Three lighting diagrams, worked
A night interior lit by one practical, a day interior lit through a window, and an exterior where the sun is the key. Real plans, drawn by the plan editor, each with the packing list it writes.
Night interior, one practical
One practical through the blind is the whole source, and a solid on the camera side of the subject takes the bounce off the wall so the dark stays dark. The plan says what the note says: no fill at all. If it reads too dark on the monitor, it is right. The temptation on the day is to add a lamp; the plan is there so nobody does.
- Her4.3 m × 3.3 m
- A cam· 50mm4.3 m × 5.2 m
- Street light2200K· Through the blind. The only source.7.0 m × 2.0 m
- Neg· 4x4 solid, kill the bounce off the wall2.2 m × 3.0 m
- Street light · Through the blind. The only source.
- Neg · 4x4 solid, kill the bounce off the wall
Day interior, window as the key
The room is real: 7.4 by 5.2 metres, a counter partitioning the corner, a north window with a colour temperature written on it, which makes it a source on the plan and not a hole. An HMI through 216 backs the window from camera left, a bounce fills from the right at a third of the level, and a spotted 300 rims her against the far wall. A table lamp practical is on and flagged as such: do not flag it. The packing list underneath is what the plan derived from that: two frames, one bounce, and the lamps.
- Her4.5 m × 3.4 m
- A cam· 50mm4.5 m × 4.7 m
- Key38°5600K· 1.2k HMI through 2162.5 m × 1.5 m
- Fill110°5600K35%· 4x4 bounce6.9 m × 2.1 m
- Rim16°3200K· 300 fresnel, spotted in4.7 m × 0.9 m
- Table lamp2700K· Practical, do not flag6.4 m × 4.4 m
- Key · 1.2k HMI through 216
- Fill · 4x4 bounce
- Rim · 300 fresnel, spotted in
- Table lamp · Practical, do not flag
- Window control (ND, diffusion or blackout) · from the rooms on the lighting plans
Exterior day, the sun is the unit
You do not light it; you decide where the sun will be and what you put back. The plan holds the camera and the subject against the sun's side, a bounce to lift the face, and a note about the hour, because on an exterior the schedule is the lighting plan. The point of drawing it is the argument it settles in prep: which side of the road, at what time, and whether the negative fill goes in the van.
- Her4.5 m × 3.0 m
- A cam· 24mm4.5 m × 5.0 m
- Sun55°4300K· Back three-quarter at magic hour1.8 m × 1.1 m
- Bounce130°4300K55%· 8x8 ultrabounce, as close as the frame allows7.2 m × 3.8 m
- Sun · Back three-quarter at magic hour
- Bounce · 8x8 ultrabounce, as close as the frame allows
What is a lighting diagram?
A top-down drawing of a scene showing where the camera, the subject and each lamp stand, what each lamp is, how high it is, how wide it opens, what it is rigged with, and where the walls and windows are. It is what a gaffer pre-rigs from and what the packing list is written from.
Are these real lighting setups?
They are the three scenes of Frameboard's demo production, drawn in the plan editor and rendered here by the same code, with the packing list each derives. They are sensible starting points for those three situations, not prescriptions; a real room, a real actor and a real DP change every one of them.
Can I open these plans myself?
Yes, without an account. The demo production is public: every plan here can be clicked through, and the lit preview and the light model run live. Sign up to draw your own.
Draw the fourth one
The plan editor, the light model and the lit preview are on every plan, including the free one. So is the packing list they write.
Related: what belongs on a lighting plan and the field of view table.