I recently had the opportunity to view a couple of instructional lighting DVDs produced by Reel Classroom. One of the frustrations that I have had with lighting DVDs is that they tend to use basic small lighting packages- like a Lowell light kit, and offer little in the way of theory. This is not the case with the DVDs provided by Reel Classroom. They offer both theory and instruction while going beyond the most basic Lowell lighting kit.

The two DVD’s that I was able to review were the Introduction to Lighting, and the Green Screen Lighting DVDs. While both of these DVD’s are introduction DVD’s they both strike a good balance between covering the basics as well as moving on to more advanced topics and issues. Additionally, these DVD’s cover a wide range of real life issues ranging from the ideal studio set up to the non-ideal location setup. Having the real life issues explained and demonstrated will go a long way in helping the viewer be able to plan for, and tackle the issues that they will face when lighting sets for their productions.

For the rest of this article along with sample images and video visit the blog on my web site: www.ryanewalters.com The direct link to this article is: http://www.ryanewalters.com/Ryan_E._Walters_-_Cinematographer/Blog/Entries/2008/5/5_Lighting_DVD_Training_(Review).html