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Watch the tutorial
Step 1: Add Brightness & Contrast
Put your clip on the timeline and select it. Open the Effects panel (Window > Effects), type bright into the search field and find Brightness & Contrast under Video Effects > Color Correction. Drag it onto your clip.
Faster with BetterFX: skip the Effects panel. Press your BetterFX shortcut, type the first letters of Brightness & Contrast and press Enter to apply it to the selected clip. Get BetterFX
Step 2: Draw an ellipse mask around your subject
With the clip selected, open Effect Controls and find Brightness & Contrast. Under the effect name you will see three mask tools. Click the Ellipse mask (the circle icon). A circle appears in the Program Monitor. Drag it over the thing you want to highlight and pull the handles until the circle frames your subject with a bit of room around it.
The mask limits the effect to a specific area, so the circle becomes the edge of your spotlight.
Step 3: Invert the mask and lower the brightness
Under Mask, tick the Inverted checkbox. This flips the mask so the effect applies to everything outside the circle instead of inside it. Now drag the Brightness value to the left. The video goes down to about -69, which darkens the surroundings a lot while the area inside the circle stays bright.
The mask keeps the default Mask Feather of 10 in the video, so the edge of the circle is already soft. Raise the feather if you want an even smoother fade between the light and the dark.
Step 4: Fade the spotlight in with keyframes
A spotlight that is already on at the first frame looks abrupt. To fade it in, go to the start of the clip, set Brightness back to 0 and click its stopwatch to create a keyframe. Then move the playhead forward by about half a second and set Brightness to your dark value again. Premiere adds the second keyframe, and the surroundings now dim smoothly as the clip begins.
Smoother with EaseFlow: select the keyframes and apply a real easing curve in one click instead of dragging Bezier handles. See EaseFlow
Step 5: Track the mask to a moving subject
If the subject moves, the spotlight has to follow. Next to Mask Path in Effect Controls, click the Track selected mask forward arrow (the play-style button). Premiere shows a Tracking window with a progress bar. Wait until it finishes and play the clip back, and the circle should now stay with your subject.
Tips
- Check the track. Scrub through the clip after tracking. If the mask slips, stop at that frame, nudge the mask back over the subject and track again from there.
- Scale the mask. A bigger circle gives a gentle highlight, and a tight circle gives a dramatic one. You can change the shape any time.
- Combine looks. A darkened background pairs well with a blur. See how to blur the background in Premiere Pro for another way to isolate a subject.
FAQ
How do I create a spotlight effect in Premiere Pro?
Apply Brightness & Contrast, draw an ellipse mask around your subject, invert the mask and reduce Brightness so everything outside the circle gets darker.
How do I make the spotlight follow a moving object?
Use the Track selected mask forward button next to Mask Path. Premiere analyzes the footage and moves the mask along with the subject.
Why does my spotlight have a hard edge?
The mask feather is too low. Increase Mask Feather in the mask settings until the edge blends softly into the dark area.
Want more ready-made looks for your footage? Explore the Ultimate Premiere Pro Presets pack with over 500 presets.
