Lighting for TV and Film, 3rd Edition

8 Atmospheric lighting

 

 

 

The Lighting Director, like the rest of the production team, follows an ephemeral art of make-believe. At the touch of a button he may transform a plain, dull, ordinary-looking background into an attractive highly evocative image. On the other hand, unsympathetic lighting can reduce a sensitively designed setting to crude artificiality on camera.

There are no ‘rules’ for persuasive picture making, but there are certainly many contributory factors, and we shall be studying these here.

The intangibility of lighting

‘Visual appeal’ is an elusive quality and correspondingly difficult to define. In one situation you can create an arresting picture with a single carefully placed light source. In another it may be necessary ...