Lighting

Lighting is very important in film and cinema, it doesn’t only light up the stage for the cameras but it is also used to set the mood and to spot light main characters and features.

Using lighting in different ways can set different moods and help to portray the story, a lot of horror films will use dim lighting,  this is to set the scene by creating shadows and making the viewer less aware of what’s in the background. Also it will hide a detail in the shoot making you concentrate on what’s about to happen.

Dull lighting will also create highlights on areas, this can help make different focus points, by highlighting actors faces making it clear what the viewer is supposed to be concentrating on and it also brings out their facial expressions.

Lighting can also change when cutting from scene to scene; this will clearly show the change in dynamic. Going from a very dark scene to a colourful scene with a more ambient colour will really change the mood helping to set the scene of the story, a lot of directors will also go from warm to cold to change the mood and giving the effect of a change in location.

Using shadow can change the depth of a shot, pulling the subject out of the background making him a focus point. Using lighting to manipulate shadow to make them longer or shorter and moving them about can change a shoot, giving an illusion its at a different angle.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) is a very dark film with a lot of shadows, this helps to recreate the gloominess of the graphic novel which it was based on, making Batman the dark creature of the night he was designed to be.

Fight club (1999) is a very dark film which uses lighting to make each scene more obscure, it is used to help set the emotion of the main character as he is suffering from insomnia.

 

 

Settings of Troy

Troy is a 2004 epic war film written by David Benioff and directed by Wolfgang Petersen and loosely based on Homer’s Iliad

The film Troy was set in ancient Greece about Achilles the acclaimed son of the gods and the assault made on Troy.
This is a good film to use as an example for how important settings of a film are because there was no way this film could have been shot in a studio which means the location was vital for the success of the film. There were three locations used to recreate the landscape of the ancient city of Troy, the main sets of the city of Troy were shot in the island of Malta. Other scenes were filmed in Mellieha and on a small island named Comino.

The big battle outside the walls of Troy were filmed Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
All of the big battles and action takes place outside meaning that the settings of the film had to be perfect. This is why they chose more than one location to shoot the film in.

Cinematography

Cinematography derives from the Greek word which translates as “writing in movement”. It applies to video footage shot for the film, it looks at where it’s shot from and what kind of shot it is e.g. pan shot, close up, extreme close up etc.

Using cinematography helps to create a feel to the film using POV shots and this will then make you feel empathy for the characters and put yourself in their shoes. When thinking about the cinematography you have to think which scenes will be best, where to take the shot from to show the best angle of the characters and the back ground.Cinematography is linked to photography a lot because it’s thinking about the where and the why of a shot. Looking at frames and frames inside frames to decide what’s best for a certain scenes. These slots have to dictate the focus point of the story by using moving images.

The cinematographer and the director work closely together, the cinematographer is almost just as important as the director. It’s basically the cinematographers job is to translate the directors vision into film footage.

PROPING UP THE FILM

Props are also used with costumes and are equally as important. There is no point having a really good costume then plastic props, a lot of the time the props used in big production films are real replacers of the actually thing. After all you wouldn’t catch a pirate using a wooden sword.

The props actually finish off the costume and can also be used as storytelling so it is very important that they are accurate to the time the film is set.

“Troy” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” both used real props, which means there swords were deadly and sharpe!

Costume and Make-up

Costume and make-up are very important in cinema because they set the scene of the film as well as help to tell the story. A lot can be shown by outfits of a character like their class, what time period it is set in and some of their character traits.Costumes can also be used to represent something which you will pick up on straight away, for example if they are wearing police/army/doctor uniform this explains the profession of somebody at a glance. Ripped, dirty and scruffy clothes can be used to express that somebody is deprived of money.

Using the costume as a hint to the characters background means the narrative will be more natural and can concentrate on the plot of the film.

He doesn’t look like that much of a big spender!

Mise En Scene

Mise en scene comes from a phrase used in theatre which is French for putting on stage, this applies to film as well but it means “everything in front of the camera.” So as you can imagine mise en scene makes up a lot of the film, even the actors and movements (blocking) making it one of the most important parts of filming today. Mise en scene is the starting point to every film, it sets the scene and will explain the film before the story is even being told.

These are the different elements that make up mise en scene:

• Set
• Props
• Costume
• Settings
• Make-up
• Lighting
• Colour
•  Movement

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