ABSTRACT
A ‘talking head’ is probably the most common shot on television. Because the audience is usually more critical in their judgment of correct reproduction of skin tones, video pictures of faces are the most demanding in achieving correct exposure and usually require exposure levels that are high but are free from burn-out in highlight areas. The reflectivity of the human face varies enormously by reason of different skin pigments and make-up. In general, Caucasian face tones will tend to look right when a ‘television white’ of 60% reflectivity is exposed to give peak white. White nylon shirts, white cartridge paper and chrome plate for example have reflectivity of above 60 per cent, which is TV peak white. Without highlight compression, these materials would lack detail if the face was exposed correctly. Average Caucasian skin tones reflect about 36 per cent of the light. As a generalization, face tones are approximately one stop down on peak white. If a scene peak white is chosen that has a reflectivity of 100%, the face tones at 36% reflectivity would look rather dark. To ‘lift’ the face to a more acceptable level in the tonal range of the shot, a scene peak white of 60% reflectivity is preferable. This puts the face tone at approximately half this value or one stop down on the peak white.
