Lighting is an example of style, which can be demonstrated to have an important affect upon the films production.
FILM NOIR
Within the research of lighting “Film Noir” was often highlighted as an important aspect of the films style. “Film Noir” is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, one that particularly emphasise cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood’s classic film noir period generally stretched between the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with low key, black and white, visual style with both bright lights and effective shadowing. 
Film noir films generally contained a cynical, hard hearted male character who encounters a beautiful promiscuous amoral, double dealing and seductive female. This theme is an obvious link to the era film noirs were first established. The 1940’s highlighted the years where there was a considerate amount of power for women, but their roles on screen did in fact suffer. The photos situated to the left and the right of my text are examples of film noir ways of lighting. The short clip below of “Double Indemnity” (1944) highlights a specific section involving film noirs wit and seduction. After watching the short clip of a Film noir, as a class we looked at the different types of lighting that were used and how the lights were positioned in a variety of ways. Lighting is commonly used to highlight and create shadows that can be used to manipulate the space of the different scenes. There are two different types of shadows and these are:
- Attached shadows: Attached shadows occur when lighting doesn’t illuminate parts of the object due to its shape and size.
- Cast shadows: A cast shadow is when objects block the light source and “cast” a shadow.
Lighting can help distinguish the importance a character has in the films plotline. Attention is drawn to characters that have the brighter source of light on them, similarly the characters with the less effective lighting are known to be less popular within the film.
The image to the left is an example of a cast shadow. The blinds appear to be blocking the light source from the outside sunlight and are forming a cast shadow onto the man standing directly opposite. Then man has noticeable lines across his body from the pattern of the blind, this can reinforce the theme of being imprisoned. The noticeable pattern draws attention to him rather than the man positioned on the chair.
The following picture shows two, what can be assumed, protagonist character then a small amount of less important characters in the background. This photograph is an example of an attached shadow. The man positioned on the left of the camera’s eye has a shadowed right check due to his hate shape and size., this shadow is an attached shadow.
THE LEMON
Soon after distinguishing the two specific shadows, we were encouraged to look at how the light can have an affect on the shape and texture of different objects. This was demonstrated by watching a short video of a lemon being manipulated by a light source from a variety of angles; this noticeably had a dramatic effect on what was being filmed as it became difficult to distinguish what was being filmed due to the shadows and bright light.
OUR VERSION OF THE LEMON: THE SKULL
Following the video of the lemon in small groups we created our own versions of the film, but using different objects. My group came to the decision to use the skull for this project as we guessed it would create illuminative shadows from the lighting and would ultimately look really effective. Prior to the filming we changed the settings on the camera, so it would specifically focus on the skull. Having done this, it was much easier to see how the movement of the light source changed the shapes and position of the attached shadows and cast shadows. We filmed the skull in a room with no outside light invasions, and only a single light bulb which we switched off when recording the film. This allowed the light to be a lot more dramatic and the shadows to be more effective and noticeable due to no interruptions from unwanted light sources.
THE LEMON
Soon after distinguishing the two specific shadows, we were encouraged to look at how the light can have an affect on the shape and texture of different objects. This was demonstrated by watching a short video of a lemon being manipulated by a light source from a variety of angles; this noticeably had a dramatic effect on what was being filmed as it became difficult to distinguish what was being filmed due to the shadows and bright light.
OUR VERSION OF THE LEMON: THE SKULL
Following the video of the lemon in small groups we created our own versions of the film, but using different objects. My group came to the decision to use the skull for this project as we guessed it would create illuminative shadows from the lighting and would ultimately look really effective. Prior to the filming we changed the settings on the camera, so it would specifically focus on the skull. Having done this, it was much easier to see how the movement of the light source changed the shapes and position of the attached shadows and cast shadows. We filmed the skull in a room with no outside light invasions, and only a single light bulb which we switched off when recording the film. This allowed the light to be a lot more dramatic and the shadows to be more effective and noticeable due to no interruptions from unwanted light sources.
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