Lighting for Cinema

3 Point Lighting:

- key light (main light, very bright)

- fill light (softer, dimmer and balances out the shadows)

- back light (separates the figure from the background)

Fundamental Lighting Styles:

High Key:

- Lots of light

- Positive effect and connation

Low Key:

- Very little light

- Negative effect and connation

- Mystery and fear of the unknown

- Horror, crime and thriller films

Hard Lighting:

- Strong, powerful and harsh lighting

- Lots of shadows

- Focusses on one subject

- Creates a spotlight effect

Soft Lighting:

- Source of light is subtle/minimal

- Lighting is spread evenly across the frame

- Can be used to 'mellow out' a scene

Naturalistic Lighting: Source of light is real and non-artificial.

Realistic Lighting: Source of light is artificial but made to look real.

Pictorial Lighting: Source of light is artificial and is made to look glamorous.

Expressionistic Lighting: Source of light is artificial and is made to look artistic.

Chiaroscuro Lighting: The extremes of low and high contrast lighting to create areas of light and darkness in film. This applies especially to black and white films. Often the light would only illuminate half of the subject's face, while obscuring the other side, giving them a three dimensional shape and volume.

Lighting Resources:

- Tungsten (warm and orange)

- Fluorescent (cool/white)

- LEDs

- Reflectors

- Gels (coloured sheets used to change the colour of the lights for the Tungsten and Fluorescent)

- Soft box (used to soften the lighting)

Verisimilitude: the belief that what is being seen is 'true or 'real life'.

Genre: connecting the genre of the film with the style of lighting.

Mood: the audience can tell how the characters are felling and the overall tone from lighting.

Atmosphere: the lighting can connote to the audience the location and environment of the scene.

Character Identity: connoting a character's identity and characteristics through lighting.

Lighting Analysis: Whiplash Opening Scene

In the opening scene to Whiplash (2014), lighting is used in a great way to convey a character's identity and status. The first character we see in the opening scene is Andrew Neiman, where High-Key Lighting is used on him in a spotlight effect. The use of this lighting technique makes the background behind Andrew very dark meaning he is the only thing lit in the shot. This tells the audience that he is an important character in the story. We are then introduced to another character who is Terence Fletcher. We first see him in the shadows where we can't really see his face. Our first impression of the character is that he is very ominous and sinister. Terence then steps into the light revealing his face. The lighting used on him in this scene is Hard Lighting. This lighting effect creates a shadow over the body making the character even more ominous. The tone of light used on the two characters are different. The lights used on the characters were different types of lights, this was done to create an effect and to tell the audience who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist. The use of the Fluorescent light on Andrew creates a lighter and cooler effect suggesting to the audience that he is the protagonist. Whereas, the use of the Tungsten light on Fletcher creates a darker and warmer effect suggesting he is the antagonist. Overall, this is a great opening scene to show a character's identity just through lighting techniques.