Lighting and Colour

Lighting and Colour

 

 

 

The reason for which lights are necessary in filmmaking is that film does not respond to light the same way our eyes do. Specifically, film and video see things in a much more contrasty way.This means that they cannot cope with the lighting contrast of real life: if you shoot a scene without artificial lights, either the shadows will go completely black or the highlights will go completely white. All of this means that if you want a scene to look natural, ironically the only way to do that is to have enough light to make film see the scene the way our eyes see the scene. There are many different lighting methods to give different viewpoints and techniques.

 

On a Standard Set Up these lights are used: 

The Key Light is the brightest and most influential.

The Back Light helps counteract the effect of the key light or creates an outline or silhouette.

The Filler Light helps to soften the harsh shadows that the use of key and back lights create.

 

These lights are used to create some sort of technique:

Underlighting is when the main source comes from below the subject. Used in thrillers and horror films.

Top Lighting is when the main source of lighting comes from above - highlighting the features - used to create a glamourous look.

Back Lighting is when the source is behind the subject. If no other lighting is used silhouettes are created.

Low Key Lighting is created by using only the key and back lights. This will produce a sharp contrast of light and dark areas on the screen as very deep and distinct shadows are formed. This is known as chiaroscuro (from the Italian for light - chiaro and dark - oscuro)

High key Lighting appears more realistic as more filler lights are used.

 

Film Noir is the name given by French film critics to a group of films made in Hollywood from 1941 to 1958. These films are filmed using low-key lighting to give the filma a hard, sharp look with strong areas of contrast between light and dark.

 

 

Colour was first used in films such as Voyage a Travers L'Impossible by the pioneer Georges Melies in 1904. This film was hand painted frame by frame. The next development was the introduction of two-strip technicolour using only red and green. The first full three strip technicolour was Becky Sharp filmed in 1935. From the 1930's to the 1940's black and white was used to represent reality and only colour was used to represent fantasy. However, today the opposite is true.

 

Denotation: The literal description of an idea, concept or object. For example the colour red is a particular wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum.

 

Connotation: What we associate with a particular idea, concept or object. Using the colour red again, this could represent anger, danger, romance, love, blood etc. Colour works on the subconscious mind to create mood.