The Empire Strikes Back : A Case Study in the Basics of Cinematography I teach a fair number of video production courses—particularly with those who have little or no experience with cameras—in fact, many of of them have never even picked up a video camera let alone a lighting kit. So I'm always looking for inroads to help the novice understand the basic ideas of lighting, color, and composition--the tools of our trade. Often my students find that they know more than they think—this is due, I believe, to the large amount of TV and films that all of us, whether intentionally or not and regardless of our ages and backgrounds, are exposed to everyday. In short, I feel we are all video and film experts, by default—whether we want to be or not. Having said this—I periodically use TV and feature films as examples in my classes—although its rare that I'll use an entire film—I recently starting to make an exception with the second film in the original Star Wars Trilogy: The