This issue introduces two more alternative light positions, top light and foot light.
Let’s talk about the top light first, which refers to the light coming from above the head and roughly perpendicular to the horizon.
Table of Contents
Top Light: Expressing Fatigue of Characters
Think about it, when is the sun directly above your head?
Of course it was sunny noon. After half a day of study and work, people need to eat and rest for a while, and people get tired most easily! Therefore, Dingguang is often used to express the mental fatigue of the characters.
There is a clear shadow under the actor’s nose, which can confirm that this is the top light effect.
This is a scene in the movie “Graduate”, the actor rushes all the way to his girlfriend’s house in the rain, trying his best to save the love. In the close-ups, the wet hair, panic eyes, panting expression, and of course, the light effect, showing that he is extremely tired at the moment and unable to control the progress of the event.
When looking at the light, I often ask, does the light here have a basis for life?
Of course there is! Although it has not been shot, it can be assumed that it comes from the lighting on the ceiling, and the film techniques that have the basis of life, including the use of light, are more able to withstand the test of time.
This example also tells us that if you only want to take pictures of people beautifully, then you should pay attention to avoid top light, otherwise you may have a tired face.
How to avoid the top light effect when filming at noon on a sunny day?
The teacher is rushing homework, and he has to shoot the film at noon to keep up with the progress, and he doesn’t want the top light to interfere. What should I do? See an example
Observing the light and shadow on the ground, it is not difficult to see that this is a scene at noon on a sunny day, and the light is relatively strong. Cut to a closer look:
What did you find?
The exposure is one level brighter, and the shoulder backlight is unique, all of which are right! But have you noticed one thing? The light projected on the character is a bit different from the ambient light.
If you try to walk into the woods at noon, in addition to the messy light and shadow of the branches, there will be an obvious top light effect, and the value of the face will be destroyed in an instant.
In this example, add a soft light cloth over the person during shooting (see Issue 009: Soft light and hard light in the movie) to soften the strong direct light, which not only effectively eliminates the top light, but also wipes it off. After removing the messy light spots on the branches and leaves, the appearance returned to normal.
Of course, there is an easier trick, which is to find a shaded area to shoot. The light in the shadow area is scattered light, which is relatively soft and has no clear sense of direction. Naturally, the top light effect does not exist!
Top Light: the Performance of the Characters is Tyrannical and Terrible
Let’s see, if the top light is strong and it is located directly above (or slightly behind) the head of the character, what effect will it produce?
The recessed part of the character’s eye sockets is in the shadow, and the sides of the cheeks are also shaved off by the shadow, and the shadow under the nose is added to form a skeleton. Therefore, top light is often used to portray terrible characters.
Look at what the photographer does. The first step is to make sure to use the upside down shot to show that the father is strong. The second step is to use close-ups to emphasize the expression of the father, and also delineate the lighting area for the lighting engineer. The third step is overhead lighting. Carefully move the light to a position slightly behind the top of the head, so that the eye sockets are in shadow, and shadows appear under the cheeks and nose. At the same time, the background is darkened to create a strong contrast effect and let the emotions It becomes more intense, ok! That’s it.
Foot Light: Performance of Weird and Horrible Effects
Foot light refers to the light below the person’s eye level, and is often used to express weird and terrifying effects.
In daily life, we are more accustomed to the position of the light source above, such as sunlight, moonlight, and most lighting scenes, when we suddenly see the light from below, or feel a little horrible, as if from hell.
It’s scary to make funny faces with bare feet. This is the truth that the little friends also understand. But the heroes who were quietly drifting by on an electric car at night, the red, green, and red feet on the dashboard shined on their faces, Weibei knew that he scared passers-by.
There is a scene in the movie “Looking for a Gun”. On the night Li Xiaomeng was killed, policeman Ma Shan found his wife washing her face in the middle of the night. He walked over to talk to his wife. Is this lens like a ghost film?
It’s not like, to be precise, this is how ghost movies are shot! The night, the blue lights, the woman in white clothes, the disheveled hair, and of course, there are indispensable feet. Observe the nose of Ma Shan’s wife, there are obvious shadows, which is an important sign of bare feet.
This scene made Ma Shan’s wife look very strange and terrifying, and deepened the audience’s suspicion of her. The use of light is still somewhat based, and it can be assumed that the foot light comes from the reflection of the sink water.
To give another example, from the movie “Old Nowhere”, the ruthless assassin went to a hotel to kill. His weapon is particularly weird. It is a chilling air gun that will not leave traces of bullets after the attack.
After the incident, the killer sat on the bedside, and an overturned table lamp on the ground constituted the light source of foot light, which seemed real and credible! I have to admire the photographer’s meticulousness, not only to shape the atmosphere, but also to give the basis for the real light source.
In this picture, the killer’s position is centered, shot upside down, and in the shadow area, which looks terrifying and terrifying. The foreground (desk lamp) and the background (bathroom) constitute a bright-dark-bright light zone, which makes the picture very vivid and not dull at all!
The desk lamp in the foreground and the background scene lie on the ground in a symmetrical position of the dead person. The audience’s attention can easily switch from the bright lamp area to the dead person on the ground, and then back to the killer in the center. Even the audience’s attention is quietly manipulated. Photographer, awesome!