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Lighting diagram for a night exterior

Night exteriors are built backwards: decide what the audience believes the light is, then put that source where the frame cannot see it. Here the belief is a streetlamp, so a hard warm unit rides high on a stand just out of frame, and the real work is the big cool soft source from the other side pretending to be the sky. Negative fill on the camera side keeps the face from going flat. The note about the generator is on the plan because at night the cable run is the schedule.

Open this plan in the free toolWhat belongs on a lighting plan
Him35mmA cam4.0 mThe streetlamp3.5 m · SilkThe skyNeg

Genny parks around the corner: the cable run decides the frame line.

1 m
  • Him4.2 m × 2.8 m
  • A cam4.3 m × 4.8 m
  • The streetlamp55°2700K· Hard, high, just out of frame5.6 m × 0.9 m
  • The sky90°6500K45%· Through an 8x8, the moon nobody questions1.5 m × 1.5 m
  • Neg· 8x8 solid, camera side6.2 m × 3.3 m

The packing list this plan writes

  • The streetlamp · Hard, high, just out of framelighting
  • The sky · Through an 8x8, the moon nobody questionslighting
  • Neg · 8x8 solid, camera sidelighting
  • Silk · from the lighting plansgrip

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