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Lighting stop motion and getting the right lights for your animation can be tricky.
A stop motion animation lighting setup should be treated as a mini-scale live action one.
However, we need to remember that when dealing with stop motion nothing kind of works the same way.
Do you want to get the right lighting for your stop motion animation?
Let’s go through the basics!
Stop motion lighting tips
Use continuous artificial lighting:
Make sure your windows are fully covered and that no natural light comes through them.
Although our eyes are not able to notice, outdoor lighting changes every second.
If you use a natural source of lighting you’ll get some flickering in every single frame and your stop motion lighting will look inconsistent.
In order for your stop motion animation to achieve this lighting consistency, your animation light setup will need to be plugged into a power source.
Batteries are very unreliable and can run out easily in the middle of a scene.
I would also recommend getting some thick curtains or some blackout paper to block the light coming from your window.
2.Direct and position your main lights within a fair distance
Big lights are great because they provide a solid even lighting source for your stop motion animation.
You will need at least 3 of these to recreate daylight and most indoor settings.
They will need to be as far back from your set as possible in order to avoid being tripped over and reduce hardness.
I’ve been using this Neweer lighting kit for 2 years now and I have not regretted my choice.
They are lightweight and can be folded into a bag whenever they are not used. They also can be plugged into your wall and come with batteries and a dim option 2 color tonality options which is great to recreate different types of lighting.
Neweer is one of the best quality lighting brands out there and so their kits might be pricey sometimes.
However, there are tons of other cheaper LED 3 pack lighting kits starting in $40. Like this Altson one, which also comes with light gels:
Apart from these, it’s always good to have clip-on lights on hand.
These are very easy to set up and can give you a more direct light source.
If you are just starting and don’t want to invest in big equipment you can pull your stop motion lighting set up with 3 of these.
However, a good quality lighting set up will really make a difference in your animation, especially if your camera is not the best.
3. Watch your shadows:
It can be very easy to cast long shadows in stop motion but the solution is very simple.
Get your lights high up in order to shorten the shadows to a realistic length.
You should also wear dark clothes while animating in order to avoid unwanted reflections.
Stand as far away from your set as possible when taking your frames.
This will avoid changes in light caused by reflections or you blocking main light sources with your figure by mistake.
Having a remote control shutter release is key. Not only for this but because you will also avoid camera shaking and you will be able to press your shutter from anywhere in the room.
3 point lighting system-stop motion lighting setup
The combination of 3 lights placed in the right position will give you the right lighting set up for your stop motion animation.
This is the basic lighting setup technique used in film, TV, and several types of practices, including stop motion.
It usually replicates daylight or a common indoor lighting set up.
Sourced from Biteable. 3 point lighting system.
In order to achieve a 3 point lighting system you’ll need to have these:
-Key light: This would be the main and most powerful light in your stop motion setup.
It should be placed on one side of the camera and set up in an angle of around 45 degrees above your subject.
This will avoid hard shadows and flat lighting.
Backlight: The backlight it’s usually aligned with your key light but this last one stays behind your subject.
It is there to separate your main subject from the background and to create a 3-dimensional look.
It can also give nice subtle highlights around your character’s figure.
Fill light: These lights are used to fill the shadows originated by the previous two.
It should be placed on the opposite side of the key light.
The fill light should be softer and less powerful than the key light.
You can dim your lights or place them further away from your subject in order to achieve this.
Stop motion lighting effects
We have already gone through how to achieve a standard daylight or interior lighting set up for your stop motion project.
But what if your scene is set at night or during sunset?
Are you wondering how to achieve different lighting effects for your stop motion animation?
Keep on reading.
Contrast
There are different types of contrast you could aim for in a picture.
These can range from color contrast (saturation), high-contrast lighting, black and white…
However, the best general way to boost the contrast in your images is to maximize the intensity of one side of your lighting in order to enhance your contrasting frame elements.
In other words, you basically make shadows by making one side of your lighting set up more powerful than the others.
The possibilities are infinite so I would suggest you play around with your lights.
The fewer the lights and the more powerful they are the more contrast you will get.
Soft light
There are many ways of making your lighting softer.
If your lighting kit does not have a dimmable option, you can use some softboxes like the ones below in order to filter the power of your light.
Using one of these will make your stop motion lighting look more even and pleasant to the eyes.
You can also use a diffuser sheet and make a sort of DIY version of a softbox but be careful, they would need to be see-through so a simple white bed sheet won’t do the trick.
(They can also get burned if they touch your light and could be too thick)
I would recommend going for a simple foldable diffuser sheet, these are very light and thin and could also have a second use.
Amazon has models for less than $10
Light reflectors are also great for redirecting, bouncing or blocking unwanted sources of light.
Night light set up
In order to recreate a night setting in stop motion, you can do 2 things.
If it’s an interior setting your lighting color temperature will need to resemble warm interior lights.
You can do this by changing the color temperature lights or light bulb to resemble a warmer yellowish color.
Your lights will need to be sharper and have more shadows and contrast.
Take some pictures of your own rooms lit at night in order to have a visual guide to follow.
If you instead want to recreate an outdoor night scene then color gels are all you need.
You can put these in front of your lights and change the color temperature of your scene in a second.
Have a look:
Sunset light set up
Different times of the day can be represented in your stop motion lighting using different color gels.
As indicated before you just need to place them in front of your lights to change the color temperature of your stop motion scene.
For this picture, I used an orange one.
Clouds and outdoor shadows
Now, this lighting effect is a bit more complicated but can be easily achieved with a bit of imagination and DIY skills.
If you are trying to light up an outdoor daytime or nighttime scene you might have noticed it sometimes can look fake and very flat.
A device called “cello cucoloris” will help you create the illusion of cloud and outdoor shadows in your scene without the need to place random objects in your set.
This is how you can make one yourself:
Conclusion
Lighting your stop motion set can seem tricky at first.
At the end of the day dealing with a micro-sized version of a live-action set is not for the light-hearted.
However, with a bit of practice and the right sort of equipment, you will be able to achieve building a great lighting setup for your stop motion in no time!
I hope this article has helped you understand this art form a little bit better.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!
-Ana