Lighting a Short Film With a Window, a Lamp and a Bedsheet

A great-looking children's film does not need a lighting kit. It needs someone willing to look at where the light is actually coming from.

Start with the window. Place your actor facing a window, or at a slight angle to it, and the face is lit softly and naturally. Avoid putting a window behind the actor unless you want a silhouette.

Soften harsh light. Direct sun or a bare bulb creates hard shadows. Hang a white bedsheet or thin curtain between the light and the actor and the shadows relax immediately.

Add a reflector. A sheet of white card or foil-covered cardboard held opposite the window bounces light back into the shadow side of the face.

Keep your colours consistent. Mixing daylight with warm household bulbs makes skin tones drift from shot to shot. Pick one source per scene, switch the other off, and shoot the whole scene in the same window of time.

Shoot your most important scenes when the light is best — often early morning or late afternoon — and leave the dull middle of the day for the shots that matter least.