Lighting is meant to create mood and obviously light a scene. Lighting is important to every scene in every photo and every scene as well as everyday life. It is important to everything from creating a happy sunny tone for a scene to creating an ominous scary setting. Lighting also allows the audience to see the setting and draw conclusions from what they see based on the lighting. It allows them to know if it is night-time or daytime as well as the time of year based on the quality of life.
Key lighting for two anchors is used to keep two subjects well-lit so the viewers can see details on each anchor. In order to set up this lighting scheme we had the key light over to the side of Heather and the fill light on my side. This was done because it kept the shadows off of my face and off of Heather’s face as well. The backlight was put behind us but raised up so it wouldn’t be as noticeable in the shot, since having lights in the background of shots can be distracting to viewers. The struggles we had with this scene were not having quite enough space on the stage area we used to put the lights and making sure the lights were set up in a way that created the least amount of shadows. Also only having two people working on a project that required two people to be in the shot was difficult. It would have been easier to have three people because then we could have looked at the lighting on both people before we started shooting.
Key lighting on one anchor wasn’t too difficult because it was set up a lot like the key lighting for two anchors. We just moved the key light and the fill light farther toward the front since there was only one talent and most of the shadows were on the front of my face. The backlight wasn’t moved. The struggles we faced creating this shot were just making sure the shadows weren’t prominent because lighting for anchors just need to have a neutral mood not a shadowy ominous mood but it can’t be overly lit either.
Our backlit shot was supposed to cause a mysterious effect and this shot captured this very well, since my face was covered up by shadows for the most part. The only light that was on my face was from a window that linked to a lit up room. Basically the only light we used to create this shot was a backlight. It would’ve been better if we had been in a totally dark room but the window in the media room is too big to cover. If the room had been completely dark the effect would have been more dramatic but it worked well enough considering the room we were in and the type of equipment we had.
Rembrandt lighting was really fun to create the key light was directed at me and then Heather bounced the light back onto my face using a poster board. If we had a real diffuser it would have created a more dramatic look but using a poster board worked in a pinch. This light creates a softer light and made the scene look airier and light hearted than some of the harsher lighting techniques. The only big struggle we had with this was finding something that bounced light well but there was a poster board in the room so we used the shinier side to bounce light back. Other than that one struggle the whole thing went pretty well considering the kinds of equipment we had available to us.
Split personality lighting is typically used in cinema scenes if a person is going through a significant internal struggle. The lighting suggests a darker and more troubled mood. It also makes the conflict that the character is going through seem more immediate. In order to achieve this shot we had a key light directly to the side of me and a backlight to still create a hairline. The struggle we faced in this scene was getting the shadow positioned correctly on my face. If we had positioned me in a better way, the effect could’ve been more dramatic.
There were lots of things we could’ve done better if the equipment and the room provided to us would’ve been a little higher tech. However, making due in tough situations is an important skill to have and this assignment definitely taught me that. Also lighting can cause an audience to feel certain things without a word ever being said about how the audience should perceive a certain scene.