BP: noupe.com

We encounter design elements everywhere in our daily life experiences, but when we seek to step outside of reality and into a world unlike our own, design elements become even more crucial. That is exactly what each movie aims to do. Entire moods and undertones can be determined through choice lighting or a filtering technique. Harry Potter 7 and Alice and Wonderland are perfect examples of how lighting can be so impactful. Both of these films appear to be shot through, most likely a blue filter. This enables the magical, other world qualities that all Harry Potter and Tim Burton films seem to possess to come alive. These are distinctive stylistic differences that facilitated an instantly recognizable aesthetic that audiences can immediately identify. So distinguishing that you can always recognize even a Tim Burton film trailer without any confirmation, and the same is true with the Harry Potter franchise.

 Sweeney Todd is another Tim Burton film that generates atmosphere through the use of this gritty, dark lighting. Although it is dark each image is extremely crisp and detailed. There is no blurring effect due to the change in lighting, which makes the film that much more creepy, because you’re able to see every detail of this gloomy world. Movies like Pride and Prejudice use lighting in the same way to contribute to the overall feel of the film. However in Pride and Prejudice a sense of increased warmth is applied to add an ethereal quality to almost each and every shot. The scene at the end with the sunrise in the background is a perfect example of how this warm glow is used as a major indicator throughout the film.

For my film I plan to take all of these factors into consideration by really focusing on the placement inside each shot, and by choosing the right lighting for what I’m trying to portray. Due to the fact that my film will consist of many motorcycle shots, I want to find various ways to depict the motorcycle so that the audience can gain a comprehensive view in a short amount of time. One example of this will be shots taken from a lower perspective that will capture the power and exhilaration that accompanies a Harley Davidson.