Portfolio for Film & Video
Three Point Lighting
Noir Style
Noir lighting is low key lighting and is also known as Chiaroscuro in the art world. Chiaroscuro emphasizes shadows and harsh lighting to create a sense of depth and volume. It uses the contrast of light and dark, which creates bold contrasts in compositions. My attempt of this was successful, as I was able to create an overall dark picture, with particular harsh shadows on my subjects cheekbones. I then used a key light to illuminate the eyes and nose so there was a juxtaposing effect on the picture. The positioning of the subjects head in a side profile was also successful in creating the typical noir style lighting.
Key Light
The Key light is the first and most important light in cinematography. It is used to highlight the subjects form, and provides the most dimension to the shot. It often causes a shadow on one side of the face as it is not dead centre (as seen in my version). The key light is often to the right of the subject. I used a warm yellow light for my key light, as I felt it illuminated the subject and gave the shot more dimension. A white light can often seem to bleak in my opinion, whereas the warmer tone adds character.
Key Light and Fill Light
By adding the fill light, the harsh shadowing on one side is removed, and the face has a more rounded dimensions. This makes the shot have a sense of depth, by making the subject stand out from the background by contrasting them from the black backdrop. Therefore, it seems more three dimensional rather than two dimensional. It doesn't significantly impact the image, and is more subtle than the key light.
Key, Fill and Back Light
Here, we have all of the three point lighting. Backlight helps to create a glow around the subject, making them seem separate from the backdrop, again further reinforcing the three dimensional effect. Some photographers and cinematographers don't use backlights as in real life, people don't walk around with a golden halo around their head and shoulders, but I feel it adds dimensions and more interest to the shot, and could be used on the protagonist of the movie/scene, to give them a aimable quality.
Silhouette
In this image, silhouette lighting is used, with just the outer rim of the subject being illuminated. A silhouette effect is created when a light source is placed behind your subject, with little or no light is in front of the subject. The light I used was above/behind the subject, giving her a halo effect in the shot, with none of her face illuminated. This type of shot would be more effective on an object that has crisp, outer edges, not for this particular portrait as the hair is not completly flat.
Experimental Lighting
Colour
For my experimental photography shots, I thought I would try using coloured lights. This was effective in portraying a certain mood of the piece, and I am going to incorporate into my music video. The harsh red lighting was used as a key light, which subsequently gave harsh shadowing on the left hand side of the subject. This achieved a threatening look, so could possibly be used in my final video to foreshadow a certain scene, or add tension to my video. The blue lighting on the other hand, adds a sad, melancholy tone to the shot. I added a faint red glow to the right side to act as a fill light and this worked well, as red and blue are on opposite sides of the colour wheel. Overall, I feel this lighting is very effective with the use of harsh shadowing, and the light adds interest to the shot, engaging the viewer.
Sunset
For some more experimental light sources, I decided to think about different types of natural lights present in our world. Therefore, I too this picture in Totnes one evening. The natural back lighting from the sun creates silhouette outlines of the houses, and trees, which has a very effective look. The lack of clouds in the sky also means the complete colour gradient of orange-rose-light blue can be seen.
Projector
Moreover, when my friend and I were visiting RAM Museum in Exeter, we came across and exhibition looking at Korean art and lifestyle. Three, we discovered a projector on a white wall, showing jellyfish found in the continent and oceans surrounding the shore of Korea. It was a repeated overlapping film of a lady swimming among them. I though this was a brilliant example of experimental lighting, as the actual light was constantly changing and moving, creating different shapes on her face as the movie played. Moreover, there were plenty of shadows created on my friends face due to the lack of fill light, awith the only light source being the key light of the projector.
Lighter
Another interesting lighting technique I found was when my friend was lighting her cigarette. This produced a strong key light (with the picture being taken at dark so no other light present) which successfully created shadows on her face, emitting a strong visible light instead of the source being behind the camera. This gave the photograph a centre to focuses on and in my opinion makes it more interesting to the eye.