Table of Contents
1. What are high-key and low-key?
The brightness and darkness in the movie not only show a strong relationship between light and darkness, but also the layers of the picture are very rich. Usually the pictures presented in this way are called high-key and low-key lighting in movies.
High-key means the picture is bright, and low-key means the picture is dim.
So, is there a picture that is neither high-key nor low-key?
Yes, and there are too many! It is called the midtone, the center part of the figure below, the close-up of the character and the gray area.
There is no doubt that the mid-tone does not have the distinctive personality of high and low-key that dare to love and hate, giving people a sense of moderation and right and left. For this kind of conventional tone that lacks individuality, we can let it go when watching the film, and don’t need to pay special attention. Mainly used for realism, with low emotional color.
The advantage of midtones is that it is easy to retain the details of the picture to the greatest extent. It’s like being a human being. People who have the edges and corners flattened and who are right and left can often get the most benefits.
Remember, high-key and low-key lighting are the most important among the three-tones of high, medium and low.
Back to reality, continue to chat. If you are chatting with people, when someone mentions light, the first thing that pops out of your mind is the movie scene, which shows that you are not literary enough. If someone mentions light, you should seize the opportunity to pull on the art to have a style. At the very least, people like Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Latour who are regarded as the pope by the cinematographer should be lifted out of shock.
Indeed, playing with light and photography is simply too simple compared to thousands of years of art skills! I will talk about this topic specifically later. Have you noticed that the art world generally uses light and dark tones, rather than high-key and low-key to describe the brightness of light. So the question is, why did the film industry create the words high-key and low-key?
The curve in the figure is called the film sensitivity characteristic curve. Simply put, just to explain the meaning of high and low-key.
When the camera shoots a scene, the scenes with different brightness levels are recorded on the film (digital photosensitive element). This curve represents the exposure of still life with different brightness levels.
The curve is divided into three parts, the lower left corner part (dark part area) records dark part information, the middle part records medium brightness information, and the upper right corner records bright part information.
Obviously, if the picture is dim as a whole, the information is mainly concentrated in the lower left corner, the lower part of the curve. This is how the term “low-key” comes from.
If the picture is bright, the information is mainly concentrated in the upper right corner, and the part where the curve position is higher, it is called “high profile”.
2. High-key and low-key emotional function
1) High-profile, the overall picture is bright, most of the scenes are fully exposed, showing positive, cheerful, and energetic positive emotions.
Everyone likes a bright room rather than a dark room. Everyone who visits the mall will find that the light in the mall is always bright, the purpose is to make customers happy and stimulate the desire to buy. In short, the sunny pictures will always give everyone a good impression, and these daily life experiences are fully applicable in movies.
Generally speaking, comedy films, youth films, etc., as well as television commercials for most consumer products, generally use high-profile photography to bring the audience a happy mood.
In the movie “Girl”, although everyone’s eyes are focused on Shen Jiayi, the real protagonist is the pure white school uniform and sufficient light. The high-profile images constitute the protagonist’s fond memories of the middle school era.
2) Low-key, the overall picture is dim, most of the scenery is underexposed, showing negative emotions of negativity, coldness, and mysterious fear.
Take another example of shopping in a shopping mall. In the overall bright atmosphere of the shopping mall, some small shops, such as military stores, will dim the lights, making them look cool and mysterious, attracting potential customers to come in and find out, the reasons will not be repeated. The light processing principle of bars and nightclubs is the same as above.
Generally speaking, tragic tear-jerking films, suspense films, spy films and horror films, etc., generally use low-key photography to bring the audience into an emotional atmosphere of tension and anxiety.
The movie “The Cramers” shocked the audience at the beginning! The low-key light, almost black background, the woman’s melancholy face plunged into contemplation, suddenly bringing the audience into a solemn atmosphere.
Next is the middle shot of a woman touching her sleeping son. The same low-key light, like a religious painting-like lighting method, is emotionally depressing and sad. She is about to leave her husband and start an independent life, a thought-provoking family tragedy kicked off.
3. The experience and ideas of taking notes
1) Pay attention to the formation of high and low-key conditions
Generally speaking, sunny days, outdoor scenes, and daytime scenes tend to be high-key, while rainy days, interior scenes, and night scenes tend to be low-key. Everyone remembers this basic idea to observe when watching a movie, and it is generally not easy to miss information.
The lighting of low-key atmospheres (rainy scenes, interior scenes, night scenes) is more complicated and will cost more. Therefore, for low-cost films, night scenes, rain scenes, and interior scenes in the script are often changed ruthlessly by the producer. Unless it is necessary, the director will generally obediently compromise.
Of course, there are now more financing channels for movies, and directors spend more freely than before. There are fewer creative ideas castrated because of costs. But everyone must pay attention when watching movies and learn to think about it from the perspective of the producer. The money spent on rain scenes, interior scenes, and night scenes is not worth it. Is it really necessary? Can it be changed? If you find a reason to be low-key, congratulations, your understanding of this scene has reached a new level.
Don’t be convinced, you will know what a hero is short of breath when you don’t have enough budget for shooting homework.
2) Be good at catching the most typical examples
The overall style of a film is low-key, and there are many dimly lit scenes in the film. So the question arises. When writing film review examples, what examples should I cite to illustrate the problem? The answer is, give the most typical example.
For example, there are a lot of low-key images in the movie “Looking for a Gun”, showing the suspenseful atmosphere of the town and the anxiety of the policeman Ma Shan after the protagonist loses the gun. Night scenes, interior scenes, and rainy surrounding scenes are extensively used in the movie. There are many examples you can use when explaining the low-key light of the film. Which example should you choose to expand in detail?
3) Focus on the contrast between high and low profile
Tonal contrast is a common gameplay of film light. A high-key (or low-key) scene followed by a low-key (or high-key) scene, through the contrast of light and dark, expressing the strong contrast of emotions.
For example, at the beginning of the movie “The Godfather”, the inside scene, the gang godfather played by Marlon Brando is in a secret meeting with his men. The room is dimly lit and the atmosphere is mysterious and oppressive.
In any low-key style film, there must be one or two high-key scenes, which are the most important scenes. In any high-key style film, there must be one or two low-key scenes, which are the most important scenes!
First demonstrate why there must be one or two scenes that are different from the overall atmosphere. One reason: the film needs dramatic conflict, and there must be changes in mood. If you grieve to the end or laugh to the end, the dramatic tension will disappear.
Reason two: the film needs a visual rhythm. If it is on to the end, the audience will be visually fatigued, but will not feel that the picture is bright, and the sentiment will be greatly reduced. If a small number of low-key scenes are reasonably designed and appear at the right time, the audience’s eyes can be relaxed, which will help convey the overall mood of the film, and vice versa.