top of page
BEN MOLYNEUX
Lighting, (High, Low, Hard/Soft)
What Is High Key Lighting?
High key lighting is an additional effect on set; high key is essentially a high ratio of light being aimed towards the set, usually of an object or person. This effectiveness of high key lighting within films now is for artistic reasons within films. Usually, we tend to see high key lighting within sitcoms and comedies; filmmakers often tend to choose high key lighting when they want an image or story to be cheerful, optimistic or childlike.
examples of High Key Lighting
From the screen shots of two parts of the same scene, we are able to understand as an audience the tension and drama within the part of scene. The effect on the audience watching the film is huge from the two parts of the scenes, as with the high key lighting we as the audience are not afraid and there’s a lack of drama and tension, also with this we feel the effect of humor, and the effect upon us is that nothing threatening is likely to happen. Whereas, the low light key is the complete opposite, it has an effect of danger and threat about him now, the effect of low light also creates tension and drama and also the effect of something un predictable may happen.
Not only within scenes of the films, however static images too such as the DVD cover such as “Dumb and Dumber”, from the use of the bight white background acting as the high key lighting the lack of the eerie shadows in the background, you instantly feel the effect of certainty and assurance.
What Is low Key Lighting?
examples of low Key Lighting
Low-key lighting is also another additional editing effect that film producers cherish within making films such as the genres, horrors, sci fi, and action. Low-key lighting is when the light aimed upon set is very low limited and gives the effect of a dark and eerie feeling. Following on from this, the effect on the audience whilst watching a film with dark colors and the slight use of light colors giving of the unnerving shadows in the background. With the use of these horrifying scenery creates a threatening effect for the audience, and that ‘edge of the seat’ feel whilst watching scenes with low-key lighting.
Here is a shot of a scene in the horror “The Ring”. Within this shot of the scene, as the audience you feel the un-known and uncertainty, and with the use of the low light effect prevents the audience to clearly see the potential threat that has upon them, and in a way leaves them trapped and isolated.
Hard/soft lighting
When people tend to think of hard and soft lighting they assume it’s the brightness of lights, or if there is or isn’t light, but its NOT! Hard and soft lighting is the crispness of shadows within a scene. There are two types of light, hard and soft, these both can drastically change the mood of your scene. Firstly, hard lighting. Hard lighting has the opposite effect to soft lighting as hard lighting creates shadows usually on or reflecting of objects. On an object such as a human, hard lighting tends to reflect shadows particularly on the right side of their face or under their chin to give of the effect of many effects within a scene. Film directors tend to use shadows in horrors to present danger and vulnerability. Shadows also give the effect of threat, and if someone with a curse is with the object/person. Secondly we have soft light, as in the name the light is soft and unlike hard lighting, soft lighting is create by 3 or more cameras directed at a specific object and reduces the crispness of the shadow. The effect of this light isn’t as threating, or disturbing to hard lighting as the shadow is bare and weak and this type of light is vaguely used in horrors, and this is the most common type of light we see in most films.
examples of Hard lighting
examples of soft lighting
bottom of page