Types of Lighting

Three-Point Lighting: This is the most basic lighting setup. It consists of key light, fill light and backlight. The key light aims directly at the subject (most likely the main character or object in the shot) and is the brightest light source for the shot. The fill light is a softer light and is usually placed opposite the key light; the fill light cuts down on shadows created by the bright key light. The backlight shines behind the subject separating him from the background so the sense of depth is made in the shot.

Fill Light: It's used for reducing the contrast of a scene to match the dynamic range of the recording media and record the same amount of detail typically seen by eye in average lighting and considered normal. From that baseline of normality using more or less fill will make shadows seen darker or lighter than normal which will cause the viewer to react differently by inferring both environmental and mood clues from the tone of the shadows. So fill light is used to eliminate or soften shadows caused by the main source of illumination.

High-key Lighting: When cinematographers use a high proportion of fill light to key light it's called high-key. The effect is both brighter and more even than when they use a low proportion of fill to key light, low-key. High-key is often used in comedies and musicals to enhance a sense of livelinliness or in dramatic scenes to emphasize the intensity of the situation.

Low-key Lighting: The lower the key light the shadower the effect. The shadows created work well in mysteries and horror films; such lightning has become a convention of those genres.