Subheadline: The first of a series of 5 blogs that
will help readers know more about different aspects of filmmaking,
now simplified and easy to understand.
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The first topic I will address this
week is lighting.
Lighting
is one of the most important aspects of the visual look of the film
that the director of photography gets to control.
How
light and shadow work together can greatly affect the mood of a
scene.
For
example:
In
the first picture from the movie The Butterfly Effect we see
Ashton Kutcher being photographed with dark shadows under his eyes
and cheek bone, contrasting greatly with the rest of his well-lit
face. This creates a sombre effect and will give the viewer a sense
of apprehension.
The
name of this technique is low-key lighting. Low-key lighting creates
a greater contrast between the lights and shadows on a person's face
or on an object. It is used for crime dramas and horror films.
On
the other hand, high-key lighting is the opposite. A person's face or
an object is lit evenly and provides a more appealing and
lighthearted feeling to the scene. High-key lighting is typically
used in comedies and romance movies. Below you can see a still from
the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty that shows an example
of high-key lighting.
Next
week we will be talking more in depth about how to achieve these
techniques by addressing 3-point lighting.
