We decided to explore the use of lighting in different genres and how lighting speaks for a genre by decomposing and analyzing some lighting prototypes in representative films of their genres.
Firstly we brainstormed different genres that we could possibly explore and then researched examples of each. We watched some clips of these different films, noting down on the common lighting techniques unique to each genre.
We decided upon the Thriller genre because we had picked up on similarities in lighting and other production values that we could deconstruct and therefore try to reproduce.
So in our project we’re going to attempt to recreate a scene from the famous Thriller film ‘Psycho’ by Alfred Hitchcock. The cinematographer, John L Russell, sometimes credited as Junior, helped to create this masterpiece, indicative of the style, which influenced modern Thriller films today.
We chose the scene because we thought it would be a challenge for us in terms of the manipulation of lighting. The control over the movement of the light bulb, which is the main source of lighting, has to be exquisitely executed to achieve the way it swings in the scene. As you can see, the lighting on her face varies from every step she takes, so from that comes the challenge of finding the balance between the key and fill light while working with multiple light sources that consist of both hard and soft lighting. And there’s also the concern with continuity because the swinging light bulb creates that oscillating lighting and making it swing the same route every time would definitely be a hard task. But I think the complication in set production was what truly captivated us and we thought recreating this scene would help us explore the possibility of how carefully manipulated lighting can enhance a typical genre’s aesthetics.
This week we’re going to further research into the thriller genre to get a better understanding of common techniques, and research into Alfred Hitchcock’s other films to isolate his specific style and we’ll delve further into this film. Therefore, we’ll have possible techniques we could use if we struggle to recreate the scene exactly, we can use other elements to remain true to the genre.
Also, this week will find our actors, props, costumes and location. Next week we will create a storyboard mimicking the scene and we will deconstruct the lighting into possible techniques we can utilize to achieve the same effect. In week 3 we aim to film our first scene, which is the “Psycho” recreation and in week 4, we’ll take the feedbacks and develop our own scene using the techniques we acquired from our Psycho interpretation . In week 5, we’ll reflect upon our experience from the two exercises.
Feedbacks:
Second vid: series of actions not a script – might not be different enough from vid 1.
Contrast – main issue how to achieve that, low-key lighting.
The color of the wall – light source – textured – light shade from the light bulb swinging.
Location is to be scouted carefully.