How Hollywood Does It - Film History & Techniques of Lighting

       How Hollywood Does It is a look at the history, techniques, movements and people who create the magic of motion pictures. This program focus’s on lighting and how a cinematographer and lighting engineer work together to showcase what is put before the camera. Lighting is a crucial component to filmmaking because it enables the director to say, “Look here, not there,” or to light up an entire scene so we can peruse what’s in the film’s frame. Without light we are left with this – LIGHTS OFF – nothing. We need light to see the film and we need lighting engineers to handle and control the lighting so the director can attain the look they want. Quite often what makes an average production exceptional is the lighting. This program discusses what tools are used to create different lighting set-ups and uses a number of examples to illustrate how this important element is decided. Lighting design falls into two categories, High-Key lighting and Low-Key lighting. High-Key lighting provides relatively bright, even illumination of the film frame or scene, the kind the director and producer of a big-scale musical productions may choose to showcase 60 dancers and 20 chorus singers and their elaborate costumes. Low-key lighting is focused lighting with strong contrast. Low-key lighting creates fast fall-off, which means that the image goes from light to dark very quickly, falling off into shadows or darkness. Low-key lighting works well in horror films, or any film in which a director wishes to create suspense or keep you guessing what is in the dark, inky shadows on the outskirts of the frame. This program discusses the following films and the lighting of each – Royal Wedding (musical) the scene is brightly lit throughout in both, wide and medium shots. Night of the Living Dead (horror) to enhance the suspense, the lighting creates shadows which heighten the mystery. Flying Deuces (comedy) like a musical, relies on a high-key lighting set-up, eliminating almost all shadows. Hosted by Jeffrey Hill and Mark A. Graves - Jeffrey Hill is an associate professor at Morehead State University, Department of Communication, Media and Leadership Studies. Dr. Mark Graves is an associate professor of English.