Rim Light

A thin line of light traces the whole silhouette, so the subject reads as a shape cut out of the background. It is the most graphic thing a single lamp can do to a person.

The effect is also cold and deliberate. A rim says the frame has been designed, which is why science fiction, action and music video reach for it and why documentary rarely does.

The source goes directly behind the subject at about their own height, aimed forward at the lens and hidden behind the head or flagged off the glass. The light wraps a millimetre or two of every edge it can reach.

Hard and small is the usual choice. A soft source at the same position spreads the edge into a glow instead of a line, which is a different look with the same lamp position.

Front exposure is a separate decision. Left alone the face goes black and the shot is a silhouette with an outline. A small amount of front light keeps the features while the line stays.

Use it for reveals, for figures against a dark background, and for any shot where the outline of a person or an object is the information.

Skip it in a bright room. A rim needs darkness behind and around the subject, and in daylight the line disappears into everything else that is already lit.

A kicker sits behind and to one side rather than dead behind, so it lights the far cheek and jaw rather than the full outline. The result is an edge on one part of the face, not a line all the way round.

The test is how far the bright edge travels. All the way around the silhouette is a rim. Along one cheek and stopping is a kicker.

Models place the light off to the side, which turns the rim into a kicker or an ordinary side light. Say directly behind, and say the outline closes all the way around.

The second failure is a glow instead of a line. Ask for a hard source and a thin bright outline, and say the front stays unlit unless you want it exposed.