Why I light everything with one sun
A 10° afternoon sun through a mullioned window has lit every film on this site. It’s a constraint that saves me days.
When a client asks what my style is, the honest answer is a window. Low sun, late afternoon, coming through glazing bars so the light arrives in panes.
One light, fewer decisions
Most renders look fake because they’re lit by a committee: a key, a fill, three rims and a bounce card nobody asked for. One sun gives you one direction of shadow, one colour of warmth and one story about what time it is.
The gobo trick
I put the window bars between the sun and the set as invisible geometry. They cast shadows but never appear on camera, so any product can sit in that same room, in any scene.
Written by Ilka Vordahl
Motion & 3D designer, Oslo. Booking November 2026.
