It’s difficult to talk about these topics, because honestly, while there are some generally accepted ideas about how certain lighting or colors affect emotion, it’s far from scientific. These topics begin to bleed into the realm of the subconscious that filmmakers play in, and directors must be willing to experiment and possibly fail. You need to decide, based on your experience of other films and understanding of audience pre-conceptions of certain colors and lighting schemes, whether you think your particular arrangement of light and color will have the effect on your audience that you desire. In simple terms, the role of the director is as a stand-in for the audience. Using your gut instinct, you must figure out how you think the audience will react to something as abstract as color and light, among other things. Personally, I love using bold light and color choices to help tell my stories. I have to admit I am very biased toward using strong, saturated colors and lots of contrast, a la Blade Runner. What can I say… I’m weak for that stuff. I think it looks amazing. |