Gabriel Beristain: One Light Source Lighting

From American Cinematographer, Paging Machiavelli by Eric Rudolph (March 1998)

"I try to use the greatest economy of lights and flags. I like to use one light source through a window or door, supplemented with a tiny bit of fill indoors, and then try to choreography the scene with the director so that we play the light. Ironically, my most complicated lighting has been in comedies. In comedy, you have to be very careful not to do a very flat looking film, yet you don't want to lose the nice moments with the eyes on the jokes. You set one light and that leads to another and another, and suddenly you have a tree of lights and flags. When you are doing a film with a personal artistic look, like The Spanish Prisoner, it is easier to use one light source. It's riskier, but if you have the director's cooperation, such an approach can be very rewarding."

- Gabriel Beristain, ASC, BSC