Lighting Experiment

LIGHTING

The lighting in any movie/television show/advert etc. can really effect the mood of the image portrayed. An image of a landscape could look a completely different depending on even adding red or blue tones - if a red tone were to be added the landscape could appear to be either spring/summer however,if the tones were blue it could be represented as autumn/winter. Additionally the brightness of the image may connote differing things; lighter (whites) colours are thought to be conventionally 'good', angelic, pure, innocent and clean. Whereas darker colours (blacks) represent 'bad', evil, impurity, guilt and death.

Here are some of my own examples using lighting: 

In this picture I have added no lighting except a single flame of fire. In fact, I have blocked out the light to create darkness in addition to dressing the model in all black. The black background and costume denotes: evil, mystery and death. Also, the single red/orange flame gives denotations of hell, burning and sins. The black and orange together can possibly connote that the figure is satanic, this is because they are the stereotypical colours associated with hell. The way in which the red light hits the bottom of his face shows that he is hidden creating enigma.

Juxtaposing, in this image I have chosen to use very white bright lighting, mostly being natural. The white costume adds to the angelic atmosphere. The White surroundings  and natural lighting denote: cleanliness and purity. The image connotes that the figure predominantly 'good' because the light is all over and nothing is hidden. The figure may be seen as aspirational and heroic.

 COLOUR REPRESENTATIONS

Red - Love, Romance, War, Blood, Hate, Fire, Heat, Anger, Stress

Orange - Energy, Warmth, Attention, Citrus

Yellow - Joy, Happiness, Optimism, Cheap, Illness, Danger, Sun, Vulnerability

Green - Envy, Money, Life, Generosity, Nature, Health, Fertility

Blue - Sky, Water, Cold, Calm, Tranquil, Winter, Ice, Night, Technology

Purple - Royalty, Wisdom, Spirituality, Hierarchy

White - Purity, Birth, Simplicity, Cleanliness, Peace, Innocence, Youth, Winter, Snow, Goodness Marriage, Cold

Black - Evil, Darkness, Death, Underground, Power, Mourning, Austerity

LIGHTING EXPERIMENT FOR AN OPENING SEQUENCE

To experiment further with lighting, I have created a short storyboard for the opening sequence of the aforementioned 'Mistaken Identity' . Within the storyboard the images used I have edited on Pixelmator, to edit the images I adjusted the brightness, contrast, saturation and the tones of red, blue and green used. 

Story Board Opening Sequence 1

In this excersise I have gained the following skills/knowledge:

• Understanding how lighting and colour can affect the entire mood/atmosphere of the type of media
• How to use Pixelmator
• Learning conventions of specific colours

I will apply this further on in my coursework when editing my opening sequence as the lighting is EXTREMELY important.