Ideas for Use of Lighting

Ideas for Use of Lighting

• 1.
  Ideas For Useof Lighting Within our Slasher Film
• 2.
  Introduction The way inwhich a setting is lit has the ability to change the mood and perception of a scene. In horror lighting can be used to create dark and eerie atmospheres, sometimes audiences can tell if something sinister is about to happen due to the lighting. Lighting can foreshadow forthcoming events for example in the middle of the day a setting may be lit via natural lighting. There is nothing menacing about this and the audience are not expecting anything frightening, as chances are it is just an establishing shot.
• 3.
  How Lighting ChangesMood… Halloween ExampleAll films not specifically horror include lighting for scenes like this,however i horror it is conventionally seen during the equilibrium shots. Most horror films include well lit/naturally lit equilibrium shots however one horror film in particular that does this well in one specific scene in the Halloween trailer. There is a shot of three of the main characters (the victims) walking home from school, the lighting could be considered high key and appears to be fully naturally lit. The reason this shot is so affective is because if follows up from a very low key lighting shot, where darkness pretty much covered the whole screen, this scene in a frightening scene with a lot of suspense. Onec this scene cuts the the following scene of the girls walking home from school, the audience will be aware straight away that the frightening scene is over. (The images below are stills from the scenes i have references from the halloween trailer.)
• 4.
  Being Creative WithLighting... The time of day obviously depends on the lighting within a shot especially if the scene is shot outside, the lighting of a setting can dramatically change how the audience feel about it. The characters may be in an a specific setting during the day when it is light, and the audine may feel there is no threat to them , however if the characters visit this same place later at night, the the audience may feel on edge and scared for them, due the connotations people associate with darkness. There are other ways in which lighting can be used, for example sometimes Backlighting features to create a silhouette around a character, so the audience can see them, but details are not shown and the identity of the character cannot be established by the audience. Profile lighting can be used to hide one side of a character's face, this is used to symbolise that that character has two sides to their personality, or that they have something to hide. (This still from the Matrix is a great example of profile lighting)
• 5.
  Conventional Lighting inHorror Films - Low KeyLow Key Lighting As i've previously discussed low key lighting is very often seen in horror films, it has always been a convention of horror films since they became popular as it is so effective at portraying a errie/menacing mood. The Lower the Key light, the more shadows are cast by objects and people. The shadows created by the low key lighting create a creepy and mysterious atmosphere as darkness is often associated with evil and death. Darkness also makes people feel more vulnerable, as humans tend to be very scared f the unknown. Examples shown of Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street and Dr. Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs (below text) are both good examples of low key lighting used effectively.
• 6.
  Conventional Lighting inHorror Films - High & Low Key Combination The Technique known as High and Low key combination is a lighting convention of horror films, often seem more frequently in more modern films. Again it isn't used jus because it looks good, it's used to represent a contrast. For example the top image to the left of this text is a still from a film that isn't in the horror genre but it's a good example of this. The high key lighting behind the characters from the external world contrasting the dark interio gives an uneven feeling about where the character has just entered. The principle remains the same with the other too images on the page, although not as extreme as the other one, they both include a window, that appears significantly brighter than the room. Indicating the the room contains danger as it is dark and the outside world is safe, as it is light. (dark connoting danger, brightness contrasting that and connoting the opposite).
• 7.
  How We WillUse to Light Our Shots/Scenes...In our trailer we plan to take the lighting of our shots seriously and carefully plan how each scene will be lit as it can have a huge impact on not only the mood that is portrayed by also how professional the finished product is. This is why we feel that the existing ceiling lights in many of the indoor shooting locations won't be sufficient and we have chosen to purchase 2 softboxes (left of this text). This will enable us to have white light that casts minimal shadows to fill a scene from whatever angle we desire. We will also use a reflector to give the effect of the 3 point lighting design used in many professional film pieces. (An example of the 3 point lighting technique is shown to the left of this texts.)
• 8.
  How we willLight our Outside/Off Set ShotsThe setting in which the killings will happen we aim to give the effect that it looks like a lab, therefore for the majority of shots in this setting we will be using both softboxes and a reflector to fill the space available with soft light. There will be some scenes that are shot outside, for example some of the equilibrium shots and one of the scene where the butcher is chasing the teens, as these are outside, we are unable to use anything but natural lighting, so we will chose to do these shots when we feel the lighting is as we desire. For any close up shots outside we can use a reflector to slightly increase the intensity of the light on the characters face. One of the scenes we will shoot outside we will chose to do in the evening, just after the sun has set, therefore the natural light will not be intense but it will still be existent meaning the character and props will be lit. the image to the left of this text shows how we will use our reflector for the close up shots outdoors. The image is clealry from a photography shoot however we will use it in the samw way for out cinematography.
• 9.
  A Silhouette Shotof our Villain One of the the shots that will be shot inside, is a backlit shot of the butcher smoking a cigar, now as this is a close up shot we don't want to give any details away about his identity. Therefore this close up shot will also be a profile shot, and on the opposing side of the character's head will be a softbox, the softbox will be the only light in the room and will be very close to the character's head, therefore the background of the frame will only be filled by the soft box, meaning it will just appear to be white. Creating a very harsh silhouette around the head of the butcher. This will be a difficult shot to achieve, however if successful, will be very effective.
• 10.
  Low Key CloseUps Any of the close up shots of the victims before execution will be dimly lit, potentially with one softbox facing the opposite direction so the light fills the room, and the lighting on the face is very subtle, this is conventional and makes the scene seem more sinister, as darkness has connotations of evil.