VISUAL ELEMENTS
The camera is the eye of the motion picture. It is not merely a mechanical thing that records an image on film. Rather, it is an artistic tool — like a painter’s brush or a sculptor’s chisel. In the hands of an artisan it becomes the instrument through which a dramatic story can be placed on film — so that later, in darkened theatres all over the world, vast audiences can see the film, react to it, and be entertained. — Herbert Lightman, Cinematographer
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE IMAGE
Because the visual element is film’s basic form of communication, it is the most important difference between it and other forms of expression like literature, drama, or poetry. The very word literature refers to the written word and is defined as including all forms of writing from prose to poetry; a term that does not apply to movies since they are based on images, not words.
Even though a film starts as a written script, it’s impossible to appreciate the full impact of a film since much of the visual and aural elements are not included in the screenplay which is primarily concerned with the characters’ dialogue.
Your own movie memories tell you that what you remember most about the movies you enjoyed was what you saw, not what you heard. The impact of film (its emotional and psychological magic) comes not from its dialogue, but from a constantly moving, changing and shifting tapestry of images.
In fact, silent films were just as powerful without dialogue as their contemporary counterparts; many of which have lengthy passages without dialogue — just images with music and sound effects.
However, you must remember that while the image is the most obvious aspect of film, it must be considered in relation to the entire film. The visual part of a film must be justified psychologically, dramatically and artistically in terms of the film as a unified whole; each shot must work to support the film’s theme or focus or it becomes nothing more than a flamboyant display of cinemagraphic technique.
Every time a director or cinematographer uses a camera angle or photographic technique, it should communicate information about the theme, characters, conflict or symbolism.
The visual element should never dominate a film; taking over the story by sheer force. When we become more interested in the images than the theme or plot, the filmÕs dramatic force is weakened its artistic impact fades and we end up with little more than an orgy for the eyeballs.
As cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond puts it:
I believe photography should never be dominating. The photo- graphy in “Jersey Girl” doesn’t look flashy to me; it doesn’t overpower the film. It’s with the story, never above it. It never tries to tell you how good I am or how good the lighting is. It’s on the same level. The performances, the directing, the music, the camera work are all on the same level. That’s what I like about it, and that’s what I think photography should be.
ELEMENTS OF CINEMATIC COMPOSITION:
Because film is a unique art form, the problems in composition it poses for the filmmaker are also unique. Every shot (the length of film recorded from when the camera is turned on to when it’s turned off) is only a single element in a continuous flow of images.
Each shot must be planned with the knowledge of how it will contribute to the entire film. The most difficult part of creating a shot is that the objects in front of the camera are in constant movement and all the camera can do is record this movement at the rate of 24 images (or frames) per second.
The director’s choice in each shot (there are about 2,000 in the average feature film) is limited by the nature of the film medium, and every shot must be designed with the goals of cinematic composition in mind:
Focusing Attention on the Most Significant Object: The first rule is to make sure that each shot is designed so that it draws our attention to the object of greatest dramatic importance. Only when this is accomplished can the film’s dramatic or thematic ideas be conveyed effectively.
l. Size and Closeness of the Object: Normally our attention is directed towards larger and closer objects rather than smaller, more distant ones. The image of an actor’s face, or foreground is closer to the camera and thus more important. In most scenes, the size and object is an important factor in determining action.
2. Sharpness of Focus: Our attention is automatically drawn to what we can see the clearest. If a face in the foreground is blurry and another in the background is in sharp focus, we will tend to look at the distant face first although it is smaller.
A director can direct our attention from the foreground to the background by changing the focus of the camera during a shot (rack focus) from the closer object to the more distant –a technique often used instead of cutting from a shot of the closer object to another of the distant object.
3. Movement: An object in motion draws our attention when stationary objects surround it. A single character walking through a crowd that is standing still will become the focus of our interest. Conversely, if movement and flow are part of the general background, a still object will grab our attention.
4. Closeups: The power of film compared to theatre lies in the impact of moving the camera close to a character or object so that it dominates the screen — a technique used by directors to force us to pay attention to a detail that might be overlooked or ignored in a wider shot of the same action.
Closeups of actor’s faces are what allows the smallest emotional response (a raised eyebrow, a single tear, a tiny smile, etc.) to be such a powerful part of cinemagraphic story telling — a devise that can’t be used in theatrical presentations where we sit too far from the stage to appreciate the subtle body language so necessary for human communication.
Closeups are the reason movie actors must learn to “underplay” their emotions so they will appear natural on the screen as compared to theatre actors who learn to “overplay” their body language so it can be seen and understood by spectators sitting hundreds of feet from the stage.
5. Arrangement of People and Objects: Good directors focus our attention by the way they arrange objects on the screen. Since each arrangement is determined by the nature of the dramatic moment and the complex relationships of the characters, the director must depend on their artistic sense rather than any rules or formulas.
6. Foreground Framing: The director might decide to frame the object of greatest importance with objects or people in the foreground to force our attention towards the chosen part of the screen. To make sure we are not distracted by the “frame-in-a-frame”, the director usually emphasizes the most important subject with bright light, color or focus.
7. Lighting and Color: Brightly lit objects or those with more color compared to other things in the shot draw our attention. In “The Natural,” there is a shot of Glen Close surrounded by spectators at a baseball game. Director Barry Levinson costumed her in a white dress and hat while the other fans are dressed in dark clothes. The effect is like hitting her with a spotlight. We can’t avoid noticing her and realizing that her appearance is important in the scene.
Some directors are more concerned with these visual techniques than others. For example, Stanley Kubrick (“The Shining”), Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane”), Brian DePalma (“Carrie”), Stephen Speilberg (“Schindler’s List”) and Alfred Hitchcock (“Psycho”) are known for the attention they pay to the visual aspects of their films.
Other directors, more interested in the actors’ performances, pay little attention to the look of the scene (mise en scene), relying, instead on the actors’ performance to capture our attention.
Director’s who focus on acting rather than visual design include Norman Jewison (“In the Heat of the Night”), George Cukor (“The Philadelphia Story”), Robert Altman (“M*A*S*H”), John Frankenheimer (“Manchurian Candidate”), Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity” and Sidney Lumet (“The Firm”).
Creating the Illusion of Depth: The natural world has three dimensions: height, width and depth. For centuries, painters have worked to create a sense of depth on a flat piece of canvas. This creative problem also plagues filmmakers.
The illusion of depth has nothing to do with the occasionally popular “3-D” gimmick (“Jaws 3-D,” “Friday the 13th, Part III,” “Spy Kids 3-D”) that creates a sense of objects coming out of the screen towards the audience. Instead, the illusion of depth describes the visual effect of giving a sense of distance and depth to what is, in reality, a flat surface.
While all movies automatically create a partial illusion of depth, some directors are more concerned about this issue than others and invest a lot of creative energy into designing each shot for its maximum sense of depth. Cinematic artists such as Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen Speilberg, and others use the following techniques to create an illusion of depth on a flat surface.
1. Movement of Subject: By having actors or objects move towards or away from the camera, the filmmaker can increase the sense of depth. Movement from one side of the frame to the other creates a flat two-dimensional effect.
2. Movement of Camera: A freely moving camera creates depth by moving toward or away from a static subject. As it passes by or goes around objects or people, we become more aware of the depth of image. As the camera moves, the objects it passes constantly change their position relative to each other and our viewpoint according to the angles from which they are seen by the camera.
3. Apparent Camera Movement (zoom shot): The zoom lens allows the photographer to change instantly from a wide angle shot to a closeup. It creates a false sense of movement and depth since the effect is to magnify (moving into a closeup) or reduce (pulling back to a wide shot) all objects in the scene at the same rate. Since the perspective does not change during a zoom shot, there is no apparent change in the sense of depth.
4. Change of Focus (rack focus): This technique shifts our attention from one plane of action to another; from foreground to background or background to foreground. When a rack focus shot is used in a scene, the illusion of depth is enhanced since the technique imitates how we naturally shift our focus from close to distant objects.
5. Deep Focus: In direct contrast to the rack focus technique some directors (Stanley Kubrick and Orson Welles are the most famous for this approach) use special lens to focus simultaneously on objects close to the camera and those at a distance.
This allows foreground and background action to be equally sharp and distinct, and most closely resembles the natural ability of our eyes to see a deep range of objects clearly.
6. Three Dimensional Arrangement of People and Objects: Perhaps the most important factor in created the illusion of depth is how the people and objects in a shot are arranged. If they are placed in the fore, middle, and background (“Citizen Kane” “Touch of Evil” or “Seconds”), the result is a true three dimensional image that allows the director to use all of the techniques available to enhance the illusion of depth.
7. Foreground Framing: When objects are placed in the foreground to frame people or things in the middle or background, the effect is like looking through a window and the illusion of depth is greatly increased.
Foreground framing also gives us a sense of the size of the background object that is one of the reasons all photography experts suggest that an object be included in the foreground when shooting landscapes or other distant scenes.
8. Special Lighting Effects: By carefully designing the angle, direction and intensity and quality of the lighting, a director can increase the illusion of depth by the creation of shadows which give texture and definition to flat surfaces.
Sometimes the director will place the light source outside the frame to throw shadows of objects outside our view into the frame, thus creating the illusion that there is a reality outside of the shot that exists even if we can’t see it. When these shadows come from lights placed behind the camera, the sense of depth is even stronger.
9. Use of Reflection: Reflections from shiny surfaces like windows and mirrors also increase the sense of depth. In “Grapes of Wrath,” for example, the Joad’s truck is traveling across the Mojave Desert at night. The camera looks forward through the windshield at the road ahead. At the same time, the ghostly reflections of Tom, Al, and Pa are seen on the glass as they talk about what they are seeing.
In this way, information that would usually call for two shots in sequence is compressed into one. The same technique is used in “The Russia House” where the worried face of Sean Connery is reflected in the windshield of his car as he searches Russia for a double agent.
Director Sam Rami used the same technique in Spiderman I when Spiderman confronts his evil nemesis, the Goblin. For an instant we see them both captured in a reflection in a window as if the director is showing that they are two sides of the same character or personality.
CINEMATIC POINT OF VIEW (POV): WHERE IS THE CAMERA?
The meaning of POV in film is quite different from the meaning of the term in literature. The major difference is that the cinematic point of view need not be, and rarely is, consistent. In fact, not only would a single POV be visually boring (it would be like watching a stage play from the same location), it would also get in the way of effective story telling.
The POV (position of the camera relative to the action) is one of the first decisions a director must make while reading a script. Deciding where to put the camera to record the action or dialogue will have an overwhelming effect on how we interpret what we see on the screen.
If you pay close attention to the POV from which you see the action, you will notice that it constantly changes; sometimes with each shot within a scene and sometimes within an individual shot if the director moves the camera.
However, what is important is that each change maintains visual continuity. Even though the visual location may move from one POV to another, we will respond almost subconsciously to the different ways things are shown if the director makes sure each POV makes sense visually, not necessarily logically.
In looking at cinematic POV, you should be primarily concerned with three basic questions:
1. From what position and through what kind of “eyes” does the camera record the action?
2. What effect does the position of the camera have on how you see the action?
3. How is your response affected by changes in the POV?
Two basic POVs are used to shoot every movie and TV program:
1. Objective: The camera is a sideline observer of the action. It is as if you are watching the action from a distance. The objective POV is usually shot with a “static” camera to produce the effect of seeing the action through a window. It concentrates on the actors and the action without drawing attention to the camera.
The objective POV suggests an emotional distance between you and the action on the screen as if the camera were simply recording the actors and actions of the story taking place. Since the director does not use the camera to add emotional overtones to the action or isolate important details, you are forced to pay close attention to find the subtle, but perhaps significant, parts of the shot by yourself.
2. Subjective: This approach provides you with a visual viewpoint and emotional intensity felt by a character participating in the action. It is as if the camera were moved from its objective POV in the balcony of a theatre onto the stage where it becomes another actor in the drama.
Alfred Hitchcock was an artist in the use of the subjective POV. He used elaborate camera movement to create visual sequences that bring us into the action, forcing us to become the characters and feel their emotions.
His subjective technique can be seen in the opening sequence of “Strangers on A Train.” With the camera close to the ground, Hitchcock shows only the legs and shoes of a man getting out of a taxi cab. He then crosscuts to the same angle to show another man repeating the action. We know two men are involved because Hitchcock has each wear a different shoe style — one brown, the other black and white.
Hitchcock continues his subjective treatment by showing each man entering the shot from a consistent direction (either screen left or right) while the film continues to cross-cut between each man as he enters a train station, boards the train, walks to the dining car where their shoes come together under a table.
By shooting from a subjective POV, Hitchcock visually arouses our curiosity and makes it clear that somehow the two men will eventually cross paths — an idea reinforced by a quick shot of train tracks merging together in an “X” pattern — and a visual symbol of the film’s theme and plot.
The subjective POV makes our experience more intense and more immediate as we are forced to be more involved in the action. Generally, this POV is created by a moving camera that forces us to see exactly what the character is seeing and in a sense to become that character.
Although there have been a few attempts (“Lady in the Lake”, “84 Charley Mopic” “Russian Ark”) rarely is a film shot entirely from a subjective POV. To do so would mean the camera becomes the central character in the film and the person it replaces would always remain invisible.
A total commitment to the subjective POV would mean that you would only be able to see what the character sees. Everything in the scene would have to be carefully designed to maintain this illusion – a most difficult task and one that is not usually satisfying.
That’s why its rarely used unless there is some overwhelming creative motive as was the case in a famous TV episode of M*A*S*H where the entire story was seen from the POV of a wounded soldier lying on a hospital bed.
The change from objective to subjective POV is often accomplished in the following way so that it appears natural (if not logical) on the screen. First, an objective shot shows the character looking at something off the screen or directly at the camera. Then the next shot, taken from the character’s position, shows the object of her attention.
The illusion that you are seeing what the character is viewing is created by the relationship between the two shots which provides a smooth and natural visual movement between the two POVs; a technique common to every movie and TV show produced since the first days of movie making.
The alternation of objective and subjective POVS, as well as the tight link between sight and sound, is illustrated by the following scene:
1. Objective POV: Long shot from a street corner of a worker using an air hammer about 50 feet from the camera. Sound: loud clatter of the hammer with other street noises.
2. Cut to Subjective POV: closeup of air hammer from worker’s POV showing her arms and hands shaking from the vibration. Sound: Hammer is almost deafening drowning out other street noises.
3. Cut back to Obiective POV: Repeat of shot #1. A truck is seen turning the corner behind the worker’s back bearing down on her at top speed. Sound: Air hammer, street noises, rising sound of truck tires squealing, engine roaring.
4. Cut to Subjective POV: Repeat of shot #2. Sound: First only deafening noise of hammer, then squeal of brakes mixed with hammer sounds.
5. Cut to Subjective POV: Front of truck shot from worker’s position coming straight at camera from 10 feet away. Sound: Squeal of brakes louder, hammer stops, cut short by thud of truck hitting worker and then silence.
6. Cut to Obiective POV: Repeat of shot #1. Worker unconscious underneath stopped truck. Crowd gathering into circle. Sound: Mixed jumble of voices, street noises and siren from a distance.
TECHNIQUES FOR SPECIALIZED VISUAL EFFECTS:
Along with the two POVs, directors use other visual strategies to enhance the impact of the action and manipulate how we interpret what we see on the screen.
Hand-Held Camera: The jerky, uneven movement of a hand-held camera increases the sense of reality provided by the subjective POV because it visually resembles the shooting style most often seen in TV news coverage or documentaries where the cameraperson is scrambling to keep up with the action that is happening in an unpredictable pattern.
This technique is used in the opening sequence of John Frankenheimer’s “Seven Days in May,” a story about an attempted military takeover of our government. The film begins with two opposing groups protesting the President’s stand on nuclear disarm- ament in front of the White House.
As the demonstrators get closer to each other, a fight breaks out. The POV shifts from a static shot to hand-held subjective footage shot from the middle of the battling protestors.
The camera operator is obviously being knocked around by the crowd; some of the footage is out of focus, other shots swing out of control showing the ground and then the empty sky; the movement is unpredictable as the shooter struggles against the power of the violent mob.
The jerky footage imitates the look of TV news footage and visually traps us in the middle of an uncontrollable riot — a much different effect than if the same action had been shot from an objective POV with the camera placed outside and at a distance from the violence.
Stedicam: Don’t confuse the hand-held POV with a Stedicam shot. The former gives a jerky, spontaneous feel to the image. The latter, using a sophisticated portable shooting system, allows the camera to move through space following the action as if the camera were mounted on a total portable tripod.
Since it was first used in “Rocky” (1976) to follow Sylvester Stallone as he ran up the city hall steps in Philadelphia the Stedicam has become a common tool in movie and TV production when the director wants to follow the action in an un-noticeable style.
Camera Angles: Directors do more with the camera than simply decide which POV to use. The angle from which an event or object is photographed is an important way to add psychological or emotional meaning to what is being shot.
To create a visually objective, or neutral view, the camera is usually placed about 5 and a half feet from the ground to simulate what the scene would look like if seen by a person standing and observing. When the camera is placed higher or lower than this neutral POV, your interpretation of the person or object will be radically affected.
When the camera is placed below the eye-level of the subject, creating a low–angle shot, the size and importance of the subject is exaggerated. The subject is made to appear powerful, authoritative, strong, dominant; the camera makes us look up to the subject as if it we were children.
If the camera is placed above the subject’s eye-level, a high-angle shot, the effect is just the opposite. The subject appears smaller and less important. It is seen as weak, powerless, passive; the camera is an adult staring down at a hopeless child.
In “Jurassic” directed by Steven Speilberg, the two children are attempting to escape a dinosaur attack. As the children attempt to get away in a jeep during a rain storm, the camera shoots from a low angle so that dinosaur figure looms over them increasing the fear that they will be his next victims. This low angle POV clearly shows the helplessness and terror of the children and the potential danger of the T-rex dinosaur.
Special Lenses: Directors can add to the subjective quality of a film image by using of lenses which create a POV that is different from how we naturally see the world.
A wide-angle lens distorts the perspective of a shot, so that the distance between a foreground and background object seems much greater than it actually is. The result is that movement towards or away from the camera appears faster. Wide-angle lenses are often used in chases to give the illusion of high speed without putting the actors in danger.
On the other hand, a telephoto lens compresses the distance between fore and background so it appears to be much less than it really is. Thus, movement towards the camera is slowed dramatically when shot with a telephoto lens.
In “The Graduate,” the hero (Dustin Hoffman) is filmed running towards the camera in a frantic attempt to stop the wedding of his girl friend to someone else. A telephoto lens makes him appear to be moving very slowly towards the camera despite his efforts, thus emphasizing his frustration and desperation; an emotion we are forced to share with him by the simple trick of choosing the right lens to film the action.
Slow Motion: If the action on the screen is to seem normal and realistic, the film must be photographed at the same frames-per-second rate at which it will be projected — 24 frames per second. However, if a scene is shot at more than 24 F.P.S. it will appear to move in slow motion when projected. This technique of slow motion creates a variety of emotional visual effects
1. Intensify Emotional Quality by Stretching Time: A common goal of slow motion is to concentrate our attention on a brief period of action and intensify our response by stretching out the “piece of time.”
In the suicide scene in “Dead Poets’ Society,” director Peter Weir uses slow motion and the absence of sound to increase our response to Neil’s ritualistic preparation for death. We don’t see him shoot himself nor do we hear the shot. But the slow motion effect intensifies the moment so that we know something horrible is going to happen.
2. To Exaggerate Effort, Fatigue and Frustration: In “Raging Bull,” director Martin Scorcese uses slow motion in a number of the fight scenes to emphasize the physical brutality of boxing and the determination of Jake LaMotta (Robert DeNiro).
3. To Suggest Superhuman Speed and Power: In the old TV series “The Six Million Dollar Man”, “The Bionic Woman” and “Wonder Woman” the standard technique for letting us know that the super heroes moving at blazing speed was to show their action in slow motion. This same technique was also used in selected passages of “The Matrix” to suggest our hero’s super speed and agility to dodge bullets fired at him.
4. To Suggest Passage of Time: When a series of slow-motion shots are combined into a montage, we get the impression that a long period of time is passing. In “Eight Men Out,” the story of the Chicago Black Sox World Series scandal, slow-motion shots of un-related baseball action are joined compressing the feeling of a long, slow month of a baseball season into a few seconds of screen time.
5. To Emphasize the Grace of Physical Action: Slow motion can be used to let us enjoy the beauty of an object, person or animal in motion. In “The Natural” slow motion is used to emphasize the physical wonder of Robert Redford’s game winning home run at the climax of the film.
6. To Create a Sharp Contrast with Normal Motion: Slow motion can be used to stretch time and build tension before a sequence shot at normal speed. In “Sea Bisquit,” (2004) the horses are seen in slow motion as they walk onto to the track to prepare for the race.
The director enhances our anticipation by shooting the scene without any background sound. This dream-like effect is abruptly shattered by the un-expected bang from the starter’s gun and the shift back to normal time as the horses leap into action. The result is a visual surge of adrenalin that makes us feel the physical sensation of being one of the competitors.
Fast Motion: If a scene is filmed at slower-than-normal speed (less than 24 F.P.S) and projected at normal speed, the result is fast motion. This effect resembles the frantic, jerky movements of the old silent comedies (also shot at slower-than-normal speed). It is most often used for comic effect or to increase the speed of action without increasing the level of danger to the performers.
Stanley Kubrick used fast motion as a visual metaphor for emotionless sex in a scene from “A Clockwork Orange.” Alex (Malcolm McDowell) picks up two young girls takes them to his room for a frantic bit of what he calls the “old in and out” which is seen in fast motion accompanied by the William Tell Overture (The theme from the radio, TV and film versions of “The Lone Ranger”).
The Freeze Frame, the Thawed Frame and Stills: These three techniques involve stopping the normal movement of a film image. They convey a sense of ending, beginning or transition. Each technique creates a special emphasis that forces us to think about the significance of what we are seeing.
The Freeze Frame: is an effect achieved in the laboratory after a film is shot. A single frame is printed repeatedly so that when the film is shown, the motion seems to stop and the image remains frozen on the screen.
The most common use of a freeze frame is to mark the end of a powerful dramatic sequence or the end of the film. A freeze frame jolts us, as though life, itself, has stopped. The frozen image leaps off the screen in such a way that moving images seldom do.
The Thawed Frame: begins with a freeze frame that comes life. This technique is usually used at the start of scene or the whole film. At the start of a movie, the frozen image is often a painting or photograph that comes to life. In “Chinatown,” the story begins with a series of extreme closeups of black and white photographs of a murder victim. Slowly color bleeds into the image and it “thaws” into motion.
Stills: are photographs in which the image does not move. A sense of motion occurs as the camera pulls in or backs away from them or moves over them. In the PBS-TV series “The Civil War,” this strategy was used to give a sense of motion to photographs of the period. In “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” sepia-toned stills show the outlaw duo and their girl friend having a good time in New York City.
LIGHTING
The person responsible for the technical and artistic aspects of lighting effects in movies is listed in the credits as the “Director of Cinematography.” The title was “Director of Photography in films made before the mid-1960s.
Next to the director, the cinematographer is most responsible for the look of a film. It is he or she that has an extensive knowledge of photographic theory; film types and their response to different lighting conditions; the effect of various lenses and filters; and the emotional impact of light on a scene.
By controlling the intensity, direction and quality of the light, the cinematographer is able to create the illusion of depth, mold contours and edges, convey atmosphere and create special dramatic effects — all in response to the creative desires of the director, who may or may not be a photography expert.
The way a scene (or shot) is lit will help determine its visual and emotional impact. Subtle differences in lighting create different moods and atmosphere for the type of action taking place. Because good lighting reinforces the mood of each scene, paying close attention to the lighting used in a film will help you describe the overall mood or tone.
There are two basic styles of movie lighting in terms of the intensity or brightness of the light used to shoot a scene. Low-key lighting puts most of the shot in shadows with just a few brighter areas to define the subject or draw our attention to an important part of the shot. This type of lighting heightens suspense and creates a somber mood; a look most often found in horror and suspense films.
High-key lighting, on the other hand, is used when the director wants every part of the scene to be evenly lit with few shadows or dark areas. The high-key style is usually used for comedies, musicals and other projects that call for an up-beat mood.
Some directors avoid the “standard” guidelines in their choice of lighting styles. Hitchcock, especially, is famous for shooting most scenes in his mystery films in with high-key lighting so that the impact of his violence is made even stronger by bringing it out of the “cliched” shadows into the pleasant, comforting brightness of ordinary life.
A perfect example of this approach is the shower murder scene in “Psycho.” Many directors would have used low-key lighting to bath the bathroom in “spooky” shadows to set up a violent act.
Hitchcock chose, instead, to flood the white tiled shower set with bright, almost blinding light; hardly the “right” atmosphere for a brutal murder. The result was an attack that was much more shocking than if it had been staged in light where we would expect such violence to happen.
The direction of the light source also plays an important role in creating an effective visual image. Flat, overhead lighting (such as that installed in our classroom) creates an entirely different mood than strong lighting from the sidewalls or the floor. Positioning the lights directly in front or behind the subject also creates a different effect
The choice of light position is as important as the placement of the camera. The closer the light source approximates the position of the sun (overhead and slightly to the left or right of the subject), the more realistic will be the result.
Whether the light is artificial or natural (the only two sources of light available), the director can also ask the cinematographer to control the quality of the light so that it appears 1) direct, harsh or hard; 2) medium or balanced; or 3) soft and diffused.
In “The Grapes of Wrath,” director John Ford used a light reflected in the pupils of Henry Fonda’s eyes at his first emotional meeting with his mother after four years in prison. Although the technique is very subtle, it adds a special quality to the shot. Fonda’s eyes literally “light up” as he greets his mother.
In “Hud” cinematographer James Wong Howe used different styles of lighting for each of the main characters to suggest their inner emotional qualities. The lighting for Hud’s girl friend Patricia Neal was strong and sharp. Paul Newman (Hud) was generally seen in strong contrasts of light and dark; Melvin Douglas, Hud’s father, was hidden in shadows; and the young kid, Brandon DeWilde, was brightly lit.
Director Roman Polanski shot most of his scenes in “Chinatown” in the first two hours after sunrise and before sunset when the light has a rich golden tone. He chose this approach because the story takes place in Los Angeles in the 1930’s. He wanted to visually symbolize a place where dreams could come true; a sharp contrast to the political manipulation and violence that occurs in the movie.
Script to Screen 