Lighting
Using lighting in media and filming allows you to create different atmospheres and moods in a scene. It can help the audience expect what may happen and you can ensure what they may be feeling throughout the film with the types of lighting used. Lighting also allows you to focus on certain characters to show their importance during the film and at certain parts of the scenes; giving certain characters the spotlight where as others will have a darker light.
When setting up lighting you have to think of the key light, fill light and back light. The key light aims directly at the main character or a main object that the audience should focus on. The fill light is a much softer light and is placed opposite the key light and helps to reduce shadows that is caused by other lighting. Finally the back light shines behind the character or object which separates it or them from the background. |
Types of Lighting:
High key lighting:
This is where they use a high proportion of fill light with key lighting; which causes much brighter and more even effect. Using high key lighting creates the feeling of a safe and friendly environment. High key lighting is used more in comedies and musicals because it enhances a sense of liveliness. However it can also be used in dramas to emphasize intensity. Wizard of Oz is a good example of a film using high key lighting throughout the film. |
Low Key lighting:
This is where there is a low proportion of fill light with key light; which creates the scene to have a much more shadowy effect. Low key lighting makes the scene seem a lot darker and can make the audience feel more tense. It can also hide certain characters or features of a certain characters until a later part of the scene. Low key lighting works best with mysterious and horrors as it can cause a character to seem much more vulnerable and creates the sense of a dangerous and frightening environment. |
Natural Lighting:
This is non artificial lighting; which is where the scene is filmed without any external lighting but is just using daylight and outside lighting. It is good to use natural lighting when it is bright enough outside without having to use any additional lighting; it may be helpful when doing a garden scene or a scene that is outside. If you added other lighting it may have caused unnecessary shadows that could ruin your shot; causing it to be darker and not as light. |
Lighting we used
Throughout our entire trailer we decided to include all sets of lighting depending on the mood we wanted to create in the scene. Where we wanted the trailer to have a large amount of shadows we used natural lighting but chose to film when the sun was going down; this would allow us to have a more unsettling impact on the audience. However we also contrasted this because we used natural lighting when we also wanted the mood to seem more joyful and like a memory.
Throughout our entire trailer we decided to include all sets of lighting depending on the mood we wanted to create in the scene. Where we wanted the trailer to have a large amount of shadows we used natural lighting but chose to film when the sun was going down; this would allow us to have a more unsettling impact on the audience. However we also contrasted this because we used natural lighting when we also wanted the mood to seem more joyful and like a memory.
We used natural lighting when we were filming the children playing in the playground so we were able to create a specific mood to our audience.
We also wanted to show a clear contrast between the children being happy and playing during the daytime in the playground like everything is normal with the events that are occurring when it gets dark and the murders start to occur. |
We also used natural lighting when we filmed in the graveyard; we decided to film when it was beginning to get dark outside so we could create more shadows. We did this because we thought that using shadows would add more depth to the shot, however shadows also represent the unknown this added more dynamics to our shots. Shadows are also black, which is the colour of death therefore we wanted to have plenty of shadows to accompany the large quantity of murders seen in our trailer.
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We used low key lighting when we were filming the killing where a girl was tied to a tree; we did this by filming at a specific time of the day and added a bright light to allow us to create a silhouette. This also creates a focus point which means that the audience's attention will be 100% on the shot therefore it can generate a greater impact, whereas if we didn't use a light then it would just be a dark shot and would probably lead to some confusion as to what is happening in the shot shown.
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Locations
Using a variety of different locations in your trailer creates a variety of atmospheres and emotions; it allows gives the audience an idea of what the trailer is all about and can make them ask questions like "why this location." This is good because it will make the audience want to watch the actual real thing if it was made. Also by using a variety of different locations shows time change and will help the audience follow a story line.
Abandoned house
An abandoned house appears quite often in horror movies because they have relatable locations to the audience; therefore the impact will be greater. For example things in your own house that you see in a horror you watch will remind you of certain scenes, this causes you to think about the movie days after originally watching it. |
Forests
A forest is a good location for a horror to be filmed in. However it can create difficulties for filming as forests do not have many variating locations in them, unlike a house which has different rooms a forest is the same throughout. However this can be used ot effect as it is very easy to create the effect of being lost in a forest and with being lost comes uncomfort for the audience as they do not know what could be there and where it could be hiding due to the thousands of trees. |
Church and Graveyards
This is another popular location for horror films; especially ones containing more of a spooky atmosphere which will allow the directors and producers to go in their own direction and story line easier. The fact the environment is already quite spooky it makes it a better location for more paranormal horrors and ones that involve religion and beliefs. It is also good because it is something that most people see almost everyday therefore it will remind the audience about the movie; which will lead to the movie being advertised through word of mouth. This is advantageous for the movie and its producers. |
Locations we used
Throughout our trailer we used a variety of different locations which will allow us to create a large amount of moods and atmospheres all the way through. We used some settings that would help link our trailer to death and sadness and then we choose others to make the atmosphere much more happy and relaxed. This would allow the audience to see the contrasts we wanted to create.
Graveyard and Church
Some of our scenes from the trailer are in a graveyard because if we made a full movie this would be one of the main settings as our film is called "The Grave Filler." Also having a church as our main settings shows the audience that our main theme was death and sadness. The graveyard makes for a creepy setting. |
Inside of a Cathedral
We used the Cathedral for one shot in particular; this was where we filmed the back of three characters heads with the cathedrals interior in front. We wanted to include an inside shot of the cathedral because we had most of our shots outside with the front of the cathedral or church; this also added more depth and allowed us to link to the idea of a belief a lot more. |
Play ground
We used the location of a playground to show innocent and allow us to contrast everything else that was going on in the trailer. A playground is a place of laughter and happiness where people go to have fun; this is a massive difference to what the story line of the trailer was. We edited our clips in a way to make them look like they were a happy memory; this could represent that these children that was once having fun and looking vulnerable are now the dangerous killers. |
Field
We used the field because it goes along with Wes Craven's theory about characters being more vulnerable when they are isolated in a large opened space area. We used a field as our location in two separate shots; one where we used a neutral shot and another from a slightly high view. This allowed us to create tension for the audience One of our shots were of people running straight through the field; a victim being chased by a killer. The fact it is shot from the floor allowed us to blur the shot and focus at different times when the people ran past. |
School
We used the school because we needed an extra setting for some of our killings; by having an extra location it showed the large amount of murders that were occurring and the fact it is in a school shows that no where is safe A hallway in the school was used for another murder scene; this is where we just filmed a victim led on the floor. The rain was a shot by circumstance we thought it would act a good effect on our trailer if we just flashed the shot in and out. |
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