools you can have for
lighting!
hard light - onside key
hard light - offside key
soft key - hard fill
soft key - soft fill