Post 14: Research Short Films and their use of lighting.

I decided to look at some short films and carry out textural analysis on them to explore the use of lighting in each of them.

The first film I watched was Flung by Fiona Walton

 

 

“‘Flung' explores the moment when the worlds of a tormented young boy and an alienated old man collide with unforeseen consequences for them both. Sympathy shifts from one character to another as the boy's interaction with the old man becomes increasingly cruel. An emotional story that brings together two, not so very different lives.”

Flung was shot in black and white and with a lot of obvious natural lighting. However there are still small aspects of different lighting techniques being used. Although there is no obvious three point lighting being used, the camera has been placed at angles where the natural light has the same effect as the artificial light would. The natural light has been used a lot throughout this film as it is obvious they couldn’t use colour gels to change the tone or the temperature.

When the young boy has his hood up his face is darker due to the small shadow the hood is causing. This suggests that there is a darker, possibly meaner, side to the young boy which is revealed when he makes fun out of an old man. Both of the characters in this film have dark clothing on which could suggest that they are lonely characters. There obvious use natural light is evident in the film as it is set outdoors, but the use of shadows on the characters throughout the short film can help to add tense and mysterious atmospheres.

I think the techniques that have been used work well on this film and help to make it look realistic.

 

The next film I looked at was Playground by Mark Kuczewski

 

“‘Short thriller about a man who pics up a young female hitchhiker. As the awkwardness builds in the car we find out more about the man's past and what his intentions really are.”

There was a large range of lighting techniques used in this film; direction is one of the most obvious. At the beginning the screen is lit from the bottom right hand side only illuminating half of the character’s face and leaving the other half in shadow. Lighting is also used to highlight different areas of the car and to make it seem as if it is moving through a tunnel.

Throughout the film the audience only sees half of the man’s face and half of the woman’s face, this insinuates that there is something going on between the two for example; an argument or they’re both keeping a secret from one another. 

The lighting in this film helps create suspense and mystery about the characters and what’s happened. It also helps create different effects like the car moving through the tunnel.

 

The final film I watched was All My Dreams on VHS by Timothy X Atack

“‘James never misses his dreams - he records them straight to VHS using Dreamspoon wireless technology. But when a work colleague, Erica, stops by one evening, she finds something surprising amongst the titles. Curiosity gets the better of her and the evening takes an unexpected turn.”

This film uses a lot natural lighting to make the settings look realistic, as someone who wasn’t present when it was being filmed I don’t know if a white balance was used but it may have to make sure the end result didn’t look blue or orange.

When Erica is watching the video, the dark room with little lighting; a blue light seemingly from the TV makes the room seem colder, helps create a dark and mysterious atmosphere, and a lamp illuminating the rest of the videos, suggesting to the audience something sinister is on the tapes.

The film uses both natural and artificial light to create mood and atmosphere, after watching all three of the short films we have some ideas about the different lighting techniques we can use to make sure our film is realistic and give certain parts more emphasis.