Alister Chapman’s Lighting Tutorials for Filmmakers
- the GBCT
- Sep 10
- 5 min read
Freelance film maker Alister Chapman has
worked in film and television for over 35 years, starting in motorsports, including Formula 1 and the World Rally Championship before spending over 20 years making documentaries and producing corporate videos. He has worked on documentaries for National Geographic, the BBC, Discovery and the military. Additionally, he worked for several different news agencies where he would frequently be asked to travel last minute to shoot interviews or news stories in all sorts of locations as a lighting cameraman.
More recently he has worked on Hollywood blockbuster movies.
With his knowledge, he became a go-to person for Education seminars and launched the websites tvcameraman.info and then XDCAM-USER.com, filled with guidance, tutorials and reviews on products that he has used. He is a highly regarded Sony Independent Certified Expert and Ambassador. Recently, he developed a series of online videos called “Lighting 101” which are available to the public.
Chapman’s “Lighting 101” tutorials include, “Why Do We Light?”, “The Basics of Three-Point Lighting,” “Hard Light vs. Soft Light,” and “Lighting for Online Content.”
In his series of videos, Chapman shows how you can increase or enhance the quality of your filmmaking through the use of a range of different lighting techniques.
Why Do We Light?
In “Why do We Light?” he addresses the need for light, noting that all cameras need light. But lighting isn’t just about having enough light, it’s also about controlling what light there is to enhance the look of your shot.
At the simplest level, this might be using a reflector to bounce light back at the subject in a situation where the light from behind is creating too much contrast. Utilizing an actress in a basic scenario, he shows how to light when shooting against a window. He introduces the use of reflectors for bounce, or using a black flag to reduce the light, creating a negative fill.
Chapman explains the benefits and necessity of good lighting, even over a better camera or lens, because beautifully lit footage shot with a lesser quality camera will always look better than poorly lit footage shot with a great camera. Choosing the right lights and learning how to use them is key.
The Basics of Three-Point Lighting
In “The Basics of Three-Point Lighting,” Chapman explains that while it may seem like a very simple old school technique, it’s an easy-to-understand starting point that can be adapted to suit a wide range of situations and delivers consistently good results.
The concept of three-point lighting uses three fixtures: key light, fill light and back light (also known as a rim, or hair, light). These can be the same three lights, or three different fixtures.
In this video, he uses a simple scenario and starts with the key light, which is the main source of light. Some things to consider when setting up the key light is illumination of the subject, framing, and how this interacts with any other major source of light in the scene.
The next light is the fill light, which he uses to fill some of the shadows created by the key light. Generally, a hard light or a small soft light is used for the fill light and it’s usually placed on the other side of the camera to the key light. A carefully placed fill light will often create a pleasing glint in an interviewee’s eyes, what is referred to as a catch light.
An alternative to hard light for the fill light that works very well is a tube light like a PavoTube. The last light added is the backlight, which is used to add separation between the foreground and background. Chapman likes to then turn them all off and bring each one on individually so you can see what each light is doing
By learning how to understand the basics of three-point lighting, and how these three lights affect a scene and interact with each other, you can create a wide range of different looks and a solid foundation to build on. Experimenting with light placement and mixing the lights is key.
Hard Light vs Soft Light
In “Hard Light vs Soft Light,” Chapman explains the fundamental concepts of video and film lighting and the difference between soft light and hard light. He covers each kind of lighting and how it affects the images you create. Throughout the video, he touches on a range of different lighting fixtures including panel lights, cob (chip on board) lights and lighting modifiers such as soft boxes, diffusion and Fresnel lens.
In defining the two kinds of light, he explains that hard light leads to crisp, sharp and well-defined shadows where the light transitions rapidly from light to dark and the light creates a hard shadow edge.
By contrast, soft light is where the shadows are less distinct, the shadow’s edge is smoother and the light falls away to dark more gently. He addresses how the reflection of light, intensity and contrast, as well as distance between the light source and the subject can produce both hard and soft light.
He demonstrates how a large panel light like the Nanlite PavoSlim 120C can produce soft shadows when its relatively close to the subject, but when moved further away the light becomes harder and there is less wraparound effect.
Using the Nanlite Forza 60C, the FC-120B with a reflector, and the FC-500C with a Fresnel lens and barn doors, he illustrates how all three of these lights can be hard lights, with or without their attachments.
Then he demonstrates how to turn those same lights into soft lights, using some attachments such as Softboxes or reflectors and how this compares to a panel light such as the PavoSlim 120C. The goal is always experimenting to get the best use out of the lights.
Lighting for Online Content
Appealing to a broader group of content creators, “Lighting for Online Content” was developed for podcasts, YouTube videos, and other online clips. A fairly typical setup is an influencer who is going to talk about product within a fairly small space, usually with lights already in place.
Chapman shows how a PavoSlim 120C panel attached to the ceiling can eliminates flicker and poor color temperature while producing a high-quality light. An alternative is using a light stand, which gives a nice flat light directly into the face of the influencer, while allowing the product to be shown on the desk. The idea is to light so you can see the influencer’s face, and the product as these are the two most important things.
Once again, Chapman explains how a Forza 60C with a projector lens, and a gobo, can jazz up the background. Referring back to the three-point lighting tutorial, he introduces a back light, as the key light has already been established.
He walks the audience through various ways to light for a two-person interview as well, showing various ways to add texture to the shot with other tools. In this scenario, most television studios will have a key light for each presenter, angled so that the shadows don’t fall directly behind them.
Adding to the look for a more visually interesting set, a Nanlite PavoTube is used as an up-light to add wash on the wall behind. Because the PavoTubes are so small, they can be hidden behind chairs or other furniture, and then controlled via remote control. To complete the look, a backlight is set up, which adds a bit of glow and separates the interviewer from the background with the color wash. With various scenarios to choose from, Chapman gives a robust explanation of online content lighting.
▶ EXPO Notice - IBC Show 2025
We are delighted to invite you to join us at IBC 2025, where Alister Chapman will deliver an insightful session at the Nanlite & Nanlux booth.
Topic: Portable Lighting for Mobile Documentary Production
📅 Sept 12 | 13:30–14:00, Sept 13 | 11:30–12:00, Sept 14 | 11:30–12:00
📍 Booth No.12.F21 | RAI Amsterdam
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