film lighting discussion

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i am working on a film that is being shot with only natural/practical light with the dvx. although this gives way to a flatter appearance for the most part, i feel that it also gives a more realistic and gritty look to the film- which in turn captures the audience with its sense of realism, and is allowed to move the audience towards emotion easier. I dont hate great film lighting..(i mean ..who can frown at the awsome grabs from that "contract" film on here..great work!) i just think that theres alot of ways to tell a story through film, and that other ways should be used as well, and hate to think that even the way we convey stories through imagery has been stripped down to some disney-esque formula. that being said ...anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
Re: film lighting discussion

I agree, lighting has in some way been programmed into our heads, well at least the way to light. Just now are hair lights that have been around since the dinasours starting to disapear, and 'white' lighting is pretty much what everyone wants now.

Most of the stuff I do I don[t have any control on lighting, so I just go with the flow, position my subjects against something somewhat reflective if possible to bounce some light on them and shoot. Sometimes I get lucky, most of the time the lighting is horrible..

But the content CAN actually be more valuable than the design of the frame... honest :)
 
Re: film lighting discussion

It's great to hear different viewpoints.  My personal opinion is that I get more than enough reality in my daily life, I want fantasy in my art.  My personal favorites are the lighting in Blade Runner and The Fifth Element.

Now we start getting into a discussion that borders on the meta-physical.

Perception.  When a person "sees" something, does a little image of that thing wind up projected inside our skull somewhere?  Perception is actually an abstraction, in fact it is a LEARNED abstraction.  This has been shown in a series of very repeatable experiments with children.  Below a certain age, they can not perceive the difference between a square and a circle (just one example).  The entire developmental process is one of learning to process the inputs from our various "sensors" and make sense out of them.

In later life the process continues, like a mindless reflex, as we try to create "rational" explanations for everything, trying to get everything to fit into our world view. I like to play with that, push it, prod it, twist it, surprise it.

Just another point of view.
 
Re: film lighting discussion

I know this is an older thread; but I found it enteresting enough to reply anyway. :D

I think lighting can definitley influence a film and there a so many ways to do it depending on the project.

Think of the lighting styles of Fincher -vs- M. Knight or R. Scott -vs- T. Scott (his brother, right?)

My personal choice would be to light the scene as if were intended to be seen. Let's say for example a man walks into a room with a small desk lamp turned on and on the other side of the room the bathroom light is on.

I would want to light that exactly as it 'should look". That is my personal choice.

But - :-/ There is always the variables that determine what may or, rather, should be done, right?

Lighting your leading lady in a way that she 'glows' no matter what the setting, lighting with shadows and deep contrast to 'set the mood'....

I think inevitably, lighting can be as important as anything. It is a part of the pallette when creating the scene. I prefer the way I mentioned above, but would never throw out the option of evaluating the scene and/or story at hand and asking myself "Can a lighting effect make or break this scene?"

Anyway, old thread; good topic.
 
I was just about to recommend What's Eating Gilbert Grape or any other work by Sven Nykvist. Jeez... 2003? I wonder how "guests" project turned out...
 
good question? you have to give credit to J.R. Hudson he has 21,697. Definitely on of the people to follow on the site. He and Barry Green rock
 
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