Lighting To Emphasize Mood

[William Blesch]

Hi there people,

 

This is a call out for advice about how to light a set. I desperately want to emphasize a feeling of anger and tension. I feel I should be able to compliment my shots with the lighting but am unsure how to go about it.

 

The shots are already rather dark, film noir-ish. But there is just something extra that I think these shots need. For me they are still sort of lacking. So...

 

 

I was thinking maybe a red kicker???

 

Any advice?

[Benjamin_Lussier]

Hi,

Im no expert, but I think a red kicker should be used when there's an actual source of red light in the scene (submarine.ect.) Otherwise it looks a bit funny. But thats just me, i'm not a big fan of pure formalism. Peter Jackson used to do this in his early B-films like Meet the feebles and Dead Alive (braindead) and it looks O.K in the context of these films... cuz there're just bold, gory, absurd and extremly funny. Unlike white, yellow, or blue, red is not a color you see everyday in terms of lighting, except if you're a bouncer in a stripclub. So Red might distract the viewer.

 

You can emphasize anger and tension purely with camera angles IMO. The final confrontation in Rear Window is a good example (just pretending I know what Im talking about). There's nothing fancy in the lighting. It's all camerawork. And it works very well indeed.

 

THats just my opinion, a real expert will probably step in any minute and tell you otherwise.

 

Its all good :P

 

Cheerios

 

Ben

Edited February 4, 2005 by Benny_the_kid

[Adam Frisch FSF]

I think a visual style and setting is very important for a film. I'm just not sure you should do the most obvious thing. Every time you make a stylistic choice for something, I would argue that the most removed style from that would ALSO be a viable approach. Meaning that there is no single way to solve any given scene.

 

Lately, I've tried to unlearn everything I've been told since I started loving cinematography. Challenge everything, as they say in the ad. Motivated camera moves? Why, what's wrong with unmotivated ones if they feel right? And so on - you get the picture. Do what feels right and don't over-analyze the subject or the emotions you want to convey.

[DavidSloan]

Motivated camera moves? Why, what's wrong with unmotivated ones if they feel right?

 

I'm really big on what I call the: "live camera." Or as Antonioni used to call it-"The Wandering Camera." I love that mysterious feeling I get when a camera is seemingly moving by its own sheer will, picking up the action by "accident." I esp like starting a scene by panning to the action. It works brilliant when the decor is increasing the nature of the scene. Good art dept is a must.

[Adam Frisch FSF]

I'm really big on what I call the: "live camera."  Or as Antonioni used to call it-"The Wandering Camera."  I love that mysterious feeling I get when a camera is seemingly moving by its own sheer will, picking up the action by "accident."  I esp like starting a scene by panning to the action.  It works brilliant when the decor is increasing the nature of the scene.  Good art dept is a must.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I agree. Interconnecting with pans and tilts - cutting in camera and solving scenes uninterrupted is something I try to push for a bit more now. It's so easy and disruptive to just cut your way around everything.

[Rik Andino]

You can also just place the camera somewhere

And allow the actors performance to shine (or explode whatever they're doing).

 

Of course this doesn't work if you're actors are mediocre.

 

Mood is usually best conveyed by composition (and editing of course)

Than by adding to the lighting-->most DP opt for a natural style of lighting

Rather than a stylistic (or expressionistic style of lighting)

 

Go over the Actors blocking with your director

And dicuss with the Director (and the editor can help too)

The best way to capture the action.

(People often forget how important rehearsing, planning, and preproduction

Are to the final image of the film.)

 

Good Luck

 

 

 

PS What is IMO?

[Stas Tagios]

PS What is IMO?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

"In my opinion"

[Rik Andino]

"In my opinion"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Oh thanks man--> now I feel like a dunce :blink:

[Delorme Jean-Marie]

just an idea

you could have a flickering bulb effects (with a buzz)?like a bad bulb about to die

this could add tension and un unconfortable feeling that could work

is it night or day? i asume it's a night scene because of the red light you talk about?

you could justifie this red light coming from the street (shop electric panel, trafic light...?)

if you need anger and tension try hard lights, hard contrast, diagonals shadows....wresel or boxing on tv in the back ground, hot steem cooker on the kitchen?

have fun :)

[Sam Wells]

I shot a promo trailer for an Indie feature once, the theme was counterfeiting.

 

In a scene where the guys open a suitcase of the bogus bills, I lit the background through green gels. Absolutely the corniest thing I've ever done (hey it was a VERY long day :D

 

I think it worked, actually.

 

-Sam "shameful confession" Wells

[Delorme Jean-Marie]

i watched andrei zulowski "public lady"(la femme public) last night maybe it can help

a lot of tension, green and red lights, inside night and an incredible camera work! :unsure:

[Dan Salzmann]

Don't forget the role of sound fx and music as well. Sometimes in David Lynch films the image is very serene (sometimes incredibly so!) but there is a super low frequency rumble that makes the viewer ill at ease.

With all great films, the director and ALL departments are on the same page and it is important for all to be in phase and know when and how to "pass the ball" in order for things to be subtle when they need to be.

Understanding optics, colour and lighting are of extreme importance as cinematographers.

I try to really look and understand why I feel the way I do in real life situations so I can use this information when filming.

I agree with Adam that unlearning is key.

Night is not necessarily blue and horror is not necessary shadowy, etc.

Study photographs, paintings and comics.

Make the effort to shoot stills-often far less logistics than filmed tests.

[pkbissen]

think about the story, the arc of the film, the characters, the plot, and the lighting should come naturally. don't rely on cinematography to create tension alone, but use cinematography to compliment the other factors creating tension in the scene.

 

a well framed static shot along with a good director and actors can work. if i wanted to get across tension i would hold a shot like this in a long take and let the actors' silence, movements, expressions, and mannerisms display tension, but that's just one style.

 

you also place one character in light and let the other be in silhouette or put a character's face in shadows. shadows are your friend for tension. Think of using light and shadow as way to give and conceal information. if the audience wants to see or know something and you are concealing it in a well motivated way you can create tension in the audience without drawing attenion to your technique. or you can give the audience information that other characters in the film don't know that could affect them. bad example, but you could show a woman having an affair with another man and show the husband being completely clueless and madly in love with his wife. the audience wants to know if the husband will find out and what will happen if he does.

 

two films that i would look at for using shadows to create tension are Night of the Hunter and The Man Who wasn't There. you can also read about how Hitchcock creates tension through giving and concealing information in VF Perkins' book Film as Film. Perkins also has a case study where he compares Preminger's style to Hitchcock's in terms of how they tell a story through different techniques, which is definately worth a read and would help you with how to develop tension effectively.

[Guest Dario Corno]

Just to add my two cents I whould like to add to the must see films for this subject Apocalipse Now (expecially the ending scene) and some shoots from the Godfather. Storaro loves to emphasize struggling and strong characters with an high contrast ligthing, I whould advice also to avoid high key lighting (of course) and go low key with a lot of hard shadows on the subject, better if created with masks. Keeping the eyes of a subject in shadows also gives him an interesting and misterious look, expecially if he's the only one in the shoot. Shadowing the rest and keeping the eyes in light will give him a curious, victim, clever look..

 

Of course all this text has to be considered as IMHO :D

 

P.S: Sorry for my terrible english... :D

[Felipe Perez-Burchard]

as everyone has said, you can create tension with all kinds of "styles"

 

a well framed static shot along with a good director and actors can work. if i wanted to get across tension i would hold a shot like this in a long take and let the actors' silence, movements, expressions, and mannerisms display tension, but that's just one style.

 

a good example of this in recent films (of course its been around forever) is in the work of director Micheal Haneke (see Funny Games).

 

just thought i'd put it out there.

 

good luck.

 

-felipe.