3 hacks for lighting big spaces and getting cinematic results

Tips on how to light big spaces without a big crew or tons of time

Do you struggle with lighting big spaces, whether it be for documentaries, commercial films, or otherwise?

They are tough to light for a few reasons. You often need MORE and BIGGER lights, plus the complexity skyrockets.

Here’s the mistake many of us make. We get a large space, and it can be a bit too overwhelming, so we just leave the lights on and shoot as is.

The problem with this approach is that you, as the filmmaker, are leaving A TON of opportunity on the table in terms of how you scene can look and feel.

We ran into this challenge recently on The Britto Doc while filming with our character, Romero, getting some lessons from Jorge Masvidal.

Here are three key ideas we used to turn a bland gym into a cinematic scene for the film.

First, find your pipe.

Leverage the space to separate the action from the background. Then light specifically for that pipe. Don’t change everything / everywhere.

Even with something as dynamic as a training session for boxing, the first step was to choose an area (the red square pictured) where we would have the characters spend most of their time.

Before setting a single thing up, we looked around, analyzed options, and chose the location and main angle we would take (collectively what we call ‘our pipe’) and then lit for that.

The key with large spaces is to keep this area relatively small. Otherwise, the time and gear needed go up considerably. We had just me and my cinematographer for setup and 90 minutes, so we had to be efficient.

You can see from the image we didn’t have very large or expensive lights to pull this off. And it was only a couple bags of gear.

Second, get those house lights OFF

It is so so much easier to just leave the lights on and shoot as is. But that doesn’t lead to something remarkable.

Try varying the colors through your layers and background elements.

Here we lit with daylight, had the background mostly tungsten, and then added a teal uplight to the walls. The space instantly feels much bigger and more dynamic.

PRO TIP: Sometimes you won’t turn off ALL the lights but rather, look to turn off MOST of them. You might just leave one side on, creating natural shape. Or you might leave one area on, giving your background some light.

We almost always turn off the light around our characters though so we can then shape that as needed.

Third, don’t waste the space you have

Another huge mistake filmmakers make is just living in a corner and not stretching out the room.

Avoid the trap of just using a small corner because you don’t have much gear. Place your lights further away and try fresnels to get the throw needed.

Add some haze and you’re layers and space come to life in a powerful way. And with the lights not too close, you leave yourself a solid wide option.

So the next time you come up against a large space without having a massive crew and half day to set up, give yourself the time to be intentional.

Find your pipe. Choose a small area. Get those house lights off. Use color and haze to bring depth and story to the scene.

Above all else, don’t settle for average. That’s not the filmmaker you want to be or why you got into this.

If you dig breakdowns like this, hit me back. We have a few more from recent productions that we can whip up and share!

• Patrick