Lighting Blog Tasks

1) Still image analysis

Look at the still images on slides 33-37 of the Film Language PowerPoint linked above. Copy the images into your blog and answer the following questions for each image:

1. Identify examples of high and low-key lighting.
2. Say which depict top, back or under lighting.
3. What effects are created by the lighting in each image? 

1) This is an example of low-key lighting due to the high contrast and chiaroscuro effect

2) Back lighting with a lack of filler lights

3) The high contrast and use of smoke to frame her portrays her as mysterious and morally dubious

1) Low-key lighting due to high contrast and chiaroscuro effect

2) Top lighting

3) This is used to accentuate her features and femininity by only making her face and hands visible, making the subject appear more glamorous

1) This is an example of high-key lighting

2) It uses both top lighting and back lighting to make sure the only shadows in the frame are on his face

3) This is done to accentuate his strong features and also make him appear mysterious by creating shadows around his eyes, giving him an air of royalty and confidence

1) This is an example of low-key lighting due to the strong contrasts 

2) It uses both top lighting to show half of his face in the spotlight, and back lighting for a high level of contrast

3) The back and top lighting create contrast and almost split his face in half, suggesting this character's moral ambiguity, and leaving a focus on the iconography of the gun to connote power

1) This is an example of high-key lighting 

2) It uses top lighting and back lighting with a lack of filler lights

3) This creates a strong shadow while keeping her visible expression of terror clear to the audience

1) This is an example of high-key lighting

2) This is a use of ambient key lighting

3) This gives it a more natural effect

1) This is an example of low-key lighting

2) It uses back lighting

3) This creates a strong silhouette of the characters that creates an ominous atmosphere 

1) This is an example of low-key lighting

2) It uses back lighting

3) This is used to create a strong shadow which connotes fear and suspense

1) This is an example of high-key lighting

2) It uses top and back lighting

3) This is done to reduce the contrast in the frame and give the lighting a more calm and natural feel

1) This is an example of low-key lighting

2) It uses an ambient key light without the use of a filler light 

3) This has been done to create a strong feeling of terror by not showing most of the setting and focusing on the subject

1) This is an example of high-key lighting

2) It uses top lighting, back lighting and a lack of filler lights

3) This has been done to create softer and more natural lighting for a romantic scene

2) Film noir research

Research film noir - focusing on the genre’s distinctive lighting style. Make notes on the genre and particularly the use of lighting - bullet points are fine.

• Film noir is a term often used to describe Hollywood crime dramas, particularly ones that used low-key lighting and had high contrast
• Film noir was most active during the 1940s and 1950s
• Film noir has also been used to describe westerns and comedies and there is still debate over whether film noir is a genre or style of movies
• The term 'film noir' was first applied to Hollywood films by the critic Nino Frank in 1946, who was inspired by French publishing
• Before the term film noir was recognised, most noir media was referred to as 'melodramas'
• Film noir finds its roots in French poetic realism and American hardboiled fiction 
• Neo-noir was a revival of film noir that incorporated the low-key lighting and use of chiaroscuro with modern film-making techniques  

3) Film noir YouTube clip analysis

Finally, find a YouTube clip that fits the film noir genre and embed it under your research (the clip can be classic noir from the 1950s or something more recent - neo-noir). How does the clip's lighting fit the film noir genre?

Decision To Leave (2022) dir. Park Chan-wook

This clip comes from Decision To Leave, a neo-noir film released in 2022 that fits the film noir genre through its use of low-key lighting and high contrasts. The lack of filler lights creates a strong chiaroscuro effect, conveying the mystery and suspense of this moment, while the use of top lighting still manages to accentuate the actors' features and expressions at moments, making them appear more glamorous and also conveying their emotions better to the audience. The clip also contains a common trope of the film noir genre, the femme fatale, which is where the top lighting is important to communicate the developing relationship between the femme fatale and the protagonist.