Purpose- My purpose in this instruction set is to help a novice filmmaker or photographer who has some experience with lighting improve their existing knowledge and elevate their work. Lighting is the most important element of composing a deep, artistic shot, so naturally this is an important aspect of one’s skill set.
Audience- My audience will be amateur filmmakers/photographers who are looking to improve their work by focusing more on the accuracy of their lighting. They probably have high-end equipment that can pick up even the slightest changes and manipulations in lighting, such as filter, diffusers, and gels, so I will touch on these more advanced techniques.
Context- Most likely the user of this instruction set will have a copy of it with them in the studio so they would be able to follow the steps closely. However, amateur or professional, if they user is referring to my instructions in the studio, he/she will be busy, if not overwhelmed. This means I must be clear and to the point, and keep in mind quick reference points to easily guide the reader in seconds.
Strategies- I am going to employ a numbered list that identifies and places certain lights in the right position, moving from most the important steps to the least important, minor steps, and also touches on advanced light manipulation techniques. In this list I will include overhead diagrams of the light positions (because spatial orientation with words can be vague), but unlike the other guide, I will omit the pictures to help identify the different types of lights as this information would hopefully be superfluous to anyone with lighting experience. However, I will include diagrams and pictures of how to attach filters/gels and how to properly use a diffuser since these advanced techniques will be covered.
Medium- This instruction set would best be presented as a .pdf file available online on either a website like ehow.com or a film/photography help site. Also, it would be important that print copies were made available somewhere, perhaps in the Film Studies building somewhere, so that they could be used on set where they are the most useful.
Testing- I will have one of my friends from my film class come over and try this instruction set out in my living room with lighting equipment rented from the film studies department. Hopefully, with instruction set in hand, they will be able to properly achieve the professional look they have in mind.
Experienced photographer Review
The author covers all aspects of design well. Under the testing title, the author may wish to employ more subjects. The author has chosen two different levels of experience or skill, whereas I've chosen my audiences by the differences in steps that their geographic location will require (planting trees). I think the author's choice of media is good, in that it employs more than one and understands that redundancy may reveal in differing media.
feedback
-The more specific audience in these instructions work well because of the higher difficulty level in the lighting techniques, and the testing strategy sounds like it would develop accurate feedback. Both online and a tangible copy of the instructions are a great idea as well, because of the varying circumstances of the context.
-Maybe you can snap some photos of the testing process to use for the illustrations in the steps of the final instructions, for consistency.
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