In this still of Michael Keaton and Edward Norton acting in ‘Birdman’ the key light comes from the lamp shining over the top of (but slightly behind) Edward Norton’s head. Top Lighting traditionally creates a glamorous, flattering image and this still is no exception. Also used in this image is a hard sidelight, which is often used to sculpt the characters features, this light appears to be coming from the front, towards the right side of the screen-this light however appears to be a bit spotty because you can see it shine off Edward Nortons temple, this obvious yet slightly obtrusive use of lighting adds to the stylised nature of Birdman as a film, though the cinematography is brilliant it doesn’t lend itself to realism, every image that could be taken from the film looks exactly like a still from a film- nothing else. In contrast to this is Richard Linklaters ‘Before Sunset’ which uses natural lighting for the most part, however there is no doubt equipment (or even boards-though in Hollywood they may use fancier things) was used to eliminate hard shadows that would have spawned from the (10-12) 30-40 degree days in which they shot the film on. Linklater used natural lighting to emphasise realism, the two characters in the film are both ‘underacted’, regular people, his film is set in real time and has many long shots-natural lighting naturally complemented his other stylistic choices.

Anyway back to this image, on the side of Michael Keaton’s face a smaller fill light is subtly used, this is designed to soften the shadows on his face in order for the audience to see some amount of detail- this accentuates the image.The reason Innaritu accentuated it is because the scene is an intense, pivotal moment between the two characters within the context of the film, its not only showing the conflict between two key characters, but its highlighting major flaws in Norton’s character (Mike) showing how controlling and obsessive he can be.