Chapter 12 — Exercises

Chapter 11 taught you to place light. This chapter taught you to control it — its quality, its color, and its ratio. These exercises turn that control into reflex. Every one is doable with a phone, and the whole chapter's kit can be a lamp, a bedsheet, a white board, a black board, and a few squares of colored cellophane. The starred and shooting exercises feed your Project 1 talking-head directly, so take them seriously.

Graded by effort and depth:

• ⭐ Warm-up — a few minutes; locks in a concept.
• ⭐⭐ Core — the real practice; do as many as you can.
• ⭐⭐⭐ Stretch — deeper or more ambitious; where the biggest gains are.

Model solutions and critiques for the odd-numbered and ⭐⭐⭐ stretch exercises are collected in Answers to Selected Exercises at the back of the book. Try each one before reading its answer — a wrong attempt teaches more than a right answer you only read. Where an exercise asks you to shoot, actually shoot; you cannot learn light by reading about it any more than you can learn to swim from the side of the pool.

A. Seeing light (Eye & Ear Training)

No camera — just your eyes, retrained. These build the perception the rest of the chapter depends on.

1. ⭐ Hunt the shadow edge. For one full day, every time you see a person's face lit — in a show, an ad, across a café — find the shadow under their nose or jaw and judge one thing: is its edge sharp (a hard, small/distant source) or soft (a big, close source)? Log ten with a one-word note (sharp/soft) and the guessed source. Self-review: did the flattering, "expensive"-looking faces trend soft and the gritty or harsh ones trend hard? (Answer discusses what you should notice.)

2. ⭐ Find the color of the light. Tonight, sit in a room lit by two different bulbs — a warm lamp and a cool ceiling light or window. Without a camera, try to actually see the two colors and where each falls across the room and across your own hand. Write one sentence mapping the warm and cool zones. (Answer provided.)

3. ⭐⭐ Rate the ratio. Watch three different kinds of video back to back — a comedy or bright commercial, a serious drama or thriller, a corporate interview. For each, pause on a face and estimate the key-to-shadow ratio (1:1, 2:1, 4:1, 8:1+) and name the mood it creates. Constraint: commit to a number before you read the next paragraph. Self-review: do the ratios you found match the moods you'd have predicted from the genre? (Answer provided.)

4. ⭐⭐ High-key or low-key? Collect five still frames (screenshots) from things you watch: two you'd call high-key, two low-key, one in between. For each, justify the call in one phrase — where the shadows are, how much of the frame is dark, how bright the background is. Keep them as a personal reference board you can shoot toward later.

5. ⭐⭐ The white-balance hunt. Find one video or photo where the white balance is clearly "wrong" on purpose — a scene deliberately pushed warm (cozy, nostalgic) or cool (cold, clinical, night). Describe the effect in one sentence and guess whether they warmed or cooled it. This trains you to see color temperature as a choice, not an accident. (Answer provided.)

B. Reading Described Shots (Read the Sequence)

Reading a lit shot precisely is the same skill as planning one. For each of these, force yourself to name the three dials — quality, color, ratio — plus motivation, before you form an opinion about whether the shot "works."

6. ⭐ Name the four decisions. Re-read FIGURE 12.4 ("Neon on a face"). In four bullets, name the quality, color, ratio, and motivation choices the shot makes. Then say which single choice is doing the most emotional work, and what the shot would become if you removed it. (Answer provided.)

7. ⭐⭐ Diagnose the noir. In FIGURE 12.7 (the venetian-blind low-key look), identify: the approximate ratio, the quality of the source (hard or soft) and how you can tell, and the one prop that motivates the light. Then name one thing that, if added, would destroy the mood — and say why. (Answer provided.)

8. ⭐⭐⭐ Write your own mood shot. Choose a mood in one word (dread, warmth, glamour, isolation, triumph). Write a full seven-field Described Shot for a talking-head that delivers it, specifying quality (hard/soft), color temperature (in kelvin), ratio (in stops), and the motivation for every source. Constraint: every light must have a reason in the world. This is the exact planning skill your Production Checkpoint needs. (Model answer provided.)

C. Shaping light (Shoot This)

The heart of the chapter. Make things — badly at first, then less badly.

9. ⭐ Bare vs diffused. Light a face (yours in a mirror is fine) with one bare lamp, then tape tracing paper or a bedsheet in front of it and shoot again. Constraint: keep the light's position identical — the only change is the diffusion. Look only at the shadow edge and the skin. Self-review: which would you use for a friendly interview, and why? (Answer provided.)

10. ⭐⭐ The bounce. Aim your one lamp away from your subject at a white wall or foam board so the wall lights them. Compare to lighting them directly. Note three things: the softness, how fast the light falls off, and how much brightness you lost. When is bounce the best choice, and when is it the wrong one? (Answer discusses trade-offs.)

11. ⭐⭐ Move the light, change the softness. Take one softened source (lamp + diffusion) and shoot a face with it (a) far away and (b) as close as you can get without it entering frame. Same power, same everything else. Describe how softness and falloff changed as the source came closer. Self-review: which distance flattered the face more, and which gave you more control over the background? (Answer provided.)

12. ⭐⭐ Warm and cool, one scene. Shoot a short clip of a subject with your white balance set correctly, then again with the WB set ~1000K lower (image warms) and again ~1000K higher (image cools). Watch all three. Which version best fits the story you'd tell about this subject, and why? (Answer provided.)

13. ⭐⭐ The gel look. Put colored cellophane or a gel over your light — or use a phone screen showing a solid color as a soft colored source. Give a face one motivated color, pretending it comes from a screen, a sign, or a window outside. Constraint: the color must feel like it belongs somewhere. Self-review: does it read as "a world" or as "a filter"? (Model critique provided.)

14. ⭐⭐⭐ Set a ratio by measurement. Light a face with a key and a fill. Using your camera's waveform or false color (🔗 Ch. 5), or a light-meter app, set the shadow side to exactly 1 stop, then 2 stops, then 3 stops below the key. Shoot each. Confirm with your eyes that they read as 2:1, 4:1, 8:1. Self-review: at which ratio does the shot stop feeling "nice" and start feeling "serious"? Which is your natural taste, and is it braver or safer than you expected? (Answer provided.)

15. ⭐⭐⭐ Negative fill. Light a face by a window or one soft source in a bright room, so ambient bounce fills the shadow side and it looks flat. Now place a black board, a black jacket, or an open dark doorway on the shadow side and shoot again. The shadow should deepen with no light added. Describe the change and the mood it created — and note how counterintuitive it feels to improve a shot by subtracting light. (Answer provided.)

16. ⭐⭐ The rim rescue. Shoot a low-key face against a dark background with no rim — watch the subject's dark side dissolve into the background. Now add a rim/back light (a second lamp, a phone flashlight, or a window behind). Self-review: how much separation did the rim buy, and what color (warm or cool) suited the mood? (Answer discusses the fix.)

D. One subject, many ways (Five Ways)

The "Five Ways" drill is the fastest teacher in the book: hold everything constant, change one variable five times, and watch back-to-back. Nothing exposes what a single lighting choice actually does like seeing five versions of the same subject in a row.

17. ⭐⭐ Five qualities, one face. Light one face five ways, changing only the quality: (a) bare hard lamp, (b) through diffusion, (c) bounced off white, (d) bounced off a silver surface, (e) a big window up close. Watch all five. Rank them for a beauty shot and, separately, for a "tough character" shot — the two rankings should differ. Explain why the same light can be "best" and "worst" depending on the story. (Answer discusses why.)

18. ⭐⭐⭐ Five ratios, one mood ladder. Light one product or face and shoot it at 1:1, 2:1, 4:1, 8:1, and 16:1 by only changing the shadow side (fill in, fill out, negative fill). Lay the five side by side: you have rebuilt FIGURE 12.5 with your own subject. At which rung does "friendly" become "serious," and where does "serious" become "menacing"? Constraint: expose the key-lit side identically in all five. (Model answer provided.)

E. Diagnose and fix (Fix the Shot)

Half of professional lighting is recognizing a specific failure fast and knowing the one move that fixes it. For each described problem, name the cause (not just the symptom) and the exact fix, and say at which stage — on set or in post — it should be solved. Most of these should be caught on set (Theme 5).

19. ⭐ The orange face. A described clip: an indoor interview shot under warm household lamps looks strongly orange; the shooter used the "daylight" white-balance preset. Name the error and the exact fix, and say what you'd do if you actually liked a little of the warmth. (Answer provided.)

20. ⭐⭐ The seasick office. A described clip: a subject under office ceiling tubes looks faintly green even after the shooter set a correct kelvin white balance, and the grade can't fully remove it. Diagnose the two separate problems (one is a color axis, one is a source spec) and prescribe a fix for each, on set. (Answer provided.)

21. ⭐⭐ The flat, moodless "correct" shot. A described talking-head: soft key, full fill, rim, correct white balance — technically flawless and completely lifeless for a piece that's supposed to feel intimate and serious. Name the single lever that fixes it and exactly how you'd move it. (Answer provided.)

22. ⭐⭐ The too-dark disaster. A described clip: a shooter tried for "moody low-key" by turning every light down; now even the subject's lit cheek is murky and noisy and the client says it looks broken. Diagnose what they did wrong and prescribe the correct way to get the same mood. (Answer discusses the distinction.)

23. ⭐⭐⭐ The muddy neon. A described clip: a shooter gelled a cheap RGB light deep blue for a "night" look and the blue came out grey-muddy and joyless; the subject's skin looks sick even in the lit areas. The camera and the gel color are both fine. Name the culprit, explain why it muddies the color, and give the fix. (Model answer provided.)

F. Write the settings (Settings Drill)

You should be able to call the right white balance and the right kit without thinking. These build the reflexes; write your answer down before checking, so you're testing recall, not recognition.

24. ⭐ White-balance reflexes. Without looking anything up, write the approximate kelvin white balance you'd dial for: (a) warm household lamps, (b) direct midday sun, (c) heavy overcast, (d) deep open shade. Then mark which is warmest and which is coolest. (Answer provided.)

25. ⭐⭐ Match the mismatch. You're shooting an interview lit by a warm 3200K practical lamp (your motivated key) and your only other light is a 5600K daylight LED you want as a rim. Write the plan: what gel goes on which light, and what you set white balance to. (Answer provided.)

26. ⭐⭐⭐ Build the kit for a brief. You have $150 and a phone. Write the exact low-budget kit you'd buy (or improvise for free) to light a two-mood talking-head — one friendly, one dramatic — and justify each item against the "buy control, not watts" priority list (CRI → dimming/bi-color → a way to soften → RGB last). Then write the $0 fallback using only things in a typical home. (Model answer provided.)

27. ⭐⭐ Spec the shopping. A friend is about to buy their first video light and sends you two options: one bright cheap panel with no stated CRI, and one dimmer panel advertised at CRI 96, bi-color, for a bit more money. Advise them in three sentences using this chapter's priorities. (Answer provided.)

G. Steal a look (Recreate It)

The fastest way to own a technique is to reproduce a look you admire with your own subject and gear. You will fail interestingly the first time — and in naming why your version fell short, you'll learn more than any tutorial teaches. Keep these clips; they belong in your Frame Log.

28. ⭐⭐ Recreate the venetian blind. Reproduce the FIGURE 12.7 noir look with your own subject: a single hard side key, cut by a pattern (real blinds, a slotted board, a chair back), a very high ratio, and negative fill. No fill light. Self-review: does it feel caged and tense? What did you have to remove to get there? (Answer discusses the moves.)

29. ⭐⭐ Recreate high-key. Now do the opposite: reproduce a clean, bright, shadowless high-key commercial/beauty look — soft frontal key, strong fill (aim ~1:1–2:1), bright even background, high CRI. Use the same subject as #28. You now hold two clips: one face, two genres, and the only differences are ratio, key hardness, and background. (Answer provided.)

30. ⭐⭐⭐ Warm-then-cool, one subject. Light one subject and deliver the same shot twice: once as a warm, low-ratio "cozy morning" and once as a cool, higher-ratio "cold, sleepless night" — changing color temperature and ratio only. Show both to someone and ask what time of day and what mood each is. Did your color-and-ratio choices land the story without a single word? (Model answer provided.)

H. Shooting for the grade (Cut This / In the Edit)

Lighting is the first act of color; the grade is the last. These exercises make the link concrete — you'll feel exactly what a lighting choice gives or costs you once the footage hits the timeline (🔗 Ch. 31–32). The recurring lesson: soft and neutral is forgiving in post, while hard extremes and drifting color are debts.

31. ⭐⭐ Soft vs hard in the grade. Take your soft-lit and hard-lit clips of the same face (from #9 or #17). Import them into any editor and try to push each toward more contrast and more warmth. Which held up? Which fell apart (blown highlights, ugly shadows)? Write the one-sentence lesson about what you can and can't fix in post. (Answer provided.)

32. ⭐⭐ Rescue the AWB drift. Shoot a slow pan across a room with auto white balance on, so the color visibly shifts, then shoot the same pan with a fixed kelvin. Try to color-correct both to a single neutral. Report which was fixable and roughly how long each took. (Answer discusses why fixed WB saves the edit.)

33. ⭐⭐⭐ Two grades, one shot. Take one neutral, correctly balanced clip and, in your editor, build two different color moods from it — a warm cozy version and a cool tense version — using only the temperature/tint and contrast controls. Then argue: which of these two moods should have been shot in-camera instead of graded, and why? (Model answer provided.)

I. Putting it together (Interleaved & Synthesis)

34. ⭐⭐ Light + lens + frame. Combine three chapters: light a face low-key (Ch. 12), at a shallow depth of field (🔗 Ch. 4), composed on a third with the shadow side opening into negative space (🔗 Ch. 6). Does the whole frame agree on one mood? Name the three choices and the one feeling they add up to. (Answer provided.)

35. ⭐⭐ Light for the cut. Shoot a two-shot coverage pair — a wide and a matching close-up (🔗 Ch. 7) — of one lit subject, keeping the ratio and color consistent between them so they'll cut together. Self-review: do the two shots feel like the same moment, or did the light drift? What would a mismatch cost the editor? (Answer discusses continuity of light.)

36. ⭐⭐⭐ Refine the Production Checkpoint. Do the chapter's Production Checkpoint in full: re-light your Project 1 talking-head with a completed three-point setup, a fixed correct white balance, and a deliberately chosen ratio for a named mood. Shoot it beside your Chapter 11 version. Write three sentences on what the mood change did to how the subject reads. (Model self-critique provided.)

37. ⭐⭐⭐ Teach it back. In about 200 words, explain to a beginner why "mood lives in the shadow, not the light." Use the ratio ladder, negative fill, and one concrete example (high-key vs low-key on the same face). Teaching a concept is the strongest test that you own it. (Model answer provided.)

38. ⭐⭐⭐ The self-audit. Watch the best-lit thing you've personally shot so far. Grade it 1–5 on each of the three dials — quality (soft where it should be?), color (correct/deliberate white balance?), and ratio (mood, or accident?). Which scored lowest? Write one sentence on the exact change you'd make, then go make it. Keeping this baseline lets you measure real progress by the end of Part III.

39. ⭐⭐ Mixed-source real room. Find a real room lit by two colors of light — a warm lamp and a cool window is the classic pair (🔗 Ch. 13 goes deep on this). Shoot a subject in it three ways: (a) as-is on one white balance, so one source is "right" and the other casts color; (b) unified — gel or reposition so the sources agree, then balance to them; (c) embraced — deliberately keep the two colors as a look, motivated by the room. Which version serves a real story best, and why? (Answer discusses.)

40. ⭐⭐⭐ The product mood tie-in. Light a product — your Project 3 client's, or any object with a surface worth seeing — two ways: high-key "premium clean" (soft, bright, low ratio, high CRI) and low-key "premium moody" (a single hard raking key, deep shadow, high ratio). Shoot both against a suitable background. Which makes the object look more expensive? Note your answer — that instinct is the core of commercial lighting, and you'll use it directly in Chapter 22. (Model answer provided.)

When you've done these — especially the shooting and the ratio drills — you no longer just turn lights on; you author what a viewer feels. Move on to Chapter 13, where the biggest, best, most unpredictable light of all is waiting outside your window.