Production stage

Light & sound

The two departments that turn a picture into a scene. Light sets the mood; sound decides whether anyone watches to the end.

Set talk

Words you’ll hear at this stage. Explained once, then we just use them.

gaffer: head of the lighting crew; builds the light the DoP asks for.
boom: a microphone on a pole above the actors, just out of frame.
room tone: the silence of the location recorded on its own; the editor uses it to patch gaps.

Departments

Lighting

Light is what the camera actually records. Direction, hardness, colour and the ratio of light to shadow set the mood of a shot more than any adjustment in post-production.

Reading

Articles in preparation; the tables and terms are already in the department.

Open the department: Lighting →

Viewers will forgive a weaker picture sooner than bad sound. Intelligible dialogue, clean ambience and loudness that suits the target platform are the minimum that decides whether anyone watches the video to the end.

Reading

Loudness for broadcast and streaming — LUFS, true peak, targets 10 min

Open the department: Sound →

From the kit

No interactive tool for this stage yet. The whole kit: Kit.