What is Mise-en-scene, Part 2: Lighting

Summary

This video script delves into the technical aspects of lighting in film, emphasizing its importance for film analysis. It introduces three-point lighting, explaining the roles of the key, fill, and backlight. It contrasts high key and low key lighting, highlighting their effects on contrast. The script also explores lighting direction's impact on a character's appearance and genre conventions, such as underlighting in horror and top lighting in glamour. It concludes by discussing the use of artificial versus natural light, using films like 'Marie Antoinette' and 'Barry Lyndon' to illustrate the differences.

Takeaways

• 💡 Three-point lighting is a classical Hollywood lighting technique using a backlight, key light, and fill light to illuminate a character from different angles.
• 🔦 Key light is the primary source of light in a scene, creating strong shadows if no fill light is used.
• 🌟 Fill light reduces shadows cast by the key light, providing a more balanced lighting on the character's face.
• 🌈 Backlight helps to separate the character from the background, giving them a clear silhouette or outline.
• 🔍 High key lighting minimizes contrast with abundant fill light, resulting in bright, evenly lit scenes without strong shadows.
• 🌑 Low key lighting increases contrast, creating dramatic, shadow-heavy scenes with intense light and dark areas.
• 🎥 Lighting direction (from above, below, or the sides) dramatically changes the appearance of a character and is often used to evoke specific genres or moods.
• 😱 Underlighting, commonly associated with horror, creates a spooky effect, as often seen in campfire stories and horror films like 'The Shining.'
• 💎 Top lighting emphasizes glamour by highlighting the cheekbones and facial features, as seen in classic images of celebrities like Marlena Dietrich.
• 🌄 Natural light in films like 'Marie Antoinette' and 'Barry Lyndon' is used to create a sense of realism, contrasting with artificial light that is often used to simulate natural lighting effects.

Q & A

What is three-point lighting in film?

Three-point lighting is a classical Hollywood convention that uses three lights surrounding a character, each serving a different function: a backlight comes from above, a key light comes diagonally from the front, and a fill light comes from near the camera.

What are the roles of the key light, fill light, and backlight in three-point lighting?

The key light is the main light source, creating strong illumination and shadows. The fill light softens shadows and balances the key light. The backlight helps separate the character from the background by adding depth and outlining their figure.

What is the difference between high key and low key lighting?

High key lighting minimizes contrast by using more fill light, resulting in fewer shadows and a brighter appearance. Low key lighting, on the other hand, creates high contrast with stark differences between light and dark areas, emphasizing shadows and highlights.

Can low key lighting be defined by the amount of light used?

No, low key lighting is not determined by the amount of light but by the contrast between light and dark. A scene with minimal light may still not qualify as low key lighting if the shadows aren't sharply different from the highlights.

How does lighting direction affect a character's appearance?

Lighting direction, whether from above, the side, or below, can drastically change a person's appearance. For example, underlighting is often associated with horror as it gives a spooky, unsettling effect.

Why is underlighting often used in horror films?

Underlighting is commonly used in horror films because it creates a spooky and eerie atmosphere, often making facial features appear distorted and unnatural, which adds to the tension and fear.

How does top lighting contribute to a character’s appearance?

Top lighting is often associated with glamour as it emphasizes the cheekbones and creates a dramatic, flattering look. It can make a character appear more distinguished or glamorous, as seen in the image of Marlene Dietrich.

What is the effect of backlighting on a character?

Backlighting creates a silhouette effect, where the character's outline is visible but their features are obscured by shadow. This technique is used to emphasize the shape and presence of a character without revealing details.

What is the difference between natural and artificial lighting in film?

Natural lighting comes from natural sources like the sun, while artificial lighting is created using studio lights. Films may use artificial lighting to mimic natural light for a sense of realism, as in 'Marie Antoinette,' or use actual natural light as seen in 'Barry Lyndon.'

How does 'Marie Antoinette' utilize lighting to enhance realism?

'Marie Antoinette' emphasizes natural lighting by showing visible light sources, such as sunlight through a window, to create a sense of realism, even though artificial lights may have been used to enhance the effect.

Outlines

00:00

💡 Understanding Three-Point Lighting

The script discusses the technical aspects of lighting in filmmaking, emphasizing the importance of three-point lighting as a classical Hollywood convention. It consists of a backlight, key light, and fill light, each serving a distinct purpose. The key light is the primary source, creating shadows on the subject's face. The fill light softens these shadows, while the backlight separates the character from the background. The script also differentiates between high key and low key lighting, explaining the contrast ratios and their effects on the mood and genre of a film. Additionally, it touches on lighting direction and its impact on a character's appearance, mentioning underlighting for horror and top lighting for glamour.

05:04

🌞 Natural vs. Artificial Light

The second paragraph delves into the contrast between natural and artificial light in film. It uses the film 'Marie Antoinette' as an example of a movie that focuses on natural light, creating a sense of realism with visible light sources like windows and lens flares. The script contrasts this with 'Barry Lyndon' by Stanley Kubrick, which actually used natural light sources like candles, resulting in a distinct visual style. It also discusses how high key and low key lighting can convey different symbolic or expressive meanings, using 'Marie Antoinette' again to illustrate how high key lighting is used during positive moments and low key during dramatic scenes.

Keywords

💡Lighting

Lighting is a critical aspect of film production that affects the mood, tone, and visual storytelling. In the video, lighting is discussed as a technical element that can significantly enhance the viewer's experience and interpretation of a film. The script mentions various types of lighting, such as three-point lighting, high key, and low key, each serving different narrative purposes.

💡Three-point lighting

Three-point lighting is a standard method in film lighting that uses three light sources: a key light, a fill light, and a backlight. The key light provides the primary illumination, the fill light softens the shadows created by the key light, and the backlight separates the subject from the background. This concept is central to the video's discussion on how lighting can shape the viewer's perception of a scene.

💡Key light

The key light is the primary light source in three-point lighting, responsible for the main illumination of a scene or subject. The script uses the example of a key light creating heavy shadows on a person's face to illustrate its impact on the mood and atmosphere of a shot.

💡Fill light

The fill light in three-point lighting is used to soften the shadows created by the key light, providing more detail and reducing contrast. The script explains that fill light 'fills in the shadow,' allowing the viewer to see more of the subject's features that would otherwise be hidden in darkness.

💡Backlight

A backlight in film lighting is positioned behind the subject and is used to create a separation between the subject and the background. The script mentions that backlighting can make a character 'stick out from the background,' which is crucial for visibility and emphasis in a scene.

💡High key lighting

High key lighting is characterized by a high ratio of fill light to key light, resulting in minimal contrast and fewer shadows. The video script describes high key lighting as being used when there is an attempt to create a brighter, more open, and less dramatic scene, which can be seen in the script's mention of characters' faces without shadows.

💡Low key lighting

Low key lighting, conversely, involves a higher contrast between light and dark, creating a more dramatic and moody atmosphere. The script explains that low key lighting is not just about the amount of light but the stark difference between shadows and highlights, which is evident in the video's discussion of classic low key lighting.

💡Lighting direction

Lighting direction refers to the angle or source from which light is cast upon a subject, which can drastically change the appearance and mood of a scene. The script provides examples of high, side, and low direction lighting to demonstrate how different angles can create distinct visual effects and emotional responses.

💡Underlighting

Underlighting is a technique where light is placed below the subject's face, often associated with horror films to create a spooky or eerie effect. The script mentions that underlighting is used to motivate 'certain elements of spookiness,' like in the examples of campfire stories or films like 'The Shining' and 'The Sixth Sense.'

💡Top lighting

Top lighting is when the light source is positioned above the subject, often used to create a glamorous or dramatic effect by emphasizing facial features like cheekbones. The script references the use of top lighting in classic Hollywood glamour shots, such as a famous image of Marlene Dietrich.

💡Backlighting

Backlighting involves light coming from behind the subject, often creating a silhouette effect where the subject's shape is visible, but details are obscured by darkness. The script explains that backlighting is used to produce a silhouette, which can be associated with a mysterious or dramatic narrative.

💡Natural light

Natural light refers to illumination from sources like the sun or sky, as opposed to artificial light sources like lamps or LEDs. The script discusses the film 'Marie Antoinette' as an example of a production that emphasizes natural light to create a sense of realism and authenticity in its scenes.

Highlights

Lighting is a technical aspect of film analysis that is important to understand.

Three-point lighting is a classical Hollywood convention consisting of a backlight, key light, and fill light.

The key light is the main light source, creating shadows on the subject's face.

The fill light's purpose is to fill in the shadows created by the key light.

The backlight helps the character stand out from the background.

High key lighting involves a high ratio of fill light to key light, resulting in less contrast.

Low key lighting features more contrast between light and dark areas.

Lighting direction can drastically change a person's appearance on film.

Underlighting is often used in horror films to create a spooky effect.

Top lighting is associated with glamour and emphasizes cheekbones.

Backlighting creates a silhouette effect by illuminating from behind the subject.

Lighting can have cultural codes and convey different meanings beyond genre.

Natural light is used to create a sense of realism in films like 'Marie Antoinette'.

Artificial light can be used to create the impression of natural light.

Lens flares are a result of natural light and contribute to a sense of realism.

In 'Barry Lyndon', Stanley Kubrick used actual candlelight for a realistic effect.

High key lighting is used to convey a positive or lighter mood in films.

Low key lighting is used for dramatic effect and to convey darker moods.

Transcripts

um finally let's look at lighting and this will  be the last thing i talked about in this video  

lighting i just want to warn you is a little more  technical than these other terms i'm going to ask  

you um to commit some of these lighting terms  to memory and i'm going to test you on them  

because i think they're they're fairly important  and once you think about lighting in this way  

it's going to do a lot of good for your ability to  do film analysis so one term i want you to know is  

three-point lighting three-point lighting is a  classical hollywood convention in which we have  

three lights surrounding a character each serving  a different function a backlight comes from above  

a key light comes diagonally from the front  and a fill light comes from near the camera  

so we can think about those things here key  light is the main light source and this image  

the key light is the only thing that  we see therefore there's a very heavy  

heavy shadow on this person's face the light is  coming from here and that's the light source the  

fill light is doing exactly what the name says it  fills in the shadow right it's very clear where  

the key light remains but now we can actually  see the other side of his face the backlight  

probably the most subtle thing is actually super  useful for making sure a character sticks out  

from the background the only difference  between these two images of course is the hat  

right and the shoulder those things kind of fade  into the background but now they're strikingly  

pushed out against the background  we can see that clearly going on  

in this image right these crisp lines that make  sure that jimmy stewart can be seen against the  

darker background another set of terms that i want  you to know is high key versus low key lighting  

high key and low key lighting are all about the  ratio between the key light and the fill light  

in high key lighting there's a race a ratio such  that there's not much contrast in other words  

you try to have a lot of fill light so you  don't have shadows right you cannot see any  

shadows on the faces of these characters this  is high key lighting um classic low key lighting  

means that you're going to see uh lighter  lights and darker darks in other words you have  

more contrast an easy way to think about  this is high key means low contrast low key  

means high contrast low key doesn't just mean  low amount of light why because this image  

does not actually give us uh a low  key lighting even though it has  

a low amount of light the reason i can say that is  because the shadows aren't that starkly different  

from the highlights this is not exactly i would  call a low key light image despite it not having  

a lot of light so that's talking about three  point lighting we can also talk about lighting  

direction that is where a light comes and  what effect that has so i have this gif  

that's kind of demonstrating the way in which uh  lighting direction can radically change a person's  

appearance right um you have a uh high direction  you have a side direction a low direction and  

another side direction from the left um and i  think we can say that these images produce an  

entirely different appearance for a person um and  they have conventions in in genres and then um and  

in certain ways of making films so underlighting  is often associated with horror films right we  

have that thing what we do when we're at a  campfire and we want to tell a spooky story  

we often put a flashlight underneath our face why  does it make us scary honestly i don't know but i  

know that it is a thing that people do um and it  does motivate certain elements of spookiness um  

that will get say in the subtle way in the shining  right you can actually tell there's a highlight  

underneath his nose underneath his cheeks  and in this very dramatic way in the sixth  

sense top lighting is often associated with  glamour right and i think you can see that  

partly because the cheekbones are emphasized  in this very famous image of marlena dietrich  

that is very much apparent backlighting has to do  with the fact that light is coming from the back  

and generally will produce a silhouette effect um  so when we say that we have a silhouette which is  

like an image whose shape is apparent but whose  formal features are kind of um dark and that can't  

be distinguished that has to do with um where the  light is coming from usually from behind um and we  

can actually think about uh lighting as having  certain cultural codes beyond genre um lighting  

high key on the right um what other patterns can  we talk about with lighting we can talk about  

artificial light and natural light interestingly  marie antoinette is a film that takes place in  

a world that lacks artificial light and so it  tries to create an emphasis on natural light the  

opening shot of the film is in fact a dark room  that is illuminated by a visible light source  

opening the window but i guarantee that this is  in fact not exactly what's happening on set i can  

imagine that there are in fact artificial light  that you can't see this is merely an impression  

that the film is trying to do to create an  impression of realism and notice all the ways in  

which natural light becomes this element that you  can see as it flows through this part of the frame  

or even as you can see these lens flares which  are in effect produced by natural light and in  

this case i don't think it's artificial i think  it's quite an actual thing but the lens flares  

are there to to give us a sense of realism right  to show us that a camera in fact did capture these  

images now i do want to draw your attention uh  to a difference you can think of a film like  

barry linden from 1975 by stanley kubrick  which didn't produce the illusion of uh  

natural light it actually used natural light  you can see that difference look at the way  

this image is produced it really does look as if  um the lighting actually comes from the candles  

here the candles don't look as if they're the  only thing lighting the scenario right they  

look ornamental as opposed to fundamental  to the lighting that's going on there  

and we can just see a few more images of how  that looks we can also think about high key  

versus loki and marie antoinette as conveying a  kind of symbolic or at least expressive weight  

right this is a very much a high key image uh  very few shadows that happens earlier in the film  

when things are going well one of the  most dramatically low key shots happens