Kicker

A kicker draws a bright edge down the side of the face that is already in shadow. That edge stops the dark half of a head from merging into a dark background, and it does it without lifting the shadow.

It is also the difference between a face that looks lit and a face that looks modelled. The eye gets a bright key side, a dark middle and a bright edge behind, which is three planes on one head.

The unit goes behind the subject and round to one side, roughly opposite the key, aimed across the far cheek and jaw. Height is usually a little above the head so the edge runs down rather than across.

It has to land on the shadow side. Put it on the same side as the key and it adds nothing you can see, because that side is already bright.

Keep it hard and keep it narrow. A kicker is an edge. If it starts filling the cheek it has become a second key from a strange angle.

Use it in low key setups where one side of the face goes dark and the background is dark too. It is the standard fix for a head disappearing into a night interior.

Leave it out of flat and bright scenes. In a room with fill everywhere there is no dark side for the edge to sit against, so the light reads as a mistake.

A rim light sits directly behind and outlines the whole silhouette in a thin line. A kicker sits behind and off to one side, so it picks out the far cheek and jaw and leaves the rest alone.

Look at where the bright edge starts and stops. Right around the head is a rim. Down one side of the face is a kicker.

Models put the light on the key side, where it does nothing. Say the kicker is on the shadow side, opposite the key, and name the far cheek and jaw.

The other failure is a kicker so bright it becomes the key. Ask for a narrow edge rather than illumination, and say the shadow side stays in shadow.