3 Point Lighting

The Three Point Lighting Technique is a standard method used in visual media such as video, film, still photography and computer-generated imagery. It is a simple but versatile system which forms the basis of most lighting. Once you understand three point lighting you are well on the way to understanding all lighting.

The technique uses three lights called the key light, fill light and back light.

Key Light

This is the main light. It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow

Fill Light

This is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. To acheive this, you could move the light further away or use some spun. You might also want to set the fill light to more of a flood than the key

Back Light

The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting (like the key and fill), its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional loo

Our Character Profile

Caitlin Robbins
Becky Curson
Jess Baker 


Laura Shipman is a 16 year old student, on the outside Laura looks like an average girl.
However Laura doesn't fit in with any of her friends, she hangs out with all the popular girls but she never seems to fit in with them, never being invited out with them and she doesn't join in with their conversations. 
Even though she hangs out with the "populars" she doesn't look like any of them. She has wirey brown hair, which she now dyes blonde in an attempt to fit in with the rest of her "friends"
Laura feels depressed that she has no one to talk to in her life. She is depressed and has no way to express her feelings, she thinks about killing herself but never has the nerve to do it

Looking at Mise-en-scene

Facial expressions & Body Language


Facial expressions provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling

If someone is smiling broadly, we assume they are happy but we may get a different feeling if this is accompanied by scary music

Body language may also indicate how a character feels towards another character or may reflect the state of their relationship 




Positioning of characters and objects within a frame


Positioning within a frame can draw our attention to an important character/object


A film-maker can use positioning to indicate relationships between people






Task: What does the positions in the following images reveal about the characters/film?


Image - The Break-up:

They are as far over from each other on the sofa to create a distance to show that they aren't together.

Jennifer Aniston's character has the "double cross" because she has her arms and her legs crossed. by crossing over body parts, it acts as a defence mechanism.

Vince Vaughn's character is slightly looking over to Jennifer's character, but his seems more relaxed than Jennifer's character as his hands are in his lap. 

The frame is quite symmetrical and the sofa cushions are split in the middle to show how they are split.






Colour


Colour carries certain connotations which may add meaning to a scene (i.e. red = passion/danger)


Can face a scene a particular look , feel or mood 


Can be used for dramatic effect




Lighting & Colour


Lighting and colour can be used to achieve a variety of effects:


To highlight important characters or objects within the frame


To make characters look mysterious by shading sections of the face and body


To reflect a characters mental state/hidden emotions (i.e. bright = happy, dark = disturbed, strobe effect = confused)

My Character Profile: Sophie from "Mamma Mia"

Sophie Sheridon is 20 years old. She has a lovely, gentle personality, but can get caught up in her own world, that others can get forgotten.

She's lived on a Greek island all her life, being brought up by single mother, Donna. She's a bride-to-be to fiance, Sky. She's often wondered who her father is, and upon discovering her mother's diary, she finds out that she could have 3 possible fathers.


She's adament on finding out who her father is, so she can "find herself", but ultimately when the answer isn't clear, she doesn't need to know. She's happy as she is.


She invites her 3 possible fathers to her wedding, so that she can be given away by him, but when she meets them, they all turn up at once, together, so it's all a bit sudden. She hides them all from her mother but when her mother finds them, every thing goes pear shaped.

Opening 2 minutes of a feature film

Characters : 


"American Beauty" - Lester Burnham


42 years old, wife called Carolyn and daughter called (?), both if which think he is a total loser. They live in a large suburban house, with neatly primped roses. It's all very neat and tidy, because his wife is very particular (she has matching gardening clogs and pruning tools). He has gay neighbours, both of which are called Jim, who own a jack russell. It's a very stereotypical american suburban neighbourhood where neighbours praise each other's achievements on their roses over a white picket fence.
Lester says he's got 1 year to live, but he doesn't know it yet. I'm assuming some sort of illness.


"Jerry Macguire" - Jerry Macguire


He's the man behind the scenes, we see the athletes, but he's the guy behind it all. He's a sports manager. He does all the business deals, meetings, etc. On average he takes about 264 phone calls a day. He has an extremely busy lifestyle, but he's not known publicly. But lately, things a taking a turn for the worse, he's not seeming as cocky and self assured as he is at the very start of the introduction, but he's beginning to look anxious.


Comparison - Lester vs Jerry


They are both completely different people. Jerry's life revolves around his work. There was no insight into his home life, whereas Lester's introduction was all about his life at home, introducing us to his family, neighbours and how he feels about them. But we found out nothing about his job, other than he needs to wear a suit and carries a briefcase.  


"Early Doors" - Ken


He's getting ready to open his pub. We first hear him singing, before we see him, and when we do, he is filling up an empty bottle of brandy with a fancy name on it, with brandy from a cheap and cheerful bottle. This shows us that he likes to seem all expensive, but in all honesty, he's a bit of a cheapskate. He sings a bout not losing his dignity, whilst giving the toilets a quick once over with a toilet brush, and puts his homemade sign back up on the wall, reaffirming his cheapskate-y ways. He leaves the toilets, due to a banging at the door, one of his regulars has arrived and is gagging for a pint, filling him on all the gossip. There is no indication of Ken having a wife or family in the introduction.




Opening Sequences


"London To Brighton"


It starts off by getting straight into what is happening in the film, there's no introduction of what is happening and why. Instead, we follow the brief moment of a woman and a girl, trying to escape from somewhere, with blood and bruises all over themselves. It entices the watcher to keep on watching so they can find out why the characters are in this state, and what they are running away from.


"The Graduate"


It's very simple start to a film. It's just him going through an airport, it's very dull which might represent his life - a dull, boring life. You don't learn anything significant about the character. there is no dialogue, other than the over head speakers of the captain on the plain and the airport telling people to keep to the right.


"Naepoleon Dynamite"


It's very clever and original. They use all sorts of different ways of introducing the cast and crew, for example; using ketchup on chips to write the name of the director, or going through all the cards in someone's wallet. It was very engrossing and you wanted to see what else they would use to introduce someone. It then ended with the top bun of a hamburger being slapped over the name (which was written in mayo on the burger itself) and then went straight into the film.

2 things I learnt today

1.) I learnt in more detail of what the course in-tales. For example, I had no idea that we had to use a blog to update our work.


2.) I learnt about Mise En Scene. It is what is put into a scene or frame. The 5 elements of Mise En Scene are;

• Settings & Props
• Costume, Hair & Make-up
• Facial expression & Body language
• Lighting & Colour
• Positioning of character/object in a frame