Lighting can even impart a sinister and hostile look. It all depends on how you choose to use the concepts we'll be covering in the next few modules. Just as sound must be skillfully controlled in audio production, light must be expertly controlled in television. In this module we'll cover the first of these. Light Coherence C oherence , often called quality , is the hardness or softness of light.
Light quality is probably the least understood and the most neglected of the three variables.
In the photos here the objects are exactly the same. The first photo was shot with soft light, the second with a hard light source. This gives the light a hard, crisp, sharply defined appearance. The light from a clear, unfrosted light bulb, a focused spotlight, or the noonday sun in a clear sky all represent hard light sources. Hard light casts a sharp, clearly defined shadow.