Why the lighting plan now comes first
For some time we have asked clients to start with lighting before anything else on a studio project, and in these darker autumn weeks the reason is easy to see. Daylight through windows no longer helps a set, and many small studios discover that their desk looks flat or tired once the skies close in. A lighting plan written early tells everyone what the room must provide: how much power, how high the grid or stands need to reach, and how much floor the lamps will occupy.
Carys Williams, who writes this note, now opens every lighting job with a short visit or a call rather than a catalogue of fixtures. We want to know what the set is for, who sits on it, and how long the crew has to rig and strike. A news desk used every morning needs a different answer from an interview corner that is built once a month and taken down again afterwards.
What a written lighting plan contains
Each plan we write is a short document, not a thick report. It opens with a simple floor sketch showing where the presenter, guest and cameras sit, then marks every lamp with its position, height and angle. Alongside the sketch is a list of the fixtures, the dimmer or control settings we suggest as a starting point, and notes on how to adjust them if a guest has a pale shirt, glasses or a shiny forehead.
We also record the reasoning behind each choice. If the key light sits slightly to one side and above eye line, the plan says why, so that your own operators can move it sensibly when the set changes. The aim is that someone who was not in the room when we visited can still rebuild the look from the paper alone.
- Floor sketch with lamp positions and heights
- Fixture list and suggested control settings
- Notes on guests, clothing and glasses
- Rigging and strike order for the crew
From key light to background separation
The order we work in has not changed, but we explain it more clearly than before. First comes the key light, which shapes the face and sets the exposure. Then the fill, which softens shadows without erasing them, followed by a back or hair light that lifts the presenter away from the set. Only after those three do we look at the background, where a little colour or pattern gives depth without competing with the person talking.
Many small studios light the background first because it is the most visible part of the set, and then struggle to make faces look natural. By reversing the order, we usually find the room needs fewer lamps than expected. Fewer lamps also means less heat, lower power use and a quicker set-up on the day.
Portrait sets and interview corners
The same service covers portrait studios and interview corners, and we treat them differently from news desks. An interview wants a relaxed look with softer contrast, often with two cameras at slightly different angles, so the light has to work for both without a visible shadow from either. A portrait set allows more shaping, but it also leaves nowhere to hide an awkward lamp position.
In practice we often propose a compact kit that can be set up in minutes and returned to the same marks each time. Floor tape, labelled stands and a photograph of the finished rig taped inside the cupboard door do more for consistency than any expensive fixture. These small habits are part of what we pass on when we hand over the plan.
How the work is handled with your crew
Where clients wish it, we spend a session on site putting the plan into practice. The crew rigs the lamps while we watch, correct heights and angles, and check the picture on a monitor and a waveform if one is available. We prefer that your own people do the lifting, because they will be the ones repeating it next week, and they learn faster with their hands on the equipment.
After the session we leave the plan with any marks or changes added by hand. If the set later changes, a new desk, a different backdrop or a move to another room, you can send us the new details and we will revise the plan. Enquiries go through the contact page, and the prices page explains how a quotation and invoice work.
Questions worth settling before booking a lighting plan
A few answers make the whole process quicker. Roughly how tall is the ceiling, and is there a grid or only stands? How many people will sit on the set at once, and are they likely to move? What cameras will be used, and are they happy in lower light? Photographs of the room from two corners, with the lights off, tell us more than a long description.
None of this needs technical vocabulary. If you can tell us what the programme is, who appears in it and how much time you have to set up, we can work out the rest together. We would rather ask a simple question early than rework a plan after the lamps have been bought.
- Ceiling height and any rigging points
- Number of people on the set and how they move
- Camera models and typical working distance
- Two photographs of the room with lights off
A good lighting plan is mostly careful thinking written down in a form your crew can use. This autumn we are keeping that approach: start with the face, build outwards to the background, and leave a document that outlasts our visit. If your news desk or interview set looks flatter than it should, send us a few photographs and a short description, and we will tell you what we would look at first.
