Deconstruction - lighting

Lighting in a horror film is absolutely vital to create the correct moods within the film at the right moments. For example, if you were to have somebody trying to hide from a masked murderer, you wouldn't have the room lit up nicely for the murderer to walk in and find the hiding person immediately, would you? no you'd have the lighting set down to being minimal with a slight tinge of blue to add to the feeling of it being at night and how everything seems slightly paler in blue lighting as it desaturates the colour from objects including skin and blood.

This is a brilliant use of low key lighting in the woman in black. They have used soft, white and blue lighting outside the window to create a tinted moon effect, giving everything a creepier, colder feel. On top of that, there is minimal lighting from behind the camera, giving the evident idea that the lights are all off and that you can't even hide from this woman-thing. This lighting is used throughout most of the film as it keeps the audience on edge because they are then unable to prepare themselves for a scary moment due to lighting changes, they always associated the dark lighting with a scare and so maximising the jump scare factor of the scene.

However, there are some lighting techniques that can be best avoided when it comes to modern psychological horrors. one of those being the highlighting effect used by soft/hard lighting. This is done by applying hard lighting to the object of focus (usually subtly positioned in the frame) and then soft lighting applied to everything else (usually really obvious and taking up majority of the frame and frame time) This is done so to make the audience think "did i just see that?!" to only be soon after shown that yes. yes they did just see that creepy monster dart behind the desk and yes, the character is now walking towards that desk for their imminent doom. However, this is a strength for the lighting effect. an instance in which i personally dislike this technique is being applied to objects or people that are dead in the centre of the frame and are obviously placed there as the object of focus. The application of hard light to them and soft lighting elsewhere just creates an amateur feeling. The following is my idea of a film makers sin and that the guy in charge of lighting should lose his job immediately.

Although it's done to draw the audience's attention to his expression, he is the only thing in the frame, the audience will therefore only be drawn to his face as his chest and upwards is all thats in centre frame and most of all, his expression isn't subtle, it's overly exaggerated. although that's how acting used to be when the film of Dracula was produced, the addition of lighting to his eyes just causes the whole shot to lose its dramatic value.

Practical Task - Lighting

Lighting techniques have a huge impact on the quality of footage, and so I decided to experiment using different techniques in order to decide which will be best for our film opening.

Lighting can be used in many different ways and so can have a number of different effects including:

• Controlling the mood of the scene
• Directing the audience to look at something specific within the frame
• Add texture or colour
• Portray the characters in different ways e.g. sinister

I decided that the two techniques that I wanted to look at were High Key Lighting and Low Key Lighting. I also experimented with three point lighting (key, fill and back) to see the different effects that each have.

High Key Lighting

• indicates a brightly lit scene
• few shadows
• usually provided by one source of light

For my first attempt at high key lighting, I placed my object in front of a window and took the photo facing the source of natural light. This was effective at making the colours more vibrant and there is no presence of shadow.

I then used natural light from behind which made the colours look vibrant against the background and again, there are no shadows in this shot.

Rather than using natural sunlight like the above two shots, I used the artificial lighting in the room. This made the colours appear less vibrant and there are a few minor shadows in the shot.

Low Key Lighting

• greyer and darker scale
• large amount of shadow
• high contrast between light and dark
• key light is less bright and so does not dominate

First I placed my subject in a dark area and used the flash on my camera to illuminate the subject. This meant that it wasn't as effective although there is a high contrast between light and dark.

For this shot, I kept the subject in the same place but took the photo without using the flash. This dulled the colours but the camera lost quality because of the lack of lighting in the shot.

For this one I set up a key light on the right pointing directly towards the subject, meaning it was greatly illuminated. It also increased the amount of shadow in the shot and made the dark and light contrast greater.

I then experimented with the placement of the key lighting, and decided to put it above the subject aiming it directly in front of it. This increased the darkness in the shot and illuminated the subject, although some of it is darker due to the shadowed coverage.

Three Point Lighting

• Key lighting is the main light in the shot, it is usually the strongest and therefore has the biggest influence.
• Fill light is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side to the key light, it is used to fill the shadows created by the key light.
• Back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights.

Firstly I photographed the subject against a plain wall just using the flash. This made the colours more vibrant and added a glossy effect to the subject.

I then used a torch to create the key light on the right of the subject. I didn't use the flash as this would reverse the effects of the key light. The subjects colours are not as vibrant but there is a distinct shadow.

I then added a fill light on the opposite side of the key light, which added another shadow and therefore more depth to the subject. 

Then I added the backlight using a third torch. This added a third dimension to my subject and provided definition. The extra lighting also added vibrancy to the colours of my subject.

Overall, each of the different lighting techniques provided different effects in the frame, and so for our opening scene, a variety of different lighting techniques will need to be used to add depth and vibrancy to each shot. 

Deconstruction of Lighting in Horror Films

In all sub-genres of horror, a key theme within the lighting of these films is grey overtones and general dark lighting. This can be evidenced in many horror films, such as The Ring.

As can be seen in this shot from The Ring, there is a relatively low saturation over the footage which makes the shot more gloomy. This supports the conventions of horror, as the gloomy atmosphere indicates something is wrong, which is in this case the possessed entity within the video tape. 

A change in lighting is often used in horror films to reflect a change from a happy time to a negative time where the villain is at large. This can be seen in The Purge, where the lighting in the beginning of the film is of warm tones when the family are calmly sat at home eating dinner but later changes to become darker and less saturated to indicate the shift in tone. 

Flickering lights are also common in horror films in times of panic, as can be seen in Carrie at the climax of Carrie's supernatural breakdown. The flames from the fire and destruction create a warm, orange glow that flickers and contrasts with the otherwise dark lighting. 

practical task - Location scouting

So I chose to look at outside locations during my scout and came across a few excellent locations for use in a potential chase scene or to be used in establishing shots followed by a cut to the protagonist(s) in their current location(s).

My favourite, and first, of the locations, was in part of a woodland near to where I live in Yalding.

I really like this as a woodland location as you can see in the distance that it has plenty of ground space, but the trees still obscure direct view in most directions and so can be used as an effective chase location.

I can explain the use of the smoke. It was purely as a way of seeing the potential usage of smoke to create "fog" when it becomes dark enough to appear as night. The fact it was red is just as a way of seeing the effect as a more exaggeration since at night, we'd have lighting set up to shine through the white smoke which would be time consuming to replicate, however if this location is chosen alongside the mise-en-scene of the artificial smoke, we may revisit smoke grenades and their use.

With the help of some wind, I was able to get the effect I was after. As you see towards the left, the smoke is still thick, however, if a figure were to be stood within the smoke cloud with lighting behind them at night, we would be able to have an amazing effect of this ominous figure appearing from the mist which will be effective at building tension and gaining audience anticipation. Again, the smoke will be white if it were to be used in the actual sequence. However to make it easier to detect the effect created by the smoke, I have used red smoke during the daytime.

In my opinion, this is another great location for both an establishing shot of the area, and as a location where the killer can make a creepy first appearance where the protagonist walks across the entire frame and as they walk past, the killer is then perhaps stood beside one of the trees or a body is suddenly hanging from a tree, foreshadowing the protagonists inevitable outcome.

I really like this location for the sheer purpose that it is exceedingly creepy in the correct lighting. You're unable to see far in the distance and the space is claustrophobic as the trees line the path on both sides and also arch overhead to give the feeling that you're almost trapped which is a genuine feeling I get every time I walk along this path.

I don't know what it is about this part of the woodland location that I find eery, but I get the feeling that it's due to the hard foreground lighting and soft background lighting that make the space feel enclosed when actually it is the same clearing that the person is stood in holding the smoke grenades (photo 2). Again, to have a sudden jump cut to this exact location with the same lighting with a figure either stood here or dead here would increase the intensity of the sequence, especially if the protagonist(s) passes this location before they come across the killer.

Lighting

When tasked with lighting, I was relatively puzzled as to what to write about. However, after a few minutes of research I was overwhelmed with ways in which I could create effective lighting to bring attention to an object, or to draw attention past the object and towards the foreground or background. There are, however, two main methods of lighting I’d like to look at using in our production.

The first method is basically soft/hard lighting. This is a technique which was initially used in Noir films to add a more ‘cool’ feel to the film as the films were all about stylish gangster staring at something to the side for dramatic effect. This can be put into psychological horror films. For instance, someone is sat down working at a desk which is facing away from the door. The fore lighting would be as simple as a desk lamp which I've used for my demonstration, and then have harder lighting such as a hallway light which is shining into the room. This can be used to draw attention to the hallway from the audience to notice a person’s shadow darting across the hallway or to create an outline of a figure standing in the doorway to the room.

This is the setup I used. It involved a small desk lamp positioned behind/next to the camera and then harder lighting in the back ground to create the effect.

This was the effect created by the soft/hard lighting. The face of the guitar is gently lit up. However, I feel like my attention is being drawn towards the two guitars in the background as they're highlighted by the harder lighting.

The next method I have used for lighting, isn't a technique as such, but more of a way of directing light. I created my own lighting reflector as opposed to buying one and you can still get similar effects with a flat object and some foil.

As you can see, all I had done was wrap some foil around a baking tray and now it's good to go.

All I had done was use a music stand to hold the reflector steady and then angled hard lighting at the reflector.

This is the effect it created. Although the light is more focused at a single point compared to using the hard lighting I had avaliable, this is really good for filming outside at night as you could easily have a light directed at the reflector mounted on a tripod to pan following a character.