The way films are created and pieced together has progressed greatly over the past century, where before 1910 there was little use of film techniques such as special effects, animation, complex transition sequences and many more. However the introduction of film techniques have helped films gain a sense of genre and establishment as they were used to create specific intensities set out by the director; this is where roles corresponding to certain areas were introduced such as cinematographers, production designers and lighting directors.
A classic example of a well-known director would be Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) who is famous for creating suspense films like The Birds or Psycho. I am mentioning him as he had revolutionised the way films are made by creating new filming techniques only to establish the codes and conventions of thrillers until this current day. His interplay between shadow and light had a great impact on the way viewers interpret climatic moments.
One technique Hitchcock had used was that he placed a light bulb in a glass of milk, so that when one of the characters walked through a dark house filled with contrasting sharp shadows, the glass would stand out and allow the viewers to focus on the specific character but also creating a sense of obscurity that Hitchcock is known for (image to the left). There are many more revolutionary directors that use lighting to influence their individual renowned style, but I will be focusing on the work of Park Chan-Wook and how he uses light to amplify his crazed, violent themes in his films.
In addition, the work of Terrence Malick and his atmospheric, natural themes along with Roger Deakins and David Fincher. In this essay, I will explore how the use of light is used by the directors to create their own diverse style but also how it affects the general emotional and visual overall impression on the viewer. The Korean film director Park Chan-Wook born b. 1963 (age 51) has a distinct visual style in his films. Some of his most popular work would include The Vengeance Trilogy (2002-2005), Oldboy (2003) and Thirst (2009).
In all films he has directed, you can sense the certain focus on themes of violence and revenge. Chan-Wook has said, “In my films, I focus on pain and fear. The fear just before an act of violence and the pain after. This applies to the perpetrators as well as the victims. ” He uses his artistic vision to evoke such emotions of violence and pain of the characters in each room or set in his films. In terms of the lighting used in his work, there are times when it can dramatically set the tone of a scene or the atmosphere.
Chan-Wook’s vision in Thirst (2009) particularly, sets a very sharp and nervous flair to the film, as the overall atmosphere is created by using very dim blue tinted lights to hard tungsten ‘clinical’ lights. Thirst is loosely based on the French novel Therese Raquin by Emile Zola which discusses the themes of love affairs, but Chan-Wook twists this into a horror by making the love affair between a vampire priest and lonely housewife. Figure 1 clearly shows how important the overwhelming and over exaggerated use of lights can alter the composition, appearance and emotion of the film still.
Firstly, the placements of the lighting strips are not symmetrical and they are placed at random angles, to illuminate certain areas of the rooms; in this case, the centre of the room is illuminated as the lights progress from the ceiling to the side of the centred figures in the shot. Most importantly, the light exposure contrasts greatly with the white walls, but because of the eerie blue colour grading of the scene, the whiteness and exposure of the light is enhanced and making the walls appear blue.
From this image of the interior that is supposed to be home to the two main characters, we see that this specific type of light used in a home is very peculiar as they are usually seen in hospitals or specifically a morgue. These lights have created an association with a morgue intentionally so that the viewer could link the themes of death with this home, only to imply that those in the home are “dangerous” or the are actual offenders since a morgue is where the victims are kept.
Not only does light affect the mood of a film, but creates links and associations with other places that contain similar illumination. One of his earlier films Oldboy (2003) had a different slant on the filmic techniques, as Chan-Wook was only just starting to gain popularity in the world of cinema around 2002, by gradually creating his distinct style with The Vengeance Trilogy that would also include Oldboy. Figure 2 is a frame from Oldboy that evokes the clear message of ‘insanity’, shown by the expression on the characters face along with the deranged almost primitive hair.
Additionally, the lighting that is used allows the scene to have a more dramatic uneasiness about it yet draws the audience in, because of the offset of the lamp and the shadows that are cast along the back wall as the light source is within the frame; this creates an increase in depth. Here Chan-Wook uses a backlight to make the wall appear and add additional texture to the scene to contrast against the subject so that his shadows won’t get lost in the darkness. The additional soft key light that is not included in the frame is used to light the subject’s face and particularly his crazed expression.
Chan-Wook has mixed colour temperatures to show the confusion within the frame because the key light is not the same type of light as the backlight. Looking at the work of another director that uses lighting in a particular way is Terrence Malick. Malick was b. 1943 Ottawa, Illinois and is well known for his Arthouse film The Tree of Life (2011). His films are very atmospheric and scenic to amplify the main role that nature plays a part of the human everyday life, which means that he relies on the natural light to unfold the connection between the two.
This can be evidenced in The Tree of Life where there are certain film stills or scenes that have captured the very atmospheric distinctive style Malick is best known for. The film still itself is calm and includes a limited colour palette that ranges from dark browns and beige, with rays of light coming through the Venetian blind to enhance the dark room and even outline the main subjects face. The woman’s face in figure 4 have been highlighted by the only source of light (which would be natural light) seeping through to only just hit half of her face and create a soft shadow across the other half.
This then allows a natural divide in the room bringing a dark and light side. Additionally, Malick allows enough light to enter the room for the tears in her eyes to be shown as you can see in the image a glisten of light is slightly highlighting it. From this, the viewers are able to see the subjects concern and emotion that is being expressed only briefly since her face is not fully exposed to the sunlight, adding a sense of enigma to the moment.
Emmanuel Lubezki who was the cinematographer of the Tree of Life was inspired by Vermeer who was a Dutch artist who painted his subjects besides windows against dark walls. Initially, Malick and Lubezki had to find a house that was open enough that they could view the actors and had enough light coming into film everything naturally. This idea resulted in changing their environment in order to gain the lighting that is desired for the overall look of the film by removing trees that blocked light and darkening the walls of the interior to get that Vermeer effect.
Another visually successful film Malick has directed was The New World (2005). The lighting in this film played a key role in creating the atmosphere in the two different ‘worlds’ known to two different cultures, the Native Americans and the British. When filming scenes in the land where the Native Americans have settled, there are many scenes where the only light source was the sun. This could represent their dependence on the sun and the natural world around them, rather than the artificial and man-made hard light that is then used in England as the film progresses.
The particular image/scene above shows Pocahontas (the main character) appreciating the world she lives in, which is the Chickahominy River, Virginia. Yet again, the positioning of the camera within the scene is vital as it places the sun in the sky within her hands, allowing the sunlight to power through the middle of the image and creating rays to pour down over her body. The overhead lighting in this shot then allows the shadows of her body to be muted because the trees that tower over her, block the sun and darken the rest of the surrounding area below.
Overall, Malick has used lighting to create the emotional atmosphere intended in his movies or in the current scene. However, he also uses certain types of light, which, in this case, is natural light, as it is realistic and subtle but also adds a certain gentle refinement that all his films contain. The English director/cinematographer Roger Deakins b. 1949 has been involved with a number of mainstream film projects as the director of photography in comparison with the directors previously discussed who are acclaimed independent “anti-Hollywood” directors.
This would mean Deakins has to create an accustomed style that would be suited for the wider audience and keep the viewers captivated because of the mainstream popular title that is fitting with his films such as Skyfall (2012), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Prisoners (2013) and True Grit (2010). Figure 5 and Figure 6 are taken from the film Skyfall (2012) on which he worked as the Director of Photography alongside Sam Mendes the director.
The two scenarios contrast greatly: he chooses the colour temperature choices in order to correlate with the emotional and physical surrounding in that particular situation; this is due to the fact that the Skyfall is a Bond movie, renowned for the themes of escapism which will then contain intense contrast and breath-taking imagery for the mass viewer’s interest. Figure 5 shows a panicked figure silhouetted against a fiery glow in the far distant, creating a never-ending depth to the scene.
The vignette effect in this frame actually creates a focus point in the still, so that it draws attention to the small figure with the bright white source of the glow that is on the same level. The two-tone effect in this scene is important since the orange and black contrast against one another. By limiting the colour palette and light source,; the director achieves an overall distinct scene filled with mystery and danger. On the other hand, Deakins continues using dramatic colouring to advantage Figure 6 shot in the Scottish countryside, to create a completely different atmosphere.
Deakins communicates a relaxed, open, serene image through the contrast against previous intense and high saturated scenes as a progression in the storyline. The fact that this scene is lit using a white diffused light, means that the light is spread across the vast landscape, cancelling out harsh light and shadows but creating a soft light instead; this makes an impression of a ‘false’ natural light. The viewers would see the soft light effect as natural lighting but in comparison Malick tends to use no artificial lighting methods for symbolic purposes.
This would suggest that Deakins use of light could reflect the transitions of the story in Skyfall, and in many of his other works, he does this for the ‘mass’ audience to understand the progression of the characters and situations included in his films. David Fincher who is an American producer/director and actor (b. 1962), has created two specific films that have an interesting use of light that is seen in scenes from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).
I will be looking into the further detail of these two film stills that is seen below as they both have a distinct artistic flair to them without being a stereotypical ‘movie moment’. Figure 7 is from The Curious case of Benjamin Button. As shown above the overview of the wide shot angle is that the intention was to capture the open darkened environment and compare it to the centred subject. The lighting in this scene was placed behind the raised ground at a low angle to create a very atmospheric night time fog to contrast against the foreground; t additionally has resulted in a harmonious silhouette between the three broken down parts of the scene: the foreground, middle ground and background. With the layer of highlighted fog, there is more depth to the image as it creates a distance between the background and foreground which then allows the subject to seem more distant. In terms of the fact that it is night time, a bright blue tinted glow coming from a low angle (or the street lights from the viewer’s perspective), is very enchanting and allows a sense of mystery to develop because of the dramatic imagery created by the high contrast between the shadows and light.
In comparison, Figure 8 taken from the film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has a similar colour palette and lighting scheme as it has a subtle blue tint to the soft light but is contrasted against their dark clothes. There is a feeling of mystery and uneasiness when there is a blue colour filter over scenes, due to the association of the colour with the cold. The creases of the bed sheets the two subjects are placed upon have resulted in creating a layer of a textured background that has soft shadows all around the creases.
The contrast of the creases fit well with the darkness of the subjects, leaving only the top of the two main characters faces and some of the bed sheet illuminated. Fincher is able to place his subjects where the lighting would fit best for the atmosphere of the scene, in order to convey the current emotion of the scene for the viewers to experience a hyper-reality.