RTD 365A
Lighting Exercise
Assigned 9/14/15
Due 9/23/15 and 9/24/15
This assignment gives
practice in seeing light as an intentional manipulation of the space inside the
frame. It will give you practice in describing what you see and the accompanying
reading will introduce you to some terms that are used to describe lighting.
The reading you need for
this is online: Millerson“Practical Lighting”
Lighting Analysis assignment:
Select two scenes
from a day or nighttime serial tv/cable drama or sitcom. Or from a movie.
The scenes you
select MUST be interiors because we want to look at how light is artificially
manipulated to create a natural looking space as you will do in some of your
work.
You can use
the same series, but you will need to select two different scenes- in different
locations. You will need to get
still images from this- so it is easier to use online sources of the series.
You don’t need to watch the whole thing though- so even if you find a clip
online, that will work.
While
watching, stop the player and select a still from this scene. Below are instructions for making a
screenshot.
Look carefully
at the lighting in this scene. I
want you to describe what you see.
You do not need to guess at what kind of
lighting instrument they have used.
Describe the
visual components – the way space, shapes, lines, colors, and tone is
constructing the space because of the lighting.
How is depth
constructed or ignored- because of the lighting?
You can use words
to describe lighting characteristics drawn from the Millerson reading.
These are intensity, quality, contrast, direction and
temperature.
Examine all
the variables. For example.
Intensity- is about how BRIGHT the light is.
ANALYSIS: How bright is the light? Where is the brightest part? What is the focus of that illumination in the scene? What is the assumed source of that brightness? (light through a window? A lamp in the scene?) Are there other parts of the scene that are lit less intensely? Do these lend a meaning? Are there shadows?
ANALYSIS: How bright is the light? Where is the brightest part? What is the focus of that illumination in the scene? What is the assumed source of that brightness? (light through a window? A lamp in the scene?) Are there other parts of the scene that are lit less intensely? Do these lend a meaning? Are there shadows?
Quality-
Means whether the light has hard edges on its shadow or soft edges of its shadoe. Quality in
this case does not mean judgement.
ANALYSIS: Do
the shadows have sharp or soft edges?
What are the different kinds of light quality from different sources?
Does the light fall off quickly or gradually?
Contrast- You have been introduced to contrast as
the opposite of affinity. It means is there a big difference.
ANALYSIS: Is there a big range between light and
dark in the scene? Why - does this
add meaning?
Lighting direction- is about whether you see where the
light is coming from. Light sometimes looks like it is traveling in a line, or
coming from a place like a window.
ANALYSIS;
where are the different lights coming from? Is the light traveling in straights
shapes, lines or blocks or is it diffused and fuzzy? How does this emphasize certain parts of composition, and
de-emphasize others?
Light color- This has to do with tone, contrast and
affinity as well as color when you are looking at light.
ANALYSIS: What
are the colors you see with your eyes? Does the light have a color? Does the
light give a color to the objects in the frame? Is the color natural or
unnatural looking to your eyes in the frame? Are the colors bright and saturated
or dull and washed out? Are colors
used in the scene to emphasize certain parts of the composition? is there a
rhythm with colors? eg- some colors are repeated?
What other kinds of language describes
light beside these words? Use the
descriptors associated with these characteristics as much as possible to convey
what you can about the scene through light: what time of day you think it is;
what are the light sources; what kind of mood is being conveyed and what do you
see that tells you this.
Example.
“The light is soft, yellowish and thin. It is diffused, and coming through the
window.
It makes the window stand out as a shape- as a rectangle, and
it casts a glow on the area in the back wall of the room. It helps us see the
back of the room, even though the front – toward the camera- end of the room is
in darkness. There is a contrast between the back – window- wall of the room
and the front of the room where the camera is looking in.
It looks like early morning, because it
is slightly yellow and not intense.
It seems as if it is a cloudy day or there is a lot of fog, because of
the diffusion. I can tell this
because there are also dark shadows in the corners of the room with soft
edges…. And so forth”
MORE suggestions
to write about:
What kind of scene is
this? What kind of room or space
is being simulated?
What time of day is
simulated?
What colors do you see? Does the light look as if it is an
unnatural or natural source?
Where IS the light in the scene?
Why do you think that is so?
Where is there reflection?
What objects in the scene reflect or absorb light?
TRY to use fundamental words
that describe light – and the visual components of the frame- and depth.
REMEMBER: You do not need
to guess at what kind of lighting instrument they have used.
Turning in your assignment:
1) INSERT your
two images into a word processing document.
2) under each
of your images, write a few paragraphs.
3) this should
be at least two pages. Take time to really look at and describe that frame.
4) EMAIL your
completed analysis to me as an attachment at sacamixta@gmail.com
Getting still images on a MAC:
1.
Pause the show.
2.
(with a mac), select apple, shift, 4.
3.
your mouse has a target now:
4.
click in the corner and drag to frame the image. Let go.
5.
you will hear a click. Your image will be on the desktop.
6.
rename the image and insert it into your text document
OTHER WAYS TO GET THE IMAGE:
you can photograph off the
TV screen with your camera or phone
you can save a still from tv
promotion, and scan it into computer
Getting still images on a
PC: Use Screen print button to capture the whole screen. Find an expert with
PC’s to target only a portion of the screen.
READING LINKED HERE: Millerson “Practical Lighting”
