Research: Mise En Scene - Lighting and Colour - Mrs. Quinlan

Lighting and Colour

What is lighting and colour and why is it important?

Lighting is a form of mise en scene and it can be responsible for significant effects in scenes. Light can draw attention to specific points of interest, it can give depth to a scene, bringing out detail, in setting, clothing and certain iconography. As well as guiding the audiences attention, lighting can create tension and fear through low key lighting, this can be due to the uncertainty in darkness in a scene. Colour is an effective tool to convey emotion in a shot or a scene, for example green can represent envy or greed, Black or dark toned colours can represent sadness or depression. Lighting and colour are both very important features to thriller films as they convey mood and atmosphere.

Angles of lighting and examples

Lighting can consist of three different main angles, top lighting, under lighting and back lighting.

Top lighting can be used to show glamour and to highlight features, in this shot from Zodiac (2007), top lighting is used to show the character outside the car and the colour of his clothes, our attention is directed at him and not at the person in the car due to the mixture of the top lighting and over the shoulder shot. We can assume due to the lighting that this character is the protagonist and he has dominance in this scene. This can give the audience reassurance as the man in the car clearly has dark lighting on him and he seems to be interrupted by the protagonist in the brighter, top lighting.

Under lighting is used here in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), under lighting creates shadows on a characters face which can intimidate the audience, from this we can assume that this character is the antagonist and he is a dark, shady character. The contrast of lighting that under lighting creates on his face can tell us that he has bad intentions which creates fear amongst the audience as he is looking down in a dominating way.

Back lighting is when the lighting is behind the character and a silhouette is shown. This shot from Prisoners (2013) presents that. We are unable to see the characters face which creates mystery, although we can see that he is holding a gun which can indicate a sense of danger, he may be pointing it at someone or he may be using it to protect himself. As only a silhouette is visible this can create curiosity amongst the audience, also the audience cannot see what the man is looking at which also creates suspense.



Types of lighting

There are two types of lighting, low key and high key, both give the audience different impressions of the character or object on stage.

This is an example of low key lighting from Shutter Island (2010). Low key lighting is a dark shot with minimal light in small areas, creating shadows. As we can infer from the still, the only light we see is from a matchstick the character is holding, this is the only source of light therefore it casts shadows on the other side of his face. This tells us that he is in a dark room and because of his confused facial expression we can assume he is scared, this gives the audience a fearful reaction. creating suspense and tension. We are also unable to see around the character due to a very small flame being the only source of light. Low key lighting is more often seen in thrillers for this reason.

In this still from Se7en (1995), there is use of high key lighting on the character in the car. High key lighting is natural and realistic, the lighting is however heightened. Lighting is heightened on the character in the car to contrast the weather outside, our attention should be directed to him and his expressions, this gives the audience confidence in the character as they are seen as the good thing about the scene, as apposed to the terrible weather outside.

Colour in scenes

There is a use of black and white colouring in this still from Inception (2010), this shows that the scene is neutral and their clothes are white which can indicate innocence, we can assume that they are the protagonists as their representation through colour shows that they are the opposite to darker, scarier tones. The audience response to this is that they feel comfortable with these characters on screen as they are the protagonists, but also will feel sympathy for them as the white colour connotes innocence. 

This still from John Wick (2014) has presentation of red as danger as the character is close to the door. We can see red light coming from outside and a silhouette standing there, further suggesting danger. The audience will feel suspense and be frightened as they anticipate what is behind the door, the red colour connotes danger and therefore the audience will worry about what will happen next.

The still above from The Matrix (1999) there is a use of green colour to convey deceit. We can observe from this scene that the protagonist is stopping bullets, this gives the audience a sense of excitement as they are expecting something bad to happen.

Scene analysis

The opening scene from Nightcrawler (2014) includes many examples of lighting and colour that effect the scene. There is a use of low key lighting which creates mystery as the audience cannot see what exactly is going on, or where the scene is set. There is also use of red lighting to suggest danger or that something bad is about to happen. As the scene develops there is black and white lighting to set the scene more for the audience to understand where the character is. Throughout the scene there is heavy use of low key lighting to connote a negative atmosphere, as the character is driving around we see an example of this. There is also under lighting on the character's face as this creates mystery and suspense around the character, the audience aren't aware of his intentions or goals.

Conclusion

Through my research of lighting and colour I have come to the conclusion that I will use dark tones in my thriller opening. These tones will center around black and white lighting to show contrasts between characters and settings. As well as under lighting to convey a mysterious tone, most probably featuring my antagonist. I will use high key lighting on my protagonist to really show the audience the difference between my protagonist and antagonist. I believe using these techniques I can generate the most conventional response from my audience of fear, suspense and excitement.