Cinematography V - Lighting

You must learn these terms and use them at all times throughout your essay when discussing key sequences of the films you are analysing. Whilst lighting will form only one part of an essay on cinematography, every film uses a variety of lighting techniques and these lighting techniques are used to create relatively consistent effects for the audience across those films. Writing about lighting is relatively straightforward so I would suggest that most essays about cinematography should include a paragraph on lighting.

Sometimes the questions in the exam will focus broadly on film form, whilst at other times the questions may direct you more specifically to discuss cinematography, encouraging you to consider the ways it is used to create meaning for the audience. Questions on film form are applicable to ALL of the films studied on the course and a thorough appreciation of cinematography (here, lighting may form one part of your discussion) and the effects of choosing particular lighting techniques will also be crucial in your practical coursework (both in your script and your storyboard).

In the exams, questions might focus on other Core Areas of Study (such as aesthetics, representation and context) or Specialist Areas of Study (including spectatorship, narrative, ideology, auteur, critical debates and filmmakers' theories). Even though these questions do not specifically ask you to discuss film form, you will be expected to discuss film language (including lighting) in your essays.

When watching a film the spectator's attention is usually drawn to the most brightly lit area of the frame and filmmakers play on this when lighting a scene by either drawing the audience's focus towards or away from something in the shot. Lighting can be used to indicate something to the viewer about a character (their mood, their status, their role in the narrative) and can be used to create expectations about what that character may do next. Lighting is also crucial in creating the tone of a film (or a scene within that film), provoking specific emotional responses from the spectator and playing a fundamental role in creating the film's aesthetic.

It is worth considering whether the director or cinematographer is using natural lighting (as in the shot from One Week directed by Buster Keaton and the shot from This is England directed by Shane Meadows) or deliberately placed artificial lighting (as in the shot from...directed by...). Many films use artificial lighting to create specific effects - to highlight particular themes, to indicate a character's situation, to reflect a character's state of mind - and cinematographers will usually employ a three-point lighting set-up - as shown in the image below.

The key light is the brightest primary light source and the intensity of this light will have the most dominant effect on the film's overall lighting design. The fill light is used to balance the intensity of the key light (softening any shadows) and will have an intensity of somewhere between 50% and 75% of the key light. The back light shines from behind (and often from the side) giving foreground objects an outline, helping them stand out from the background. Lighting effects on film are generally created by altering the intensity and balance of these lights. Crucially, it is more important to consider the effects of lighting choices, rather than knowing exactly how they are achieved. The following lighting terms, particularly the effects they produce on screen, are the ones you are likely to find most useful.

LOW-KEY LIGHTING

Low-key lighting has greater contrast between the dark and light areas of an image which is created by limiting the ambient light from the fill light. With low-key lighting scenes will be dimly lit with lots of gloomy shadows which create a sinister, bleak, unsettling, mysterious and uncomfortable mood or aesthetic, as in the shot above from Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. Del Toro's dark fairytale features a number of different lighting styles reflecting the different worlds of the narrative and the low-key lighting in the shot above hints at the Faun's sinister intentions and the danger that Ofelia, the film's central protagonist, is in. Typically, low-key lighting is found in the thriller and horror genres, but can be used in scenes from any genre where the intent is to imply threat and menace. Low-key lighting is useful in drawing attention to serious subject matter or a darker, emotional side of a narrative, as in the scene above where Ofelia is being asked to give up her baby brother for sacrifice in order to complete the tasks she has been set by the Faun.

In the shot above, taken from Christopher Nolan's Inception, low-key lighting is used to create mystery and tension for the audience but also to reflect the internal struggle that the film's central protagonist, Dom Cobb, faces throughout the narrative as he pushes his team to unacceptable lengths (lying to them and putting them in danger) as he wrestles with the lose of his wife and his desperation to return home a free man. Many of the scenes in the film, particularly those reflecting happy, positive memories, are lit more brightly using high-key lighting but...

HIGH-KEY LIGHTING

High-key lighting utilises more fill light, which creates scenes that are brightly lit with less contrast between darker tones and brighter areas, in turn creating few, if any, shadows. This kind of lighting creates a positive, reassuring and calming aesthetic or mood and is often used to reflect a character's happiness and joy, as in the images above from Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot. The scenes shot in Florida (in the second half of the movie) are frequently lit this way (in contrast to the scenes in Chicago at the beginning of the movie where Joe and Jerry's lives are put in danger as a result of their encounter with Spats Colombo and his mobsters) and reflect Sugar's joy at falling in love. High-key lighting is typically found in more family-friendly, uplifting and light-hearted genres such as teen musicals, comedies and romantic comedies (one of the genres that Some Like it Hot uses conventions from).

SIDE LIGHTING

As the name suggests, characters are lit from the side (with a stronger light source) which creates shadows on the opposite side. This type of lighting can be used to suggest that the character has two sides to their personality, that they are conflicted and torn or that they are carrying a heavy burden. Frequently used to cast doubt on a characters honesty or motives, side lighting is often used for villainous characters but can also be used for protagonists, or 'heroes', when they are being tested by some event in the narrative. Side lighting is used to create mystery or intrigue, or to suggest that the character is keeping something hidden (from other characters or the spectator). 

BACK LIGHTING

TOP LIGHTING

BOTTOM/UNDER LIGHTING