How Lighting Affects Our Perception, Psychology & Productivity
Light is not only meant to be a practical tool.
It’s also meant to be a tool that alters your perception for the best.
The lighting you use can tremendously impact your story.
It’s a lot like music.
Imagine one of those scary movies without any background music.
Would it be as scary?
Nah.
What makes those scary movies really scary is the dreaded suspenseful music that leads to the monster jumping at you.
Just like music influences our ears, light influences our eyes.
To understand the role of light is to understand the language of perception.
My First Time Learning About Light
When I first started the ArmaniTalks YouTube channel, I did not care about lighting.
All I cared about was the message.
However, I needed some lighting because it was difficult to see me.
So, I got my ironing board, placed it behind the camera, and put 2 lights on it.
I turned the lights on and blasted my face with rays.
Then I gave my talk.
If you ever scroll to the beginning of the ArmaniTalks YouTube channel, you’ll see that’s how most of my videos were.
I thought I was good to go…
Then one day, a friend hit me up and said:
‘Dude, I love you, but I hate your setup. I’m coming over to fix it.’
He was an entrepreneur who helped other entrepreneurs with their studio setup.
He came over with a big studio light, removed my ironing board, and got one of my lights to place it behind me.
After a few tweaks, he told me to sit down.
I gave a talk.
We watched it back.
I was shocked.
Was this the same camera??
Because I looked radically different.
What I Learned from That Moment
What I learned during the studio remodel was that you’re only a few tweaks away from looking completely different in your videos.
My prior talks were so hard on the eyes.
Also, the prior setups made it look like I had a skin condition.
Because the lights were being blasted on certain parts of my skin, while other parts of my skin didn’t get many rays.
My buddy strategically used the big studio light to give me depth.
He made sure the light only hit the right side of my face, so the left side had a shadow look.
He also put another light behind me to give the illusion that I was sticking out from the screen.
I was learning a bunch of stuff that I didn’t know before.
I asked him what if I didn’t have all these lights?
He said:
‘Well, you have a window right by you. A lot of people use the sun to look better in their shots.’
So, you can use artificial lights or the sun?
Wow!
There were plenty of ways to use light to alter our perception.
But Wait, There’s More
Another effect of light is that it affects our psychology and productivity.
What type of lights do you have at your parent’s house?
Is it the yellow lights or the white ones?
When I was growing up, I would be bummed out when we had the yellow lights.
Something about the house just felt gloomier.
On the other hand, when I had the white lights, I felt like a million bucks.
I was ready to do my homework!!
Even to this day, I have the white lights in my work area to feel productive.
On the flipside, in my living room, I have yellow lights.
Yellow lights allow me to feel Zen and relaxed.
I use both.
- White lights to feel productive.
- Yellow lights to feel Zen.
If you feel like you’re in a rut right now, maybe your environment is messed up.
One great way to fix the environment is to work on your lighting.
Lighting and the Storyline
A great way to understand the role of lighting in storytelling is to watch Ted Talks every now and then.
Ted Talks gets a lot of hate lately.
I’m not ready to trash them yet.
I believe Ted Talks does a great job of turning talks into cinematic masterpieces.
Sure, the ideas are great.
What’s also great is their presentation!
As a public speaker, you may not care about this.
But as a host, knowing how to make your public speakers look great is a high ROI skill.
Watch more content of speakers talking.
See how their lighting is.
Same with YouTube.
When you watch a YouTuber, reverse engineer their studio:
- Are they using artificial light or the sun?
- Why did they angle the light the way they did?
- How many lights do you think they are using?
- How would you feel if the lights weren’t there?
These few questions allow you to see the effect that lighting has on your perception.
Amplify your Stories with Better Lighting
Right now, lights are static.
You buy them, set them up, and they just sit there.
Here’s my prediction though…
In the future, I see more companies creating lights that will alter its shades to match your tone.
So, when you are telling a serious part of the story, the lights will show dark colors like brown, burgundy, and gray.
When you transition to a fun part of your story, the lights will alter to light blue, baby green, and light red.
This is the future!
Smart lights.
Don’t be surprised if the future comes quicker than you think.
Nowadays, more people are setting up studios and creating content.
I believe companies will learn that there is demand for smart lights.
Most people don’t want to take the time to learn about light theory.
We want the heavy lifting done for us!
Still, I believe you should learn the basics.
Just begin observing how lighting makes you feel.
When you understand the basics, you’ll see that light grips your narrative mind.
For more insights into storytelling, check out the Art & Science of Storytelling Book
✨Ebook
✨Paperback/Kindle
✨Audiobook
– ArmaniTalks 
