I’ve been really enjoying doing the lighting scene analyses this semester, so I decided to do one more for our final assessment. I’ve picked this short scene from Great Gerwig’s Lady Bird (2017), which changes between three very different lighting conditions within a short period of time.

The first shots of this scene are in the well-lit diner where Lady Bird and her friends are in the midst of a food fight. The lighting in these shots are clearly motivated, both by the lights hanging from the ceiling inside the building, as well as the lights from the signs on the buildings across the carpark and the street lights that can be seen outside. Having so many light sources clearly visible makes the amount of light in the scene feel more realistic, and doesn’t make it seem so strange that all of the actors in shot are relatively well lit as they move around in each shot. The amount of light here could also be seen as a reflection of how everything in this moment is going well for Lady Bird, it feels light and happy.

When the scene cuts to the bathroom, the lighting feels a little less consistent throughout the space. There is light falling on the mirrors and sinks, but both the girls are standing on the edge of the shadows so the light is hitting the offside of their faces, a stark contrast to the previous shot where they’re faces were lit completely. This is perhaps suggestive of the discovery the pair will make in a few seconds.

The camera tracks to follow Lady Bird and Julie as they move from the women’s to the men’s bathroom. They walk in and out of light. When Lady Bird opens the cubicle door to find Danny with another boy, she is standing underneath a bright light, illuminating her whole face as she realises what she’s just walked in on. As she works out of the bathroom, she walks back into the shadows, as she has to work out what this discovery means for her. The blocking and timing in this shot all feels very precise and considered in how it reflects Lady Bird’s shift in emotions and reactions to what has happened.

The final shot of the scene shows the two friends listening to music and sobbing in the car with their seats tilted back. Everything is dark in the shot, except the light from what we can assume is meant to be a street light. It has clearly been cut so that the light only covers half of each of the girls faces, meaning there is just enough light that we can see what the girls are doing, but not so much that it becomes overpowering and clashes with the sad mood of the scene.