hello, i am new to lighting and am having a hard time understanding what everyone is saying to do. For example, most the stuff i film is in my living room, where the couch is agianst the wall. How am i supose to light the subject and background differently when they are no more than 1 foot apart? all i have is soft lights so when i try to light one, they are both completely lit and i dont know how i can control this. if it is because i need a hard light, are theyre any cheap ones like at home depot you recomend? also how would yall set up lighting for someone sitting on a couch thats agianst the wall? everything i try comes out lit the same, and usually is too dark (if the lights are far away) or the persons face is too washed out (if the lights are closer. what do i need to learn?

Well... one way you might light the background differently is to try to make a rim light, or edge light, on the edge of your subject.

If you can get a light off to the side, and somehow block it, so it effects the background less (on a real set, they'd use barndoors or black flags) it will make a nice edge on your character.

You can always try the home depot 500wt halogen worklights. What kind of soft lights are you using right now?

If you're having trouble where the lights are either too dark or too light it sounds like you're not setting the exposure correctly on your camera. If it has manual features, you need to adjust it to match your lighting.

right now i have 2 of these
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=2247&...e=categoryNavigation

im assuming it would be better to use one of those home depot lights as my key light since it can be controlled easier?

and also when shooting outside, what do you do to keep good lighting on faces. i usually get the people walking through shadows and everytime the sun hits them their whole faces turn white and orange and you cant even see there faces. would it be best to hold something up to block the sun when its facing towards the subject? ive tried an nd filter but it didnt help

Can you use that light without the umbrella? It might be a harder light then. It is certainly nicer than a home depot lamp. My biggest worry with the home depot lights is color balance. Are they the same color as your other lights? I'm guessing they're quite warm.

Hmm... outside... try to avoid high contrast areas/times. The best trick is to simply NOT shoot when it's blindingly bright outside, and you'll have shadows and light spots flickering across people. Try for overcast days, or earlier or later in the day, when the entire area is in shade. You can definitely block the sun with something, but then the background might be blown out.

You can also try to reflect some light with a large white square, or a reflector made from cardboard covered in tinfoil. Hold it down low, and bounce sunlight up into your actor's face.