NOTES ON LIGHTING
Lighting in all forms of media can help portray a message or certain feeling or connotation towards the audience or the viewer. In film production, lighting is a very important factor that can make or break a scene depending on how well it is implemented and utilised. A Horror film for example, may have very dim/dark lighting or lighting know as 'Low Key Lighting'. Low Key Lighting in a suspenseful Horror scene for example can help build tension and atmosphere that will help set up for something later on, making whatever it is much more effective. If more lighter lighting was used ('High Key Lighting) then the scene would not have much tension at all.
Before making our own trailer, we must make sure that we study how different lighting can make or break a scene. We must make sure we understand how lighting should be utilised in certain moments for a good payoff later on, or to give the viewer the appropriate connotations.
Before making our own trailer, we must make sure that we study how different lighting can make or break a scene. We must make sure we understand how lighting should be utilised in certain moments for a good payoff later on, or to give the viewer the appropriate connotations.
This is an image from the hit movie 'Saw 2'. In this scene, the captive male is being held and is wearing a two part mast fastened around his neck. If this person cannot escape in time, the mask will activate like a bear trap and kill him due to many spikes being attached onto the inside of the mask.
The lighting in this scene is very low key with only the main focus of the lighting on the victims face, providing much emphasis on his scared reactions. This type of lighting keeps the audiences attention on the character while also providing a sense of tension and atmosphere to the scene.
The lighting in this scene is very low key with only the main focus of the lighting on the victims face, providing much emphasis on his scared reactions. This type of lighting keeps the audiences attention on the character while also providing a sense of tension and atmosphere to the scene.
This is an image from the hit movie 'Insidious'. In this scene the male character is walking through a very dark building searching for the soul of his son who is trapped on 'The Other Side'. The lighting in this shot portrays how disconnected this realm is from his normal reality with how dark and unsettling the room is due to the lighting being very low-key. The low-key lighting provides the atmosphere that this area needs due to it being so empty and lonely but also a parallel of reality. The small candle the male character is holding is the only light in the entire area which provides some light on his face. The candle light allows us to see the male characters face and view his reactions to the situations.
This is an image from the hit movie 'The Cabin in the Woods'. In this scene, one of the male characters is being dragged up into the ceiling by a mysterious figure wearing some sort of mask to conceal his or her identity. The lighting in this scene features both a high-key and low-key area. The high key area keeps the male character lit while the low-key area keeps the attacker concealed and mysterious. The lighting here contrasts with each other to provide an atmosphere, almost as if the character is being dragged from freedom into the darkness. The contrast between the two lighting sets helps give the scene tension as the character is being attacked.
Lighting in these different films all help the films atmosphere considerably. If these different scenes all had normal, day like lighting, none of the tension, atmosphere on connotations would be portrayed and the scaryness factor of the scenes would be lacking, similar to how listening to a horror without the soundtrack lacks all the tension it would otherwise have with the soundtrack.