Make TikTok Videos Pop with Colored Light
When you shoot with RGB lights, there is much more creative potential beyond just creating police-car effects. This quick tutorial shows what's possible by tastefully pairing colors for your key and back lights.
Combination 1:
The creator, Petr Zavyalov, begins this video with a standard combination. He is using 5600K white light as the key light (the main light that is lighting the on-camera subject), and a warmer, more yellowish 3200K white lighting the background.
They are not saying, "Hey, this is a boring look. Never do this." 5600K on the subject and 3200K on the background is a great look for many shoots. But, if you have RGB lights, there is more you can do.
Combination 2:
The first use of RGB in the video flips the standard arrangement and puts a cool, blue light on the background, and a warm, yellow light on the subject. It proves that you can do the opposite of the standard and still achieve an eye-catching look.
🧠 How do you get that look?
You often see this in videos, where the background is an attractive bloom of light behind the subject. Here's how you do it...
You hide a light behind the on-screen subject. In this video, a small Nanlite pico light is mounted on a stand and likely pointed at the back wall. However, in lighting, you should always take a moment to experiment where to point your lights.
The key light is a Nanlite wand. It's described as a "handheld" light, but here it is also mounted to a light stand with the 1/4"-20 thread at its base. Here is the lighting plot:
Combinations 3, 4, and 5:
With the positioning of the camera and lights worked out, and with the norm established and then broken, the creator simply pairs together three more combinations of colors that get more and more evocative and rich.
The equipment used to quickly make visuals like this are not expensive. It doesn't take much effort to add this kind of striking imagery to your TikTok videos. It's all about where you place the lights, and the mood you're trying to create.
🎥 Video by: @mistertwister.me
Light Stand with Reversible 1/4"-20 Top Stud (popular choice: Manfrotto 5001B Nano Light Stand)
BT-NPF970 N-PF Battery (for wand)
Smartphone (for filming)
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