Knowing the difference between good and bad lighting coupled with the knowledge of what makes a frame great, is the key combination when creating a visual that will stay with your audience. Each will struggle without the other to back them up and each take years of experience in order to execute them well. A strong hold over lighting will allow for your actors as well as your scenery, to pop. Poor lighting can make an actor look far from how you - and the actors themselves - want to look. In this way, lighting is what stands between you and a happy actor! Not only does good lighting allow for your actors to look amazing but how you light will also decide the mood and ultimately make or break what mood you’re going for. Say you want your visual to feel dark and ominous, but your scenes are fully lit and without contrast. The audience is not going to feel that sense even if your actors and dialogue are conveying that tone. Instead they’re going to be confused seeing actors in distress while the scene looks as though it’s a sunny, cheerful day. In order to achieve the tone you’re going for, you’ll need someone who understands high key vs. low key lighting. Their knowledge of what lights to use, where to put them, and the effect that each light has will all be the key to achieving the atmosphere you want.

 

Framing will be the piece of the puzzle that helps decide whether what’s on the screen will be compelling. Your scene can be serious with actors expressing something of great importance but if the frame is set in a way that does not help to sell the hard work they’re putting in, it’s all for nothing. If a character is expressing their love for another character, how do you think the audience will feel if the frame is set below their eye level, making it appear as though they have no neck? How do you think the audience will feel if their eye lines do not meet and one takes up more of the frame than the other? They’ll feel confused as once again, as it was with lighting, what is being expressed through the actors and what is being expressed through your visual, are two extremely different things.

 

Framing is also used to convey to your audience who is the hero and who is the villain. Some psychology applies to this as we pick up subconscious cues when viewing any visual. Imagine your main character, the hero, on the screen. They’re having a conversation with your villain. Do you imagine your character on the left side while the villain stands on the right? Most people will as we read from the left to the right and will almost always associate good with that first side of the frame. A character moving from left to right can be used to signify their heroic status while they’re opposite, right to left, can be used to signify, well, they’re opposite! This same effect can be applied to lighting as well as choosing to shadow an actor’s face on the left or right side can show if they have any underlying sinister intentions.

 

The goal of film-making is to destroy the air of disbelief. You want your audience to forget they’re watching a film or any kind of visual and instead feel as though they are looking into, by some magical means, a different world. Anything that comes off as unnatural will quickly turn your dramatic thriller into a comedy very quickly. The importance of working with someone or a group of individuals who understand these two components well, cannot be stressed enough. At the end of the day, working with people who hold this skill set is going to ultimately decide if your visual looks like it belongs in the backlogs of YouTube or if clients would be proud to show your work wherever it need be. This is why A41 takes the time to vet each and every one of our creative partners, ensuring that our clients will have access to the most premier media experts the Ocean State has to offer - all through one convenient, central service. Whether you’re an investor, an independent producer, a representative of a major media studio, or just looking to bring creative content into your business or enterprise - we’ve got your back.