Lighting Consistency in Video Series Production

Lighting Consistency for Contracted Client Productions

Commercial video production companies must deliver excellent results to their clients time and time again. This is especially true of long term and contracted series productions. When it comes to studio work, consistency is the key ingredient in making a professionally produced product. A client that hires us to film a series of videos will need to have a final delivery that shows extreme consistency throughout all of the videos – even though they may have been shot periodically over the span of months. Consistency can range from talent wardrobe, props, makeup, camera angles, and lighting. Over the years we have had a lot of experience doing this. To date we have done at least four thousand explainer videos for pharmaceutical companies as well as many product demo videos.

Lighting Plots in Series Video Production

lighting plot
/ ˈlīdiNG’plät /

A document used specifically by production and theatrical lighting designers to illustrate and communicate the lighting design to the production crew. The light plot specifies how each lighting instrument should be hung, focused, colored, and connected.

The process begins with an assessment of the space being used for production. Depending on the size of the space and scope of work, the number of people involved can vary. This group may include a combination of Director of Photography, Gaffer, Key Grip, and Producer. A professional video company ensures that this is a streamlined and exact process. Commercial production experience will give the Director of Photography the ability to figure out the mathematics on focal lengths, light loss and other calculations needed to produce an accurate plot that will not require any additional adjustments once the lighting team has finished rigging, otherwise production will suffer delays.

Proper Monitoring as a Tool in Consistent Lighting

Parts of our lighting process are guided by monitor calibration. We use Scientific Flanders monitors heavily in all areas of pre-light and actual production. Some of the most useful tools we have found are things like false color, histograms and RGB parade. These insights give us a full view of our production space that aren’t visible to the naked eye. If you have seen our pre-production process, you know that we look at everything from the view of the camera to ensure quality.

Input from Post Production on Camera Profiles

Our post production supervisor often comes in on a new series production during the planning phase to put eyes on what our final output will be. We have been able to use this insight to make decisions on coloring in camera. Burned in color can be a great solution for high volume video, but not a choice to be taken lightly as it does not give as much latitude as shooting in log. This is where having an experienced and talented crew becomes even more of a priority.

A Full Service Production Solution for Video Consistency

It was our conscious strategy to become a full service commercial production company that could handle any video production from end to end. In keeping all areas of production in-house it ensures that all of our production divisions are able to communicate during all stages of a shoot. Without this setup, post production would not usually be able to step into pre-production to pinpoint areas that could speed up workflow for when the raw footage is handed over for editing. This allows for quality and speed – a combination that is rarely found in any project in commercial production.