Seeing the light

Lighting plays a large role in cinematography. In one scenario, light is a tool to just visually see images. While in other cases, light sculpts the features in a space – illuminating the curvatures of people’s bodies, faces, sharp edges on buildings and furniture. Lack of light creates deep undertones such as darkness, evil, mystery, and secrecy while heightening other attributes to a film, like sound and emotion. In all, light is not just a necessity or a need– it’s a tool that serves more purpose than one thinks.  

In this episode, we’ll be taking a look at a few handful films that exhibit great examples of integrated lighting as a character. These films use lighting methodically, whether it be elongated shadows, different colored lighting, or even lack of visibility inside a dimly lit landscape. Consider a more thought out lighting set-up for your next film, but listen to this episode first to gather up some ideas.

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Highlighted Dancefilms/Screendances:

Cornered Dir. James Vernon

Barbarians: Origins Director & Producer: Romain Rachline Borgeaud

A Hard Day’s Night Dir. Benjamin Hoffman & Mathieu Mondoulet 

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Quick Shoutouts

Pas de Deux Dir. Norman McLaren

The Game Dir. James Kinney and Pierre Marais

The Stop Dir. Liudmila Komrakova

 

Bleu Fuchsia Dir. Marc Lesperut

 

Feelings Dir. Charlie Luccini

Hypra Dir. Tim Jockel

Plus: TV and Movies Are Too DARK - Why Is this Happening? - video essay from The Take

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Check out our Frameform Patreon page for 6 awesome resources we released over the past few months ranging from Technical Tips for Video Editing by Hannah, a visual guide to all things Frameform by Jen Ray, Zines by Clare, and more.