seen the light

Man, what a great forum... thanks for all the suggestions guys. I have a few of these on DVD and im sure i can chase the rest up.

thanks for all the suggestions folks - i'll make sure i look into all the films... anyone else wants to add some more, please do.

Being a complete novice in the field of lighting i cant really answer your question. I am however a student of computer animation. I can tell you that in 3D animation studios, there are people whos sole job it is to deal with the lighing of sets as it is often a very technical and time consuming task, as im sure it is in traditional cinema. If a DP (i have no idea what that stands for, im guessing its a cinematographer/lighting guy) was to join an animation studio to direct the lighting he'd definately need to work with the digital lighting guys. While real world and digital lighting have lots in common, there are big differences like the use of negative lights (as you would imagine, they do the exact opposite of light, ie. make things darker), and the ability to exclude object from a light sources illumination. there are whole books written on the subject of digital lighting that im sure would shed some light. (that was rank, i know)

yeah ive seen it a couple of times but never payed any real attention/thought to the lighting... i'll maybe go back and rewatch it on your advice...

thanks! I'll make sure i check out the Polanski films you mentioned. I'm intending to look into film-noir but i have no idea where to start. The Innocents sounds useful as the majority of the animation will be in black and white. If anyone else has any sugestions, keep em coming...

Hi, I was wondering if i could get a few peoples opinions as I'm a novice in the world of cinematography. Im a student, currently working on my final year project - a short 3D animtion. The goal of my project is to look at how traditional lighting techniques used in cinema can be applied to 3D computer animation to create mood. In particular im trying to create a mood of fear and paranioa. I was wondering if i could get professionals opinions of the films that use light to the greatest advantage, in particualr to create a strong visual mood. Thanks...