Lighting for Cinematography: A Practical Guide to the Art and Craft of Lighting for the Moving Image, Edition 2
David Landau
Dec 2026 · Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Ebook
304
Pages
infoThis book will become available on December 10, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
An updated version of the how-to book on the art, craft, and practice of lighting for film and video for students and filmmakers that want to improve their lighting.
We can't shoot good pictures without good lighting, no matter how good the newest cameras are. Shooting under available light gives exposure, but lacks depth, contrast, contour, atmosphere, and often separation. The story could be the greatest in the world, but if the lighting is poor, viewers will assume it's amateurish and not take it seriously. Good lighting makes things look real, while real lighting often makes things look fake.
This book helps the reader create lighting that supports the emotional moment of the scene, contributes to the atmosphere of the story and can augment an artistic style. Well-crafted lighting helps establish the illusion of reality that is necessary for the viewer to forget they are watching a screen and get lost in the story. So, no matter how good a script, how good a director, how good the actors – the lighting needs to be as good, if not better.
This book is a practical hands-on lighting text for anyone who wants to learn to improve their lighting for video or film, based on the college lighting class that the author has taught for ten years, as well as his extensive professional work in the industry as a DP, Lighting Director, and union gaffer.
We can't shoot good pictures without good lighting, no matter how good the newest cameras are. Shooting under available light gives exposure, but lacks depth, contrast, contour, atmosphere, and often separation. The story could be the greatest in the world, but if the lighting is poor, viewers will assume it's amateurish and not take it seriously. Good lighting makes things look real, while real lighting often makes things look fake.
This book helps the reader create lighting that supports the emotional moment of the scene, contributes to the atmosphere of the story and can augment an artistic style. Well-crafted lighting helps establish the illusion of reality that is necessary for the viewer to forget they are watching a screen and get lost in the story. So, no matter how good a script, how good a director, how good the actors – the lighting needs to be as good, if not better.
This book is a practical hands-on lighting text for anyone who wants to learn to improve their lighting for video or film, based on the college lighting class that the author has taught for ten years, as well as his extensive professional work in the industry as a DP, Lighting Director, and union gaffer.
An updated version of the how-to book on the art, craft, and practice of lighting for film and video for students and filmmakers that want to improve their lighting.
We can't shoot good pictures without good lighting, no matter how good the newest cameras are. Shooting under available light give...
Discover more
About the author
David Landau teaches lighting and cinematography at Fairleigh Dickinson University, USA, where he also created the Cinematography track of study and received a Teacher of the Year Award from the University Film &Video Association. He has won six Telly Awards and a Cindy Award for his lighting and cinematography.
David Landau teaches lighting and cinematography at Fairleigh Dickinson University, USA, where he also created the Cinematography track of study and received a Teacher of the Year Award from the University Film &Video Association. He has won six Telly Awards and a Cindy Award for his lighting and...
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