Tom Antos Shares Great Lighting Techniques

Just when I think I know a little something about filmmaking, I realize I don't. Today I was perusing Indy Mogul's blog and was turned onto some excellent lighting tutorials by cinematographer Tom Antos. He's a working professional who really knows his craft.

The first video I found was part 5 (shooting with powerful HMI lights) which was so good that I watched everything back to part 1, which I have embedded here. This is a great lesson for us frugal types as he make a very good argument for the skill of shot design, opposed to camera "quality". Watch at the end of the video where he compares something shot with the Red One against the prosumer Canon XH-A1. It's an eye-opener.

Once again, it's not the tools but how you use them. You could very easily make the same comparison with the same XH-A1 (a $3500 camera) and my Canon HFS100 (an $800 camcorder). I recommend you watch all of Tom's instructional videos. I learned a ton just watching these five and hope I can apply the techniques used here on my next shoot.