Not until now, I have not really paid attention to the work of cinematographers. I, like many have praised the work of many of my favorites films to the directors. Having studied lighting for a few months now I have noticed the consistencies of the lighting used in specific movies which can, for the most part, be accredited to the work of the cinematographer. In the past I have watched films like Amelie and the Harry Potter series ( ‘…The Half Blood Prince’ being the most visually pleasing), only to realise that they have been shot by the same French cinematographer: Bruno Delbonnel. The main thing that attracted me to the style of Delbonnel is his ability to make a scene look warm and soft. For the purpose of this research exercise, I have chosen to touch on the lighting and camera work in ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’. 

Out of all the films in the Harry Potter franchise, Bruno Delbonnel has hit the nail on the head in the visual story telling of a story that was adapted from a novel. Through his lighting techniques, I have felt that he has encapsulated the mood of the last sequel. Not only does the lighting suit the mood, but from an aesthetic standpoint, he is also able to the light the subjects in a very flattering way. The choices that he makes when he lights the subject is very consistent to the other films that he has shot. Delbonnell generally lights his subject from the side with a key light, which is accompanied by a massive fill light with covers the entire room that the subject is in. Furthermore, the flattering image of the subject is attributed the extensive use of diffusion on the light sources.  This typical lighting set up used by Delbonnell can be seen by the way the character of Harry Potter is lit in this scene: 

Here we see the character key lit on his right, which is angled from above to emulate the light coming from the windows above. A big tell sign that the lighting is very soft is through the amount of spill in the highlights from the right side into the left.  There is a pleasant and gradual fall off in the highlights on the character’s and body. You can also see that the room is also lit which is used to fill the left side of the character’s face. In relation to this particular lighting technique, Delbonnell also has a tendency to have the fill light at about three stops darks than the key light. This lighting technique is commonly used for the in door shots through out the film. Here is another shot that uses a similar lighting technique, which shows that Delbonnel is purposefully and carefully lighting his subject in a consistent way. 

Ultimately, Delbonnel attempts to achieve the softest lighting but also have the greatest contrast to have the greatest separation between the subject and the background. In the first two scenes that I have referred too, we see Debonnell achieve subject and background separation by exposing the subject a few stops higher than the background. In the case of outdoor scenes, he does the opposite. Delbonnel achieves separation by exposing for the background, which becomes a few stops brighter than the subjects.  

Bruno Delbonnel has done a wonderful job at achieving very flattering shots through a great use of diffusion and light placements. These techniques used are not only used for aesthetic reasons but to also serve the narrative. Delbonnel has done well to encapsulate the mood of ‘Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince’, which is attributed by his simple yet effective lighting choices.  

References 

Khan, M. (2018). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: The Cinematography of Bruno Delbonnel – DIY Photography. [online] DIY Photography. Available at: https://www.diyphotography.net/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-cinematography-bruno-delbonnel/ [Accessed 27 Apr. 2018].