LIGHTING BLOG TASKS!

 LIGHTING BLOG TASKS:

TASK 1: STILL IMAGE ANALYSIS

This image uses lowkey lighting. It uses contrasts of light and dark and creates shadow smoking effects (chiaroscuro). this image has filler lights which makes the smoke in the poster look elegant by softening the shadow. The key light used in this image is side lighting because the lighting makes the side of the protagonist stand out and look more glamorous this can suggest that the female in the image has been "exposed" from hiding. The lightings used in the image makes the audience question about why the protagonist has facial expressions like that, is she a villain? why is there so much smoke? this is also known as enigma code. The female protagonist is holding a cigarette helps develop the narrative of the story as it suggests that the female character is a villain and involved in action (action code). This also creates gender stereotypes as a female being the villain is not a not a structuralism view.

The lighting used in this shot is lowkey lighting as the lighting is only coming from above (top lighting) forcing the audience to focus on the character. This use of lighting also only makes the women's face to be stood out as the rest of her body is unseen because of the dark. The lighting creates the atmosphere that makes the audience wonder about the settings the women is and why it would be so dark. She seems to be very relaxed and calm from her facial reaction. It looks like she is also holding a cigarette which questions the audience as to who she is and if she is trying to hide her identity in the dark (enigma code). The little use of light in a part of the poster can possibly suggest the "right way" to her dilemma that she could possibly be in almost as if God is trying to direct her to the right direction.

The lighting used in this image is high key lighting as the scene seems to be dimly lit. It is not heavily dark to the point we cannot see anything and not too light as if its sunny. There is more of top lighting used in this image mainly because the focus is supposed to be on the character in the image this is because he is a main protagonist this can be interpreted by a crownlike crown on his head showing that he has some sort of power and hierarchy. There is no back lighting because the aim is not to make any sort of silhouette or shadow because the main focus is the king. The use of such lighting is so that the viewers directly look at the facial expressions and question themselves as to why he is looking like that and what is he facing. I believe the studio lighting has come from the source key light as it is probably the brightest from the previous images. 

The lighting in this shot is lowkey lighting. The main/only lightings used are key and back lights. The main lighting is mainly coming from behind him probably because the producers aim is to not so much about the protagonist and wants the audience to question themselves about it. There is a strong contrast of the shot and the face of the character only being shown. The use of lighting creates a sort of mystery for the audience. This also confuses the audience on what genre this scene is portraying. He is holding a gun which can signify that a violent scene will follow (action code). The lightings can create binary opposition as the lighting on his face can suggest the good and the gun in the dark can suggest evil/bad.

High key lighting is being used in this image. The main lighting used is back light as the light coming from behind the character is used to create a silhouette of the killer. The key light is being used so the women's face is bright and most influential and so that the audience are able to see the facial expressions clearer. The top light is used to lighten up the women's face and so it doesn't blend in with the shadow. The setting of the image makes it look like the women is in a trap and she has nowhere else to go as it seems like she's against a wall However it could be argued that it is not the setting, but the lightings used that made the setting look different. 

There are no key lights used in this image. There is natural studio lighting which is probably done to show the realism in the moment. The natural light that is coming from the window is done so that not too much light is upon the characters as the relationship is probably private this is also probably done to show that this is not a very important part of the scene, so it doesn't need to have extra lightings to follow on.

High key lighting is used in this image as it is a dimly lit scene. The image includes back light which creates the shadows behind the 4 characters. The light only shows the human figures instead of the people's faces probably because they wanted to be kept hidden. By the way the lighting portrays the setting it makes it look very eerie almost as if it is a criminal meeting area as it seems to be in some sort of tunnel. The director wanted the audience to focus on their body language by the way they are standing instead of who the individuals are specifically.

TASK 2: RESEARCH FILM NOIR 

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

Film noir is a French term, and it means "black film". In America cinema most films were dark with an illusionistic lighting aspect, a crime centred narrative. Mainly from the 1940s and 1950s that features dim lighting and a tragic tone. Themes and styles of film noir were often pessimistic. Features such as mistrust, fear, bleakness, guilt and misery marked the gloomy atmosphere of film noir movies. It has been debated whether film noir is a cinematic type ot a genre. 

TASK 3: FILM NOIR YOUTUBE CLIP ANALYSIS

 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? 

The performance begins with a view of a busy highway and billboards at night, giving the audience a sense that the film is set in a busy city. Then there's a half-shot of a man transitioning to a close-up, and as the camera pans to a Dutch angle shot, the audience can see him looking out the window. Enter and you will see two women. The first is dressed in plain black and uses a digestive sound, making her look like her maid. This is hinted at when a femme fatale says, "Would you mind keeping my things where I can find them?", implying a sense of power and authority. This fits the film noir genre very well because of the fact that it is black and white which many film noir movies are. This clip also matches the gloomy atmosphere you also cannot give this film a specific genre as film noir movies makes it very uncertain on what type of movie it is.