Hard Light Vs. Soft light for video

It can be tough choosing the right light for your video. There are two popular ways to light your subject hard light or soft light. I explain both and how to achieve the look. When it comes to lighting a scene or an interview in the video or filmmaking world two types of lighting come to the minds of directors and cinematographers that's hard light or soft light. Your scene will dictate what type of lighting you should use. Hard light is exactly what it sounds like, it is hard and it casts shadows. They used to use this type of lighting in film noir genre that used to be back in the 40s. They used this hard lighting to create mystery with shadows. Hard light is good when you want a particular thing in a scene to be lit. You have to use the barn doors to cut the light so that there's not a bunch of spill all over the place. You can also use hard light to light your subject from above or below like in horror movies. You see the lighting above technique when a detective is asking questions of a criminal in a movie.
Soft light is a more pleasing light it takes away the blemishes so if you are filming someone with wrinkles you might want to choose soft light to take away those wrinkles. Soft light is used a lot in interview setups, sitcoms and comedy. You can make a hard light soft, but you cannot make a soft light hard. There are several things you can do to make a hard light soft. You can use diffusion in front of the light you can use a soft frost you can use a soft box silk cloth household goods like parchment paper and even a clear shower curtain. Whatever you choose to use in front of the light make sure of two things:  one, that it does not change the color temperature and if it does compensate for that and two, the farther the light from the diffusion the softer the light becomes. The diffusion also takes on how big or small this source of the light becomes. So, if you are using a very small light in a large five in one diffusion panel then the light is going to be a lot softer. If you don't have a hard light you can use an led light. Most leds since there is so many different parts to them become soft. Another thing to remember is the closer the light to your subject the softer the light becomes. I hope this information was useful feel free to share it with someone.
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