RESEARCH: MISE EN SCENE: LIGHTING AND COLOUR- MRS. QUINLAN

What is lighting and colour? Why is it important?

Lighting and colour belongs to Mise En Scene which is the last microelement. Lighting helps to convey the character representation and mood of the scene as it is usually manipulated to create an effect on the audience. Colour is the contrast that is evident the most in a scene. It also creates mood and makes different representation to get a specific audience response. Often lighting and colour complement one another and are used together to make a double effect on the spectator. These are important as subconsciously the audience always makes assumptions about the scene/character basing on lighting and colour. Without these the viewer will be confused on who they should support and who they should loathe.

Lighting is divided into two sections which include:

·         Angles- the positioning of the lights

·         Type -the way the lighting is used e.g.: dark or light

 

Angles:

Top Lighting: the light comes from the top which makes the character look holy and glamourizes them. It also makes them look innocent and good as the light comes down on them as if coming from heaven. The top lighting makes the audience feel in favor toward the character and put their trust into them as they can be seen as much more trustworthy characters. In this frame from Leon the Professional the character seems vulnerable and innocent as the top lighting comes down on her making her like a good person who the audience can sympathize. The top lighting from this still frame makes the scene seem positive and allows the audience to relax as they know that nothing bad could possibly happen in this calm atmosphere.

Under Lighting: the light comes from the bottom up. It creates a distortion to the face and makes them look superior and threatening as the created shadow disfigures the character which makes the audience question who they are. When under lighting is used the audience distances themselves from the character as they connote the darkness with a negative emotion and therefore think that they are someone to be afraid of. In this shot from the Dark Knight the still frame uses under lighting on the antagonist to create distortion to his face and make him look rather ugly. This makes the viewer dislike and fear him therefore supporting the protagonist. The under lighting makes the atmosphere chaotic and unsettled because the audience expects something bad to happen. 

Back Light: the light comes from behind of the characters/objects to create a fearful effect of them as the spectator cannot see the characteristics clearly enough to identify someone. The back light creates a silhouette which seems mysterious for the viewer. When the back lighting is used the spectator feels in danger as they are unaware of their surroundings which can make them uncomfortable. This shot from the Silence of the Lambs used back lighting to create a superior look to the setting and allow the viewer to make an assumption that something bad is going to happen. This is because the back light only allows to see the outlines without detail and therefore most of it is unknown for the spectator leaving them vulnerable and oblivious to their surroundings. The back lighting creates a fearful and threatening information because of the lack of clarity and details in the frame. Therefore the audience is in much vulnerable position as they do not know what is it exactly that they are exposed to.

Types:

High Key Lighting: the lighting is bright and seems welcoming and warm. It connotes to heat and innocence. The high key lighting can create a mood of something positive as often light is connoted to affection and kindness. When the high key lighting is used it can make the viewer feel safe and sympathetic toward the character. This shot from the Insidious has a high key lighting because the frame seems like glowing with warmth and affection. This makes the audience feel safe as they infer that nothing bad can happen in such a pleasant environment.

Low Key Lighting: the lighting is dark and seems threatening and superior. It connotes to danger and death. The low key lighting can create a mood of something negative as usually darkness symbolizes evil and pain which makes the viewer feel insecure as they suspect that someone is going to be hurt. This still image from Knowing has low key lighting to make the frame look dangerous and threatening for the viewer. It makes the audience assume that something bad will happen as the darkness usually brings tragedy and fear.

 

Colour:

In the film industry colour creates a mood by the subconscious connotations that the audience has for specific tint. These are some of the colours used in thrillers and their meanings:

Red: this is a still image from the thriller Seven. The main shade of this frame is red which connotes to blood and danger. This colour also connotes to heat and fire with links with destruction and threat. This is image makes the audience insecure and sacred as they can expect to be exposed to a murder or terrorism.

 

 

Navy Blue: the still image from the Shutter Island has a shade of dark and misty blue to it. This colour connotes to mystery as it is an intense colour that is heavy and hard to see through, therefore it makes the viewer think that the character is in danger as they seem oblivious to their surroundings and lost. In addition the viewer is vulnerable as well as they are unclear what might happen next.

Green: usually green has connotations of hope and nature. However if its toxic and gloomy like in this image from Saw then the colour associates with danger and disgust. This frame makes the spectator feel unpleasant as the shade has connotations of sickness which therefore allows us to assume that something disturbing will happen.

 

Further Analysis of Lighting and Colour:

 

 

 

 I decided to analyse a still frame from the psychological thriller, the Black Swan. At the first sight the viewer can see that the main colour scheme of this shot is black which connotes to evil intensions and darkness or isolation of the character. In addition black connotes to being distraught and upset so we can assume that this is how the character is feeling at the moment. However this can be juxtaposed by the bright top lighting coming down on the female character which can propose purity and being holy as the light comes down from the above supporting the idea of blessing. This can also mean that the character has hope and tries to be positive in the pessimistic inner world. In addition the two colours have a huge contrast which can emphasize on the conflicting emotions. It can also be an interpretation of ‘good vs evil’ and the morals of what’s right and wrong. In this particular shot we can assume from the dominating black colour that the character is much more negative. In addition there is a slight back light which contrasts the idea of purity as the lighting creates a superior silhouette of the character making them look threatening because the audience is not able to see their intensions. Simultaneously, the use of lighting has created a sense of isolation. This is portrayed by the black background to show the emptiness and loneliness. The top lighting has highlighted this idea by the way it displays a single figure showing that the character is in fact alone. The black colour connotes loneliness and melancholy which are feelings that we feel when we are alone. Lastly the costume is white which implies honesty and good will, however the overall image makes the representation of this character unclear yet fascinating as the mysterious nature is intriguing.

 

Conclusion:

Overall, from this lesson I have learned how important lighting is to create different mood and atmosphere. It is also important to help create a representation of character and convey their inner nature and intension. Therefore I have learned how important it is to have low key lighting on the antagonist to show their evil intension; but use high key lighting on the protagonist or victim to show their innocence and purity. Moreover learning about different angles of lighting has made me realize how to intensify the character and make them look naturally evil or good as lighting is often not taken into account as much because it looks fluent and natural part of the scene. This research was beneficial as I now know that I want to use back lighting at the beginning of my opening to make a threatening impression and make my audience insecure so they can engage with the sequence. I also decided that I must use top lighting on the protagonist to portray them as a good character who the audience ought to look up to. Lastly I plan to use green and rotten yellow in order to establish the genre.