Chapter 11 — Quiz
Thirty questions to check that the fundamentals of lighting have stuck: what light does, the key/fill/rim grammar, contrast in stops, and motivation. A mix of multiple choice, true/false-with-justification, short answer, and "what's wrong with this shot?" perception questions. Answer from memory first, then check the key at the end — the one-line explanations tell you exactly where to review.
Multiple choice
1. A camera photographs, most precisely: - A) objects - B) light bouncing off objects - C) color - D) motion
2. The shape of a face in a shot comes primarily from: - A) the amount of light - B) the color of the light - C) the shadow the light creates - D) the lens focal length
3. What single variable determines whether a light is hard or soft? - A) the wattage / power of the source - B) the color temperature of the source - C) the apparent size of the source as seen from the subject - D) the distance from the camera to the subject
4. The key light is best defined as: - A) the brightest light you own - B) the primary source that sets the subject's exposure and the direction of the light - C) the light behind the subject - D) the light that fills the shadows
5. The classic, flattering position for a key on a face is roughly: - A) straight on the lens axis, at eye level - B) 45° off the lens axis and raised above the eyeline - C) directly overhead - D) below the chin, pointing up
6. You double the distance from your key light to the subject. The subject now receives about: - A) half the light (1 stop darker) - B) one quarter the light (2 stops darker) - C) the same light - D) twice the light (1 stop brighter)
7. Bringing your key light closer to the subject (rather than farther) tends to: - A) make the background brighter and the light more even - B) make the light fall off faster, darkening the background and one cheek relative to the other - C) change the color of the light - D) have no effect except on exposure
8. The job of the fill light is to: - A) set the exposure - B) separate the subject from the background - C) control how deep the shadows go (the contrast) - D) add color to the scene
9. A key-to-fill contrast of about 2 stops produces: - A) a flat, shadowless "high-key" look - B) the standard, flattering interview look — clear modeling, full shadow detail - C) a near-silhouette - D) a dramatic low-key look with shadows falling to black
10. The rim/back light primarily provides: - A) exposure on the face - B) separation of the subject from the background (depth) - C) fill for the shadows - D) a catchlight in the eyes
11. Three-point lighting is best described as: - A) a legal requirement for professional video - B) the only way to light a person correctly - C) a starting grammar — key, fill, rim — that you learn so you can break it deliberately - D) three lights of equal brightness
12. Motivated light means: - A) the shooter is enthusiastic - B) every source appears to come from a believable origin within the scene - C) the light is very bright - D) the light moves during the shot
13. A practical light is: - A) an inexpensive light - B) a light source that actually appears in the frame and lights the scene - C) the fill light - D) a light used only in practice, not on real shoots
14. In the Café Scene's locked geography, the motivated key is: - A) a film light hidden off-camera - B) the counter pendant lamps - C) the big window's daylight - D) the overhead ceiling fixture
15. The counter pendant lamps in the Café are best described as: - A) the key - B) the fill - C) practicals (motivating the light and adding background depth) - D) rim lights
16. A catchlight is: - A) a lens flare - B) the small reflection of the key light in the subject's eyes - C) a type of soft light - D) a background practical
True / False — justify your answer in one sentence
17. Lighting means adding light until everything in the frame is bright and visible.
18. A soft light comes from a source that is large or close relative to the subject.
19. Placing your main light right next to the lens, pointing straight at the subject, is the most flattering, most cinematic option.
20. A rim light works equally well whether the background behind the subject is bright or dark.
21. The cheapest, and often best, fill "light" is a plugged-in second lamp.
22. On the Café reverse (the seated person facing the counter), the window key falling on camera-left is a continuity error.
23. A practical light can serve as your actual key or rim, not just as background dressing.
Short answer
24. In one sentence each, name the three jobs light does in a shot, and say which one beginners usually notice while ignoring the other two.
25. What is a catchlight, and what does its absence do to a subject's eyes?
26. Give the one-sentence "motivation" test you apply before placing any light.
27. Three-point lighting is a "starting grammar, not a law." Explain what that phrase means for how many lights you should use on a real shoot.
What's wrong with this shot? (perception)
28. A described talking-head: the subject sits under a bright ceiling fixture; their eye sockets are dark, the face is flat with no side, and there is a hard little shadow of their head on the wall right behind them. The background is as bright as their face, and dark hair merges into a dark curtain at the edges. Name at least three distinct lighting problems and the specific fix for each.
29. A described interview: the subject is beautifully keyed from a soft window camera-left, but a second bare lamp has been aimed at the shadow cheek as "fill." Now there are two distinct nose shadows pointing in different directions, and a hard-edged shadow of the nose on the far cheek. What is the error, and how do you fix the fill without losing the key?
30. A described shot: the shooter added a rim light and cranked it bright; the subject's hair now blazes with a white halo brighter than their face, and the whole image looks slightly hazy and washed out. Name the two problems and the fix for each.
Answer Key
Show answers and explanations
**1. B.** A camera records light reflecting off surfaces — which is why controlling the light controls the image (Ch.1, §11.1). **2. C.** Shadow, not light, tells the eye about form. Flat frontal light erases shadow and flattens the face. *You light for the shadow* (§11.1). **3. C.** The apparent size of the source from the subject: bigger/closer = softer, smaller/farther = harder. Power and color are irrelevant to hardness (§11.1). **4. B.** The key sets both exposure and direction; everything else is placed in relationship to it (§11.2). **5. B.** 45° off-axis and raised above the eyeline mimics natural daylight and gives believable modeling with both eyes lit (§11.2). **6. B.** Inverse-square law: double the distance → one quarter the light → **2 stops** darker (§11.2; stops from Ch.5). **7. B.** A close key falls off fast across the subject and behind them — brighter near cheek, darker far cheek and background (moody, contained). A distant key is more even (§11.2). **8. C.** Fill raises the shadow side to control contrast; it does not set exposure or create separation (§11.3). **9. B.** ~2 stops under the key is the workhorse interview look: clear shape, still full shadow detail (§11.3). **10. B.** The rim outlines the subject's edge to lift them off the background — depth/separation (§11.4). **11. C.** A starting grammar you learn in order to break it on purpose; most beautiful looks are one light well placed (§11.4). **12. B.** Motivated light appears to come from a believable in-world source; unmotivated light reads as fake/"TV-lit" (§11.5). **13. B.** A practical is a source visible in frame (lamp, sign, candle, screen) that both lights and justifies the light (§11.5). **14. C.** Per the locked Café geography, the big window's daylight is the motivated key (§11.5). **15. C.** The warm counter pendants are practicals — in frame, motivating the warm ambience and adding background depth (§11.5). **16. B.** The catchlight is the small reflection of the key in the eyes; it makes eyes look alive, and reveals where the key is placed (§11.2). **17. False.** Lighting means *deciding where the shadow falls* — shadow is what creates shape; flooding everything with light destroys form (§11.1). **18. True.** Soft = large/close source; the many-angled rays make gentle, gradual shadow edges (§11.1). **19. False.** On-axis frontal light is the flat, shadowless, "passport-photo" amateur default; the fix is to get the key 45° off-axis and up (§11.2). **20. False.** A rim depends on a *difference* between the bright edge and what's behind it; against a bright background it does nothing (§11.4). **21. False.** A white bounce card is usually the cheapest and often the best fill — naturally soft, and it can never overpower the key because it's just the key's light returned (§11.3). **22. False.** It is a *correct reverse angle*. The window is always the key; which side it lands on follows the camera direction (screen direction, Ch.9; §11.5). **23. True.** A practical placed near the subject can be the actual key or throw a motivated rim — it does real lighting work, not just background dressing (§11.5). **24.** **Exposure** (enough light for a clean image), **shape** (dimension from where the shadow falls), and **mood** (the feeling). Beginners notice only exposure ("is it bright enough?") and ignore shape and mood (§11.1). **25.** A catchlight is the small bright reflection of the key in the subject's eyes; without it, eyes look flat, dead, and lifeless (§11.2). **26.** Ask: *"Where in this room is this light supposed to be coming from?"* — and place the instrument so it agrees. If you can't answer, the light is unmotivated (§11.5). **27.** It means you use *as many lights as the story needs and no more* — often just one, shaped well. Three-point teaches you what each job (shape, mood, depth) is so you can add or drop lights knowingly; it is not a quota to fill (§11.4). **28.** Any three of: **(a)** Overhead key → dark eye sockets and a flat face; fix: turn the overhead off and key from 45° off-axis and up. **(b)** No modeling/shape (flat); fix: same off-axis key, plus set ~2-stop contrast with a bounce. **(c)** Background as bright as the subject + hair merging; fix: add a rim behind/opposite the key and/or let the background fall darker so the subject separates. **(d)** Hard head-shadow on the wall; fix: move the subject farther from the wall and/or use a softer, more side-placed key so the shadow falls off-frame (§§11.1–11.4). **29.** The "fill" is a hard, direct lamp acting like a *second key* — that's why it throws its own distinct nose shadow. Fix: replace the bare lamp with a soft **bounce** (a white card catching the window's spill), or heavily diffuse/weaken and pull it back so it only lifts the shadow without casting its own. A true fill is soft and never announces itself with a second shadow (§11.3). **30.** Two problems: **(a)** the rim is far too hot — a blazing halo instead of a subtle edge; fix: dim it until it just defines the edge (turn it off/on — the right amount is what you miss when gone). **(b)** it's flaring the lens, hazing the image; fix: flag the spill, raise or widen the source, or hide it behind the subject's head so no light hits the front element (§11.4).Topics to review, by question
| If you missed… | Review |
|---|---|
| 1–3, 17–18 | §11.1 — what light does; hard vs soft |
| 4–7, 19 | §11.2 — the key light, position, and distance |
| 8–9, 21, 29 | §11.3 — fill and contrast in stops |
| 10–11, 20, 27, 30 | §11.4 — rim/back light and three-point |
| 12–16, 22–23, 26 | §11.5 — motivated light, practicals, the Café |
| 24–25, 28 | §§11.1–11.4 — the three jobs, catchlight, diagnosing a bad shot |