Flashing (cinematography)

In cinematography and photography, flashing is the exposure of the film or digital sensors to uniform light prior to exposing them to the scene. It is used as a method of contrast control to bring out detail in darker areas. This adds a bias to the overall light input recorded by the sensor. When used for artistic effects, it can be used to add a colour cast to shadows without significantly affecting highlights. Flashing is usually described as a percentage of exposure increase to the film's base fog level. While the flash itself is often a neutral color temperature, the flash exposure could be any color: the color of the flash will be imbued disproportionately into the shadows of the image.