Hard light sources become soft as they get closer to the object they illuminate. For instance, candlelight softens as the object approaches the candle because the size of the source is bigger, and is not an effective point in space.

A soft light source is soft because the light comes from a wider area and thus it casts many shadows that interact with each other.

Light is radiant energy. The temperature of the radiating body determines the color of the light given off. This is standardized using the Kelvin temperature scale. The Kelvin scale starts at 273.15 degrees below the Celsius scale. At zero Kelvin, or absolute zero, all motion stops. At 273.15K, or 0šCelsius, water freezes (at one atmosphere of pressure, but we won't get that technical).

True daylight comes in many different color temperatures. 3200K is redder than 5600K, which is bluer. Ordinary incandescent light fixtures in your home are redder still, operating near 2800K.

Note that some of this may be counter-intuitive, if you think that a higher temperature means that red and orange should have a higher temperature than blue. That has more to do with psychology than physics. We think of red hot coals and cool blue water, but as you may know from using a gas stove, a blue flame is hotter than a yellow one, and in astronomy, a blue star is hotter than a yellow star (like ours) or a red star. A gel will absorb light of specific wavelengths and allow other wavelengths to pass through. At higher temperatures, the wavelengths get shorter, and the frequency gets higher, allowing more energy to be transmitted. Whew! Is that enough physics for you?

"F-stop" refers to the theoretical amount of light transmitted, and "T-stop" refers to the actual amount, but "F-stop" is more commonly heard.

In the Use ND Filters section, I wrote that small apertures will degrade an image due to diffraction effects. That's sounds nice and scientific, but what does that mean? Diffraction refers to the breaking up of light or other waves. When an aperture is very small, it can have a more profound affect on light waves because the edge of the aperture interacts with the waves of light.

Most modern household circuit breakers are rated for 20 amps, and most American household current is 120 volts. You can calculate the maximum power that a circuit breaker can accommodate by using the formula P=VA, where P = power in Watts, V = volts, and A = amps. So to calculate the power for a typical 20 amp circuit: P = 120 X 20 = 2400 Watts. You can also calculate the number of amps that a light will draw by using A = P/V. For a 500W light: 500/120 = 4.16 amps.

When shooting where there is ANY daylight: gel tungsten lights with CTB and balance for daylight (usually this is much easier than fighting the sun). For nighttime, use straight tungsten.

Use the lowest gain setting possible.

Shoot low-key (see the TECHNIQUES section).

If possible, raise the black level (The Canon XL1s will do this).

Keep the brightest and darkest areas of your shot within 4-5 stops.

Beware of bright outdoor shooting in areas with a wide range of brightness levels. You will inevitably wind up with shadowy subjects or ugly backgrounds. Extremely bright colors begin to glow and distort when over-exposed.

Use a Tiffen Black Pro Mist filter or a smoke or fog filter.

Use bounced or heavily diffused light rather than hard light.

Decrease the sharpness level (slightly, don't overdo it) in the camera.

Shoot with the aperture wide (lower fstop). You can thus avoid the sweet spot and making the overall image slightly softer.

Increase distance between the subject and the camera.

Increase the distance between the subject and the background.

Open the aperture as wide as possible. This often means stacking ND filters if outdoors, or even occasionally using one indoors.

DV has a fraction of the color range of film. Bright vibrant colors (especially "off" colors like Magenta or lime) can read horribly in video. They also result in frequent color spill. Also, less color typically means less video noise. Not to say you should avoid color, just get to know your camera's limitations.

If possible, you can lower the saturation in camera -- this should be done sparingly, but can result in a very clean image (good for ruddy complexions too).

Shoot in progressive scan.

Shoot at 1/30 shutter speed if possible.

De-interlacing in post is often preferable.

Smaller zooms are nice.

9) Use handheld camerawork sparingly (and smartly)

Use handheld when it's appropriate, not as a shortcut.

Most DV cameras are light, which makes them hard to move smoothly.

If you need to shoot handheld, try weighing the camera down.

Use a dolly or a jib.

The cheapest tool a budget-conscious filmmaker can use is time.