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Film & Television vocabulary · Lighting

Barn doors

Meaning in film & television, with examples

nounCommon term

In film & television, barn doors means: Adjustable flaps fitted around a lighting unit to limit where its beam falls.

In Turkish: ışık kepenkleri

How it is used

Usually plural; crews open, close or rotate barn doors to control spill.

Example sentences

  1. Close the barn doors slightly to keep light off the painted wall.

    The adjustment narrows where the lamp's beam falls.

  2. The barn doors appeared in the mirror, so we changed the lamp angle.

    Reflections can reveal equipment outside the main frame.

Common collocations

  • adjust the barn doors
  • lamp with barn doors
  • lightingThe use and arrangement of light sources on set to show the action clearly and to create the mood and look of a scene.
  • gafferThe head of the electrical and lighting crew on a film set, who carries out the cinematographer's lighting plan.

More terms: Lighting

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