Troubleshooting Lighting Gels

When using lights during digital video production you are not just attempting to capture the subjects and objects as they appear to you right then. Instead, you are trying to actually alter the reality to create a digital video image that is both aesthetically attractive and in the service of the story and themes you are shooting for. To do this you can make choices about light temperature, light position, and light intensity. These are all fundamental video lighting changes you can make, but one of the most effective choices is to apply gels to the surface of the lights. This changes the overall color temperature of the light that is coming off and onto the surfaces, therefore changing the image entirely. Light gels can be used to make slight adjustments and major ones, all depending on your over all purpose in digital video imaging. When you are using them you can often encounter different issues that require you to do the same kind of troubleshooting that you would do in all of digital video production.

A very common thing for use of gels is to adjust to the color temperature of other light sources in the room, such as those from a fluorescent light or natural daylight coming through a window. Here you are going to want the control you get from an artificial light, but you want to maintain the same color temperature so that you can white balance out the objectionable color or color correct it appropriately. You may encounter issues when trying to get the color to match that of the other sources perfectly, and the white balance may not be getting out the colors correctly. To troubleshoot this with your lighting gels you should use a color meter to measure the color temperature of the light in the room. Then bring in your lights, set them up, and add the gels to them. Measure the color temperature and see where it is at. From there you can do a little trial and error until you get the color temperature of the light coming through the gels approximate to that of the room before the gelled lights were added.