Lighting research

MITCHELL FROST

Lighting in my trailer

I have noticed that physiological thrillers typically use lots of low key lighting. Therefore, I will also look to follow this typical convention in ‘Hatched’. In this presentation, I will look at why different types of lighting is used in real life films and the effect it has on the audience. I hope that by researching lighting types, it will help me make more confident decisions on the levels of light to shoot my own trailer in.

As well as following typical conventions of real life films, I am also interested in challenging these conventions to set my text aside from the others. Challenging typical conventions, I feel make the text more exciting and if done well, encourage the audience to watch on.

Lighting in my trailer

Because most of my shots are set at night, when its dark, I will have to film in the evening (6pm+), in order to achieve the low level of lighting and for the lighting to be the most effective. Because I will mainly shoot at night, I will have to rely on lots of artificial lighting such as torches and car head lights. The artificial lighting should be enough in the majority of cases, to emphasise the characters features and to make it clear enough to see what is happening, while it also being clear that it is night time.

While planning the trailer for ‘Hatched’, I noticed that I had too much low key lighting and it was going to completely dominate my trailer. I felt that this was not realistic of a professionally made trailer and would not work well. Therefore, I plan to include a variety of lighting levels in the trailer, as I feel it helps to convey to the audience, the variety in the film and makes the trailer a more pleasing watch. Furthermore, continually using low key lighting is cliché of thriller films and an unrealistic representation of the characters lives; I do not wish for my trailer to be viewed as cliché.

Examples of lighting in real life texts

This trailer for the 2015 film ‘ Submerged’ displays a vast range of lighting types. A common convention of lighting in this trailer is the use of high key lighting in scenes where the character is in no

danger and going about their every day life. While when there is any sense of danger, low key lighting is used. A long with other aspects such as sound, location etc, lighting is a way that the audience can determine whether the character is in trouble, thus creating dramatic irony and tension.

The above trailer has inspired me while planning my trailer as I liked the variety of lighting types it used. I feel that, on first watch of the trailer, It is difficult to establish from the lighting whether the character is in danger on not, I liked this and the fact it keeps you actively thinking throughout the whole trailer as nothing was predictable.

The scenes in the club contain lots of low key lighting with artificial lighting in the background, this gives the scene a relaxed feel while matching the mood of the club. The low key lighting used in the scene where they are abducted however creates a more sinister feeling, as opposed to the relaxed mood that the low key lighting In the club creates. The low key lighting in the abduction scene means that the viewer is unable to fully identify what is going on, thus provoking them to find out what happens and to watch on. The low key lighting suggests a theme of secrecy as it is hard to see completely what is happening, therefore allowing secret things to take place, which could potentially be of danger to the character/s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvxZIExggoA

Examples of lighting in real life texts

The trailer for the 2015 thriller ‘7 Minutes’, makes use of a variety of lighting types, in order to achieve a range of different effects. Ambient lighting is most prominent in the trailer and I think that this works extremely well, given that the lighting is mostly all natural because of the not so believable and exotic narrative. With the plot being one that contains many things which would never happen in real life, the natural lighting helps to create a more relatable and verisimilitude scenario for the audience, thus making it more believable.

The background lighting used during the fight scene and in the basement, leaves the audience questioning what could be down in the basement and what dangers it could pose to the character. The background lighting leaves the audience almost feeling left out, as they are unable to see the full extent of the characters injuries, with the lighting only leaving them with a silhouette and unable to see any features. The fact that only a silhouette can be seen is also more daunting for the audience as it leaves them feeling uneasy due to it suggesting that the character/s hide in the shadow because they are guilty or predator like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca7I04jrSyk

Backlighting in ‘7 Minutes’Ambient lighting in ‘7 Minutes’

Types of lighting and techniques

Ambient lighting- This is the available, natural lighting in a scene, for example, the sun or the moon. It is good to use as much natural light as possible if you want to give the scene the most realistic and natural look. I will use ambient lighting in my trailer, in outdoor scenes such as when Jo is walking down the alley way, in order to make everything as relatable as possible to the viewer.

Low angle lighting- This is when lighting is aimed up at the character from below. This technique is most commonly used to represent the character as powerful and threatening. I plan to use low angle lighting to a different effect, and instead use it to highlight the fright on the protagonists face when she realises she is being hunted by the masked man.

Backlighting- Is where light is placed in the background in order to create a silhouette of what is in the foreground. This technique creates a sinister effect, thus making it perfect for me to utilise in parts of my trailer. By placing a light in the background, it makes it hard to see what is in the background, while hiding features of the background too. Backlighting is most commonly used in horror and thriller films as it creates shadows and leaves some of the scene in darkness; the fact the audience are unable to see everything clearly, leaves the audience in fear as they question what could be in the darkness and shadow.

Examples of different lighting types

Backlighting in ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’

Low angle lighting

Ambient lighting