I've always had trouble with this for two reasons. The first is that I've always struggled to recreate the ideas in my head and put them onto film. I can see the end goal, but I don't always know how to get there. I easily forget some of the more technical aspects of composition and lighting, so they sometimes become a factor a little too late. As you can see above, I thought the dark velvet or the chair would show them surrounded by darkness, but I now realise I needed a source of light pointed at the models to make sure they're not swallowed by said darkness. They would have popped out much better then.
The other issue is just my lack of understanding on the matter. My brain feels like it's getting squeezed tight when I try to process how to even set up good lighting. I'm generally competent at setting up an area so it's well lit, but I become lost when I want to do very specific things with shadows and light, and how to make a dark room visible, but also still make it look dark. It's these little things that are so important that I just cant seem to achieve.
However, there is another aspect of lighting that is very important that I hadn't clocked onto until very recently; the art of shading. The image above comes from the film The Big Combo. Let's break down the image. Darkness is prominent in the image, and surrounds the characters. Most of his face is covered in it, but we can still make him out, and this is where shading come in. Look closely and while again, his head is covered in shadow, it's lighter at the front of his face so we can make out his features.
Now obviously, the shadow and the dark imagery is to give the sense that this man is a mysterious individual. Does he have a dark past? What is he here for? Is he dangerous? These are all question this frame can emote. However, why has the tone of black lessened at the front of his to the point it is grey? It's so we can still see him. He isn't just a blob in our sight, he is still a person. We can make him out and while we still have questions about his identity, it gives the audience the bridging point to recognise him in the film.
Shading is incredibly important especially in the black and white era of film. It gives away really tiny details away to the watcher, but during this era it was essential to help identify characters and tones of clothing as we couldn't see the colour. Even today though it's incredibly important and it easy to say why. I can use these techniques to show a dark room, but say if it was shot in black and white the characters identifying features were more grey, then the audience can still make them out, but sustains the illusion that the characters are in a dark room.
Now onto the technical side, where are the placements of lights and what are there intensity (ignoring the possibility of a director using natural light for their film.) well of course that depends mostly on the scene and what you are trying to get across, so lets use an example of a moment from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. First off, why is the lighting like this? So we can see the aliens, but we cant make out any distinguishing features. We see them, but we do not, as the shading has blackened them out. We our kept in mystery as much as we given answers.
Now where is the lighting? Definitely behind the aliens as we can make out their outlines, the camera can only make out a wall of white behind them because it is so bright. There may also be another softer light off to the left side of the shot so we can make out a bit of two people at the right edge of the screen. Why is it so bright? As I said above, so we can make out the aliens, but also only their outlines. It's also noteworthy that it gives the affect that the man being carried away is entering a new world beyond are one since we cannot see the ships interior. This effect is great and something that I can easily use for my own work as it's sort of a case of saturating the image just enough to make someone or something out, but also blur out the details so it's keep the person/thing in mystery.
Now looking at the Godfather, there are some annotations of the lighting set-up which I will break down. The key light is the main source of light on the subject. It is the primary one in the shot. You have the fill light that works on keeping just enough shadow on the subject. This obviously differs depending on the aesthetic you wish to create, of may just remove it entirely. Here the subject of the image has given a purposely dark side to himself, perhaps a reference to his dark nature or two-faced mannerisms. The back light (which is being created by the lamp) is creating a pop out effect for the character. It's defining him on the screen even further, by highlighting his head and body.
This is a simple, but effective lighting set-up that I want to use in my own work. It seems so simple but going through these examples have helps me to understand exactly what I have been missing from my own work. Just simple light set-ups can help define the characters in my films more, and reflect their inner personal thoughts.
Biblography:
- The Big Combo. (1955) Film. Directed by Joseph H. Lewis. [DVD] UK: Reel Media International.
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind. (1978) Film. Directed by Steven Spielberg. [DVD] UK: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
- The Godfather. (1972) Film. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. [DVD] UK: Paramount Home Entertainment
- FILM SCHOOL ONLINE! (Unknown) Attributes of the Visual Image [Online] Available from: http://filmschoolonline.com/sample_lessons/sample_lesson_cinematography.htm [Accessed: 22nd November 2015]
- FILM110. (2009) Lighting [Online] Available from: http://film110.pbworks.com/w/page/12610256/Lighting [Accessed: 22nd November 2015]
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