AI & EMERGING TECH
Light, Colour, Sound and the Edit
Learn the names filmmakers use for light, colour, sound, music and editing, from three-point lighting and neon noir to Foley, leitmotifs, J-cuts and match cuts, each shown or played in a real clip, with a prompt card for using it in AI films.
- 12 lessons
- ~3 hours
- Beginner-friendly
- Project + certificate
Free account required to open the lessons. Any price is shown before you pay.
- Free to startOpen a free account and start. Any price is shown before you pay.
- Earned, not boughtCertificates are never sold. You pass a graded project, and anyone can verify it.
- Self-pacedShort lessons you take at your own pace. Your progress is saved.
- Built for real workLessons follow how the work is actually done and paid for, and end in a project you can show.
What you'll learn
- Key, fill and back light, and three-point lighting
- High-key, low-key, chiaroscuro and silhouette
- Face lighting: butterfly, loop, Rembrandt, split and rim
- Motivated and practical light; hard and soft light
- Golden hour, blue hour, night for night, day for night and neon noir
- Colour temperature, palettes, grading looks and contrast
- Diegetic and non-diegetic sound
- Ambience, Foley and room tone
- Scoring: leitmotif, underscoring, stingers, silence and tempo
- Cuts: hard, match, jump, smash, cross-cut and invisible
- J-cuts, L-cuts, dissolves, fades, wipes, irises and whip transitions
- Pacing: shot length, rhythm and montage
- Writing a lighting, colour and sound plan
- Writing light, colour and sound into AI prompts
About this course
A film is more than where the camera points. This course gives you the names of everything around the camera and shows what each one makes an audience feel. You will learn lighting by name: key, fill and back light; three-point lighting; high-key and low-key; chiaroscuro and silhouette; the classic face patterns (butterfly, loop, Rembrandt, split and rim); motivated and practical light; hard and soft light; golden hour and blue hour; night for night, day for night and neon noir. You will learn colour temperature, palettes, grading looks and contrast. You will learn the layers of a soundtrack (diegetic and non-diegetic sound, ambience, Foley and room tone) and the composer's tools (leitmotif, underscoring, stingers, silence, tempo and tension). You will learn every common way to join two shots: the hard cut, match cut, jump cut, smash cut, cross-cut and invisible cut, the J-cut and L-cut, the dissolve, fade, wipe, iris and whip transition, and how shot length, rhythm and montage set the pace, with one scene cut two ways so you can feel the difference. Each technique is shown in a short clip from film noir classics such as Scarlet Street and Kansas City Confidential, silent films, the Blender Foundation's open movies and free stock footage, and the sound lessons use public-domain recordings of classical music. Every lesson has spot-it and listen-for questions and an AI prompt card. One story runs through the course: Second Hand, about a watch repairer who sees a minute of each owner's life. You finish by planning the lighting, colour and sound of a 60-second scene of your own and making a 6 to 10 shot cut with a reason for every join. This is course 2 of the AI Filmmaking track and works on a phone; no paid tools are needed.
In course 1 you learned where to put the camera. This course is about everything else the audience sees and hears: the light, the colour, the sound, the music and the way shots are joined. Each of these changes how a scene feels, even when the actors and the camera stay exactly the same. We start with light, because without it there is no picture at all, and because the way a face is lit tells the audience who to trust before anyone speaks.
Who it's for
Beginner-friendly. You can start from scratch: no prior experience is assumed.
The lessons 12 lessons, ending in a graded project
- 1Light that tells a story: key, fill, back light and three-point lighting15 min
- 2Lighting moods: high-key, low-key, chiaroscuro and silhouette14 min
- 3Lighting a face: Rembrandt, butterfly, loop, split and rim16 min
- 4Where light comes from: motivated and practical light, hard and soft15 min
- 5Light of the day and night: golden hour, blue hour, night for night, day for night and neon noir15 min
- 6Colour: temperature, palettes, grading looks and contrast17 min
- 7Sound: diegetic and non-diegetic, ambience, Foley and room tone16 min
- 8Scoring: leitmotif, underscoring, stingers, silence, tempo and tension16 min
- 9Cuts: hard cut, match cut, jump cut, smash cut, cross-cut and the invisible cut16 min
- 10Joining with sound and time: J- and L-cuts, dissolve, fade, wipe, iris and the whip transition16 min
- 11Pacing: shot length, rhythm, montage, and the same scene cut two ways15 min
- 12Plan your scene: the lighting, colour and sound plan and a 6–10 shot cut18 min
- Project: Your 60-Second Scene: Light, Colour, Sound and the CutGraded
THE PROJECT AND YOUR CERTIFICATE
Your 60-Second Scene: Light, Colour, Sound and the Cut
One shared link (a Google Doc, Google Drive folder or similar, set to 'anyone with the link can view') containing the scene summary, the lighting plan with top-down diagrams, the colour plan, the sound cue sheet with licences, the edit list, and a working link to the exported 6 to 10 shot cut.
Certificates on Skillnaija are earned, not issued for attendance: you submit this project, an examiner grades the real work against a published rubric (you need 65% to pass), and passing issues a certificate anyone can verify. If you don't pass yet, you get written feedback and can try again.
- The lighting plan is clear and correct: diagrams show every light and its motivation, at least 3 lighting techniques are named correctly and fit the story, with reasons25%
- The colour plan is coherent: the palette has meanings, temperature, grade and contrast are chosen for clear story reasons15%
- The sound plan is complete: layers are listed and correctly marked diegetic or non-diegetic, a scoring technique is used for a clear reason, and every sound and piece of music has a source and a free or owned licence20%
- The cut works: 6 to 10 shots in a clear order, about 60 seconds, and it matches the plans15%
- The edit list names at least 4 different transitions correctly, including a J- or L-cut, gives a sound reason for every join, and explains the pacing25%
Frequently asked questions
Is Light, Colour, Sound and the Edit free?
Most Skillnaija courses can be started free with a free account: your first two courses are free to start, then one new course each month. Some courses are paid; the course page in the app shows whether Light, Colour, Sound and the Edit is one, and its price, before you pay. You can also buy any course on its own for twelve months, or open every course with the All-Access Pass. Certificates are never sold: you earn one by passing the course's project.
How long does Light, Colour, Sound and the Edit take to complete?
4 weeks · ~3 hrs/week. There are 12 lessons, about 3 hours of material in total. You learn at your own pace and your progress is saved.
Do I need any experience to start Light, Colour, Sound and the Edit?
Beginner-friendly. You can start from scratch — no prior experience is assumed.
What will I learn in Light, Colour, Sound and the Edit?
You will build practical skills in Key, fill and back light, and three-point lighting, High-key, low-key, chiaroscuro and silhouette, Face lighting: butterfly, loop, Rembrandt, split and rim, Motivated and practical light; hard and soft light, Golden hour, blue hour, night for night, day for night and neon noir, Colour temperature, palettes, grading looks and contrast, Diegetic and non-diegetic sound, Ambience, Foley and room tone, Scoring: leitmotif, underscoring, stingers, silence and tempo, Cuts: hard, match, jump, smash, cross-cut and invisible, J-cuts, L-cuts, dissolves, fades, wipes, irises and whip transitions, Pacing: shot length, rhythm and montage, Writing a lighting, colour and sound plan, Writing light, colour and sound into AI prompts. Every lesson is written for a Nigerian context, with examples drawn from how the work is actually done and paid for here.
Do I get a certificate for Light, Colour, Sound and the Edit?
Yes, but it has to be earned. You complete the course project — Your 60-Second Scene: Light, Colour, Sound and the Cut and submit it for grading. Passing the project issues a verifiable certificate; finishing the lessons alone does not.
Ready to start Light, Colour, Sound and the Edit?
It is self-paced, and it ends with something you can show an employer.
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