Film Studies Presentation - Cinematography (Lighting)

1. Cinematography
• Camera
• Lighting & Colour

2. Cinematography
• Camera
• Lighting & Colour

3. Lighting & Colour

4. STAR
CAMER
A
BACK LIGHT
KEY
LIGHT
FILLER
LIGHT
Three-point
lighting

5. Other Basic Lighting Options
STARCAMER
A
Under lighting
Backlighting
Top lighting

6. High and Low
Key Lighting

7. Low-key Lighting
Emphasises Shadows
Usually used for effect

9. High-key Lighting
Naturalistic Lighting
But still designed

11. Look at the following stills…
High or low key?
Top, back or under lighting?
What effect does lighting create?

18. The Third Man (1949) Reed

19. Apocalypse Now (1979) Coppola

20. Colour

21. Colour Palette
The Matrix (1999) Wachowski
Brothers Amelie (2001) Jeunet

22. Hero (2002) Yimou Z

23. Key Terms for lighting
•Key
•Low key
•High-key
•Back, top and under

24. Now, lets watch some film,
and see how lighting and colour
are designed impact of the
audience’s reading of the text.

25. 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

26. Sin City (2005) Miller /
Rodriguez