In this exercise we are asked to look for examples of light levels changing radically in a scene.

The following shots comes from Ron Howard’s 2001 movie called A Beautiful Mind about the life of the mathematician John Nash.

In the shots below, John Nash who has just started at Princeton University, is frustrated by his lack of recognition and his inability to find a new mathematical idea. After hitting his head on the glass window out of frustration, John and his roommate get into a half argument/half tussle. His roommate tells him that it is not his fault that he can’t find his idea and that he should get out into the world to find a real idea instead of staring at the walls in his room. The roommate then pushes John’s desk and contents out the window. As the shot moves to the outside, the light gets brighter and is at its brightest with John looking down on the snow and his smashed desk. This is his moment of realisation that he has to get out and starting living in the real world if he is to come up with anything new.

 

In the sequence where John is developing his idea, the journey towards completion is characterised by the light getting brighter over time. This is done by starting with an exterior shot of John sitting at his window working hard. It is winter, dark and the snow is falling but he continues to work. The camera zooms out and as it zooms, the scene lightens up, first with the snow stopping and melting and then, in an indication of time passing, turning to spring with its brighter light. Not only has time passed but the light has indicated that the oppression John feels at not a having a amazing idea is finally starting to lift.

  

After John makes his mathematic breakthrough in dynamic economics, he is recognised as brilliant and would get any job he may want. After leaving university to become an analyst, the film jumps five years into the future and John has been invited to the Pentagon to analyse radio transmissions that the Americans have intercept from Moscow that they believe contain a code. They would like John to decipher the code. The light has changed from the comfortable, yellow brown of Princeton to a harsh blue light indicating a change of mood. Where Princeton was ultimately a warm and cozy learning environment, this is a harsh environment and signifies that not all is as it appears – the threat may not be as apparent as it is being made out to be. This suspicion is further enhanced later in the scene where he has solved the code and the military personnel blatantly avoid answering any of his questions.

The atmosphere takes a decidedly more dark and suspicious turn when John is approach by William Parcher of the Department of Defense outside of the Wheeler Laboratories. This is the first scene in the movie where it is night time. Of course, the lighting is dark and Parcher and John are shrouded in darkness. As they walk towards a secure building, they are silhouettes (ominous figures) against the two spotlights they are walking towards. The blue-grey lighting first seen at the Pentagon returns. Clearly this colour is being associated with something suspicious.

 

 

The following shots are taken from Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 movie, Don’t Look Now, which is a macabre psychological horror film.

In the shots below, John and Laura are in a church because Laura wants to pray for her dead daughter. This is the point where doubts are starting to creep into John’s mind as to how sane his wife is because she is convinced (by a supposed psychic woman) that her daughter can communicate from the dead. Julie lights candles to her daughter. You see her lighting the candle and then the candle lighting her face.

 

In the very next sequence, Donald goes over to an electric light hanging from the ceiling, you see him look up at the light and light switch with his face in darkness, the next shot is of the light going on and off and then on again. This is followed by a close up of Donald as the light lights up his face. I think this lighting going on and off could signify that he does not know what is true and what is illusion.

  

A little while later, Donald sees one of the woman who convinced his wife about their daughter being with them although dead. He runs to the candles and pretends to pray. Although you don’t get a separate shot of the candles, they are visible as he kneels down and you are aware that the next shot, which is a close up of him hiding his face from the woman, is being lit by the candles. The lighting which comes from below, makes him look eerie.

In the next scene, it’s a pretty straight forward light change. Both John and Laura are lying in bed asleep in the dark and then the phone rings. John answers the phone. Whilst he is trying to figure out who is on the other end of the line, Laura switches on one of the bedroom lights. It is not obvious which one; you would expect it to be the bedside light which would light John’s face on one side only, however his entire face is lit indicating that it is probably the ceiling light.

 

 

The following shots are taken from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings – Fellowship of the Ring.

In this scene, Frodo and gang enter the forests of Lothlorien and are accosted by the elves. The colours are natural with a slightly yellow hue. The elves are backlit making them appear more ethereal than Frodo’s group.

As they ascend the stairs into Caras Galadhon (city of trees), the colour of the light changes from natural lighting to a blue/white lighting giving some objects an ice like appearance. At the point where Frodo’s group is at the bottom of a fancier set of stairs, Frodo’s face goes from in the shadow to brightly lit up.

 

The next shot shows two figures from behind walking down the stairs – on of which, Galadriel, is the source of the light. This change of light shows the audience that Galadriel is a force for good and that she is able to give hope in the darkest of times.

 

 

Later in this scene, Frodo offers Galadriel the ring which she admits she has long for. As she approaches Frodo she realises what the ring would do to her over time and using whatever magic elves have, she projects the image of her in the future – the light changes from blue white to very green as her face also takes on a monstrous look.

 

Bibliography

A Beautiful Mind [feature film] Dir Ron Howard. Universal Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, USA, 2001. 135min.

Don’t Look Now [feature film] Dir. Nicolas Roeg. Casy Productions, UK, 1973. 110 min.

Lord of the Rings – Fellowship of the Ring [feature film] Dir. Peter Jackson. New Line Cinema, Wingnut  Films et al., New Zealand, USA, 2001. 178 min.