With the advent of color correction in FCS2, I’m sure fewer DIY-ers are concerning themselves with lighting gels. But digital color filters are still no match for the natural effect achieved by rigging up those thin sheets if plastic.

Of the three basic types of gels, color conversion gels may be the easiest to work with. These gels convert one color temperature of light to another by absorbing certain color wavelengths and transmitting another. For example, if you’re shooting an interior scene in front of a large window with sunlight streaming through, you would want to use a color conversion gel (a Color Temperature Blue, or CTB, in this case) on the incandescent lights in the room to make them match the sunlight. Conversely, you could gel the window with Color Temperature Orange (CTO) to absorb the blueness of the sunlight and instead transmit an orange-yellow to match the incandescent bulbs. Your ultimate goal is to create a uniformed spectrum of light that your camera will see as white, once white balanced. This will keep characters’ faces from turning a sickly shade, among other headaches, and save you time in post.

For a more thorough examination of color conversion gels, go here.

To learn more about color temperatures, go here.

To buy color conversion and other gels on the cheap, try craigslist and mandy.com