There's a lot to love about film making and, especially to me, cinematography. The feeling of being around the magic of a good set, the creativity you get to see unfold in front of you as the talent does their thing, meeting new people, the gear...Honestly, the list could go on for days. But for me, there are 3 things that definitely top the list. These are the things that keep each project fresh for me and make me want to do more and be better every time.

In this cinematography tutorial, I show some of my tips for creating scenes that look dark even though we're using film lights so the audience can see what's happening. Film makers often need to create scenes that are dark and moody. A mistake they make is lighting a scene with minimal light and then boosting the ISO of their camera. I talk about what it means to "light for your sensor," how to use shadow to make dark scenes, and some mistakes to avoid.

How do you film a scene in a small space and with only three lights? And how do you make it look cinematic? When you know where to place your lights, and what colors to use it gets a little easier. I show an interrogation scene with dramatic lighting that I filmed with some friends to show an example of a small lighting setup for cinematography.