Cinematography

• Camera

• Lighting & Colour

Cinematography

• Camera

• Lighting & Colour

Lighting & Colour

STAR

CAMERA

BACK LIGHT

KEY LIGHT

FILLER LIGHT

Three-point lighting

Other Basic Lighting Options

STARCAMERA

Under lighting

Backlighting

Top lighting

High and Low Key Lighting

Low-key Lighting

Emphasises ShadowsUsually used for effect

High-key Lighting

Naturalistic LightingBut still designed

Look at the following stills…

High or low key?Top, back or under lighting?What effect does lighting create?

The Third Man (1949) Reed

Apocalypse Now (1979) Coppola

Colour

Colour PaletteThe Matrix (1999) Wachowski Brothers Amelie (2001) Jeunet

Hero (2002) Yimou Z

Key Terms for lighting

•Key •Low key •High-key•Back, top and under

Now, lets watch some film,and see how lighting and

colour are designed impact of the audience’s reading of the

text.

Film Noir & Chiaroscuro Lighting

• Low Key Lighting – Creates a hard / sharp look with strong areas of

contrast between light and dark– The faces of the actors lit in this way suggest a

darker side to their personality– Have parts of the set casting shadows to create

an air of fragmentation and mystery• Also enabled the use of cheap sets, as the lighting

hide their faults

Sin City (2005) Miller / Rodriguez