For my last reflective post for the studio, I wanted to do a short lighting analysis of one of my favorite childhood films in Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban, which ushered a darker and more mature tone for the franchise that is heavily shot at night. The analysis links in nicely with our study this week of lighting scenes at night using the ambiance of the setting and re-explores the rationale behind motivated lighting.

The scene starts with an establishing shot (above) looking down on the space that expresses the motivation for the lighting on Harry, coming predominantly from a florescent street light circled blue, that creates a top light glow around Harry’s hair that brings him out from the dark background (below). The playground scene behind him appears heavily filled yet not removed from naturalism as the cool hard lighting mimics the ambiance that could be believably be achieved by the moonlight. The moon is established as being the motivation for the fill by the expansive soft glow in the top right of the establishing frame circled in red.

The key light is also acknowledged by Harry when it starts flickering and extinguishes, adding to the believability that the street light could singularly be responsible for the lighting in this scene. When the street light goes out, it sucks the warmth out of the scene which is now proposed to be lit entirely by ambient moonlight which is cooler. It’s evident when comparing the above and below shots, that additional light is being pumped onto the left side of Harry’s face given away by the sudden brightness of the spotlight glowing on the footpath screen left (below). This is disguised by a cut between the street light and this shot which aids the subtlety of the light transition.

I really like the lighting qualities present in this scene. It clearly establishes naturalism through the lighting decisions that reflect the ambience of a dark street, and is highly motivated by the sources you would expect to expose such a location at night. Despite this, the lighting is highly dramatised through the use of juxtaposing colour temperature between the blue street ambience and the warm glow of a street lamp. When the street lamp is switched off, it leaves a cold and empty scene that not only foreshadows the danger that follows, but is highly functional on both a creative and technical level. It’s very cleverly constructed.