Villaintina 🧟‍♀️ Vee

@valentinavee106k followers

Director & Cinematographer. “menswear guy of cinematic lighting”

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Posts 36 posts

#	Date	Post	↓ Outlier	Views	Likes	Reposts	Bookmarks
1	Feb 6, '25	No, you’re not crazy! Night scenes DO LOOK darker now than they did in the decades prior. But it’s not because cinematographers refuse to light their scenes (common misconception).	1146×	33M	244k	15k	65k
2	Jun 5, '25	Okay yeah let’s talk about it. It’s because we literally don’t use those lights anymore to light anything, let alone women. And also because modern actresses don’t want to be lit t	461×	13.3M	159k	8.2k	42k
3	Sep 6, '24	Oh I know! First let’s talk about the lights. They’ve got an array of 5 circular trusses. These contain moving beam lights (yellow), moving wash lights (green), followspots on the	413×	11.9M	123k	9.1k	30k
4	Dec 12, '24	how it started / how it’s going	194×	5.6M	230k	6.2k	3.6k
5	Jan 8, '25	WHO DID THE LIGHTING for the THR round table this year BECAUSE I WANT TO KISS YOU ON THE MOUTH	171×	4.9M	99k	3.5k	10k
6	Oct 18, '25	how it started / how it’s going	143×	4.1M	134k	5.1k	4.2k
7	Sep 6, '24	how it started / how it’s going	133×	3.8M	167k	6k	3.6k
8	Feb 6, '25	As cinematographers lighting a scene, we ask ourselves: “Where is the light coming from, if it were naturally in the environment?” Then we try to supplement that with our own light	71.5×	2.1M	14k	155	555
9	Feb 6, '25	The reason so many movies look like this is because the filmmakers are trying hard to make the lighting realistic to the environment. Think: there wouldn’t be lights inside, it’s a	60.3×	1.7M	20k	365	600
10	Feb 6, '25	It also has to do with grading (coloring). They didn’t light this with the ACTUAL moon. They lit it with giant lights on condors (cranes). And they likely exposed for the entire sh	53×	1.5M	10k	139	385
11	Feb 6, '25	In this, he is top-lit. The key light source could be believed to be the moon or building floodlights (red), bouncing on the surface (green), and reflecting back onto him. Key term	42×	1.2M	12k	123	419
12	Feb 6, '25	Sometimes the lighting motivation is on-camera. This is what we call PRACTICALS (table lamps, string lights). But here in 2001 - they’re fantastical. It is a STRETCH to say that th	39.3×	1.1M	11k	110	396
13	Feb 6, '25	This lighting here from 2002 is mostly UN-MOTIVATED. Where is the key light (red) supposed to be coming from? They’re in an alley. Where is the top (rim) light coming from? The moo	38.2×	1.1M	15k	179	406
14	Nov 24, '20	How it started How it's going	36.8×	0	62k	4.4k	571
15	Feb 6, '25	For Spidey here, they could have raised the exposure more (in post) or they could have added a harsher “moon light” on set (green) but they didn’t. Why? Because they didn’t want to	35.1×	1M	8.8k	129	269
16	Jul 4, '24	\|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣\| NOT ALL LIGHTING HAS TO BE “MOTIVATED” \|＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿\| \ (•◡•) / \ / --- \| \|	33.6×	965k	2.9k	231	325
17	Feb 6, '25	Thanks for reading. I scream about lighting constantly on here, btw.	28.6×	821k	9.2k	139	381
18	Feb 6, '25	Another factor is the CONTRAST RATIO - which is the ratio between the bright and dark parts. Believe it or not, these actors ARE lit separately from the background (red). But the b	28×	804k	7.2k	68	207
19	Apr 10, '24	Show this to clients who say “But the house already has lights, why do you need to bring your own?”	27.5×	791k	14k	1.1k	3.8k
20	Jun 5, '25	So back in the days of old, we only had 4 types of lights. 1. The sun 2. Candles 3. Light bulbs 4. Arc lights (mostly outdoors - purple) 5. Mole Richardson tungsten lights (studio	27×	776k	12k	150	688
21	Jun 5, '25	Those last two types of lights were HEAVY, SUPER HOT - and most importantly for this conversation - HARD. That means they were a single point source (like the sun is a single point	24×	689k	9.4k	83	210
22	Apr 27, '25	It means the face shadows don’t match. He was under natural sunlight and in the time it took him to change outfits and come back out again for the other side of the shot, the sun h	23.8×	684k	9.4k	269	1.5k
23	Feb 6, '25	Every shot is lit and planned for meticulously - whether it is a narrative scripted project or a commercial. Here are 2 examples from my recent work. For the fist, we did virtual p	23.4×	671k	6.7k	96	572
24	Jun 5, '25	How do I know these actresses were lit with hard, single-source lights? It’s all in the shadows. Check how harsh these shadow lines are - they cut straight across. They’re not feat	22.6×	648k	13k	128	433
25	Feb 6, '25	Another example from a recent project I shot. For commercials, it’s easier to get away with “unmotivated” light because the audience doesn’t question it. Why are the walls green an	22.5×	646k	9k	141	780
26	Mar 14, '23	“There’s a problem in our industry that the more you kill yourself for a movie, the braver you are and that’s bullshit. We can do our jobs and we can live our lives, and the more f	21.7×	624k	6.7k	1k	379
27	Jun 5, '25	I also know that this is a point source because of the shape of the reflection in the eyes. It is a round reflection. Which means she was lit with a light that had a round output.	21.2×	610k	9.9k	75	175
28	Jun 5, '25	Normally hard lights are not preferable for actresses because they catch each pore and line with a mini-shadow. But these closeups are soft! How? Literally putting a “softening” fi	20.5×	589k	11k	79	582
29	Oct 10, '23	This is my latest filmmaking reel! I specialize in colorful and polished imagery with an emphasis on showcasing diverse voices. There's a key on the bottom left for whether I was t	18.6×	536k	2.5k	92	632
30	May 6, '22	This is the timeline for #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce	18.4×	0	25k	2.8k	1.8k
31	Oct 16, '21	Ted Lasso Ted Magic Wand	18.1×	0	28k	3.4k	327
32	Jun 5, '25	So if HARD LIGHT + SOFT LENS FILTER achieves this sparkling eyes effect, why not use it now? Because those super heavy “softening filters” are now associated with the “old school”	17.6×	505k	7.6k	70	448
33	Nov 9, '20	Pretty sure this is exactly how it happened.	16.9×	0	18k	5.9k	660
34	Jun 5, '25	Another huge factor is that we now shoot almost everything on digital (cheaper), and at high resolutions. So every pore is visible (and unflattering under hard light). Back in the	16.6×	478k	7k	115	549
35	Jun 5, '25	And whether that’s a large LED panel (green) with a square of diffusion material in front of it (blue) or a single-source light with a softbox attached to it (yellow), you’re never	15.3×	439k	5.8k	43	175
36	May 18, '25	God I just love lighting. You’d never think all those bounces were just out of frame. I should start a thread of these.	15.2×	436k	16k	727	2.9k
37	Sep 6, '24	Now all these lights (except the tubes) are quite “spotty.” They are direct and don’t spill out onto the people in the background. Unlike panels, they’re going to create shadows un	14.4×	413k	5.3k	61	175
38	Sep 6, '24	You can always tell how many lights are hitting a person’s face by counting the number of shadows under their chin. Here we have 4 lights. Panels wouldn’t have this same effect - t	13.9×	401k	6.1k	85	321
39	Jun 5, '25	I once TRIED to light a big movie star with a hard light. Thought I could get away with it b/c she was young (no wrinkles, no blemishes, nothing for the hard light to hit upon) and	13.8×	396k	7.4k	63	217
40	Sep 6, '24	(1) Most American talk shows will light the guest with only a couple lights (notice chin shadow). This is because unlike Quotidien’s “theater in the round” approach where the host	13.5×	388k	5.2k	61	237
41	Dec 20, '22	New directing & cinematography reel, same intro (because obviously).	13.2×	380k	2.7k	219	258
42	Jun 5, '25	So the other part of this is that there are SEVERAL catch-lights in the eye reflections. On the left there are 2, on the right - 4. The more lights reflected, the sparkler the eyes	13.1×	375k	5.3k	53	188
43	Sep 6, '24	(2) Another huge advantage that Quotidien has is the white table the guests are sitting at. The table itself is not only a giant bounce for the light array above, but it has lights	13×	375k	5.6k	63	153
44	Sep 6, '24	(3) This staging is smart because by not needing to have tall bleachers/seating for background audience members, the lights can be hung much lower than normal. Which means they ref	12.9×	370k	5.6k	74	188
45	Mar 13, '23	This just won an Oscar!	12.7×	364k	3.9k	321	186
46	Sep 6, '24	(5) Now, both types of shows have “hair lights” which help separate the speaker from the background. But the ratios are different! Quotidien isn’t afraid to have their hair (rim) l	12.5×	359k	5.3k	53	255
47	Sep 6, '24	(4) NOT ONLY THAT but the table reflection contributes to the “eye lights” even when the guest is looking down!	11.9×	341k	4k	38	69
48	Jun 5, '25	This means that to light the face, they only really needed one light. The others were placed just for sparkle. These days we shoot so fast and schedules are so tight, we are rarely	11.5×	330k	5.8k	47	117
49	Sep 6, '24	Hope this helps! I’ve made many lighting tutorials for free on YouTube if you wanna learn more:	11×	316k	4.3k	132	1.7k
50	Jun 5, '25	Next time you watch a romance - take a look at the soft shadows. It’s not that the actresses chose the lighting. It is that they don’t want to look unflattering, obviously. So we d	9.7×	279k	6.5k	70	386
51	Jun 5, '25	@FelixirofLife28 Yes and I made a video about all the different types	9.5×	275k	1.7k	36	932
52	Mar 16, '23	Highly recommend going to a rowdy screening of @RRRMovie. It was the most fun I’ve had at a theater in a long time!	9.3×	268k	3.8k	419	82
53	May 10, '24	AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!	9.3×	267k	1.9k	64	77
54	Jan 8, '25	To light 7 people simultaneously and have it look good from every angle is a herculean feat! Especially when you compare it to the round table from 3 years ago, where it looks flat	7.8×	224k	4.8k	136	401
55	Jan 8, '25	CLEARLY the key (main) light here is above our table, and slightly frontal. That's obvious if you look at the shadow on the table.	6.8×	196k	2k	25	141
56	Sep 6, '24	@buryafriend Yeah I was like “finally! my time to cook”	6.3×	181k	9.4k	40	35
57	Jan 8, '25	This means that every person around the table has the key light coming in from the front of their face. Maximum flattering. The key light 3 years ago was overwhelmingly camera-side	6.2×	178k	1.8k	18	151
58	Jan 9, '21	View post on X	6.1×	0	8.8k	1.6k	47
59	Mar 6, '25	The lighting from the Vanity Fair Oscar Party Red Carpet looked so glowy and beautiful?! I think I know why! It's because they used a style of lighting that I've NEVER SEEN ANY OTH	5.7×	163k	2.5k	153	960
60	Jan 8, '25	I would like to know what light that is (or array of lights) because it's gotta be SUPER POWERFUL as it is diffused to high heaven with something THICK (maybe unbleached muslin? ma	5.3×	153k	2.1k	19	167
61	Aug 10, '20	Welcome to being a public-facing female filmmaker. This is the entire wall of comments - unedited, including a death threat. If you’re shocked, do something about it. Promote us, g	5.1×	0	8.5k	676	34
62	Sep 12, '24	on set vs on the red carpet	4.7×	135k	3.2k	84	152
63	Oct 12, '25	Was very surprised when a friend recently told me they had not even heard of this movie! Not only is it a Best Picture front runner, it’s also fun to watch. The only way we don’t l	4.6×	131k	1.8k	150	94
64	Jan 8, '25	Also let's not forget to mention THE EYE LIGHTS and how whoever lit this probably tried to get this key light AS CLOSE TO THE TABLE AS POSSIBLE so that it would still be reflected	4.3×	124k	1.9k	22	96
65	May 28, '25	The scariest thing here is the exposure shift at 41 seconds when looking at the sky. That one small detail that can make a huge difference in making this feel like it is real foota	4.3×	124k	2.6k	155	218
66	Jan 8, '25	ALSO look at how many practicals are in the background! They made SURE that behind every closeup there was a bokeh ball of some kind, giving movement to the parallax of the cameras	4.2×	121k	1.9k	20	97
67	Jul 1, '23	\|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣\| CREDIT YOUR PHOTOGRAPHERS \|＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿\| \ (•◡•) / \ / --- \| \|	4.1×	117k	1.7k	636	20
68	Oct 22, '25	how it started / how it’s going	4.0×	114k	2.7k	56	208
69	May 14, '25	First and only thing I noticed: big ol’ rectangular catch-lights in her eyes when she’s supposedly looking at a chandelier. This isn’t a mistake. This happens in 99% of films and T	3.4×	98k	1.7k	48	178
70	Jan 9, '25	UPDATE! The cinematographer of this Round Table series is Ted Newsome and the Key Light was none other than the Aputure 300x! Guess who was the cinematographer for the product comm	3.3×	95k	3.1k	53	515
71	Dec 14, '24	If you want to direct AND shoot - do it! Just like Alfonso Cuarón, Reed Morano, Steven Soderbergh, Zack Snyder, David Lynch, Robert Rodriguez, Rachel Morrison, David F. Sandberg …	3.2×	93k	1.6k	178	264
72	Jun 4	Here’s some of what I’ve made recently! The letters on the bottom indicate if I was the Director (D), Cinematographer (C), or both (DC). I specialize in colorful imagery that showc	2.9×	82k	530	23	137
73	Feb 7, '25	Most folks are misunderstanding. I’m not going to directly critique my peers for their work. It takes a lot of effort just to get hired, let alone shoot a movie. However, I persona	2.8×	82k	2k	28	123
74	Nov 5, '24	fuck you, you fucking fuck	2.3×	68k	1.8k	55	19
75	Oct 17, '21	the only sport I care about	2.0×	0	2.6k	481	83
76	Nov 24, '20	Hi, I’m a director/cinematographer/editor. I’ve been doing this since I was 7 years old. I can shoot with any camera system and I’m an Adobe Master. I’m also fluent in Russian and	1.9×	0	2.5k	429	84
77	May 6, '22	\|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣\| WATCH THE WHOLE EXPORT BEFORE SENDING \|＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿\| \ (•◡•) / \ / --- \| \|	1.8×	0	2.8k	246	46
78	Feb 3, '21	\|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣\| YOUR APERTURE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE WIDE OPEN \|＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿\| \ (•◡•) / \ / --- \| \|	1.2×	0	2k	109	31
79	Oct 31, '18	Happy Halloween from me and @GlamandGore!	1.2×	0	2.2k	74	2

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