The Grip and Lighting Illustrated Online Dictionary for Film and Video production
  N - from Natural Light to Noir.

N

Natural Light - is pretty obviously light from non-artificial sources, primarily the sun. Light from fires, candles, lanterns, the moon and other non-electric sources are considered natural, too. In grip terms, natural light is (also pretty obviously) going to call for nets, silks, reflectors, flags, and the like in the day's grip package.

Nets - are bobbinet material stretched on a frame, used to filter the amount of light emitted from a light source. They can be made with a single layer (a "single net" or "single") and double layers (a "double") of bobbinet. Grip and lighting net devices come in various frame sizes and configurations (open-ended or closed frame). Net frames usually have a mounting stud suitable for a c-stand grip head or lollipop to hold and position it by. Framed small net standard sizes include: 12"x18", 18"x24", and 24"x36". Occasionally you might come across a 4'x4' frame mounted net. Larger nets (6'x6' and larger) are unframed, with a sewn edge and grommets. Trick line strings are used to secure and stretch (very slightly) the net onto a breakdown frame on the set or location. Used and placed properly, larger nets can cut down the light entering through windows (or even small background areas on exterior shots), if they are far enough back in the depth of field to be out of focus and thus appear transparent. Like silks, they can be used to knock down light levels on foreground objects as well, or to cast more subtle shadows than a flag is capable of.

Neutral Density (gel or glass filter) - are colorless dark-tinted filters, and are calibrated by the amount of light they cut. These are: ND.3, ND.6 and ND.9. Larger gel sheets and rolls can be mounted to bright windows in backgrounds to bring them closer to the interior light level on a location shoot.

Night-for-Night - means shooting film or video night-time scenes at night, as opposed to "day-for-night".

Noir - means "black" in French, and is an artistic, moody, low-key lighting style developed in classic black and white suspense/detective/mystery films ("film noir") such as Kiss Me Deadly, Touch of Evil, The Maltese Falcon and many more. Hard-edged shadows, edgy key lights and lots of dark areas are the main elements of this interesting look.

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