LiGHTING &

DESIGN
Module 5
 INTRODUCTION
Visual artists refer to lighting as
painting with light. A lighting director
or director of photography can use
lights just as effectively and
expressively as any painter uses color
pigments to evoke a specific mood or
visual impression.
 INTRODUCTION
Lighting can be used to
emphasize and dramatize a
subject by bringing objects into
sharp relief or contrast, or it can
be used to soften and to
harmonize. Lighting directly
affects the overall impressions
and feelings generated by
recorded visual images.
 LIGHTING

The expressive design

and effect of a lighting
setup and a scene can
be described as realist,
m o d e r n i s t , o r
postmodernist.
Effects of a Lighting set-up:

1. REALIST
2. MODERNIST
3. POSTMODERNIST
 REALIST
Realist lighting appears to
come from actual light
sources in a setting or
location. Because it
enhances this illusion, realist
lighting conforms to the
audience’s expectations of
how a scene should
normally or naturally
appear in real life.
 MODERNIST
Modernist lighting has no
real-life referent. The
lighting and design directors
are much freer to design a
setup according to purely
abstract or subjective
emotional criteria— that is,
to stylize the use of light or
setting.
The lighting director literally
paints with light to create
emphasis and spatial
impressions. Modernist
lighting tries to achieve a
specific emotional effect or
abstract design through
non-naturalistic patterns of
light.
Modernist lighting and settings
stimulate emotions and create
a dynamic visual impression.
For example, the lighting setup
for a musical variety program
may light an empty stage with
pools of colored light, creating
abstract patterns. The mood or
atmosphere can coincide with
the central theme or emotion
expressed by a song or dance.
POSTMODERNIST
Postmodernist lighting and
settings often mix a variety of
styles drawn from different
genres or modes, such as
narrative fiction and
documentary. By mixing
concrete realism with abstract
modernism as well as different
styles, genres or modes of
lighting and settings can evoke
a complex emotional response
in the viewer.
Some music videos and rock
concerts use postmodernist
lighting effects and locations to
bombard the viewer with
powerful sensations unrelated
to any realist action in the film
or video or any specific
thoughts or feelings inside the
mind of a character. These
lighting effects and locations
reflect the complexity and
diversity of contemporary life,
art, and culture.
 Light and Color

A variety of light sources can be

used for television and film
recording. Each of these can be
distinguished in terms of the color
temperature of the light it emits.
 Light and Color

Color temperature is usually

defined in technical terms of
degrees Kelvin (K). Degrees Kelvin
is a unit of measurement that
refers to the type of light that
would theoretically be given off by
a per fect light r adiator (wh at
physicists call a black-box
radiator) when it is heated to a
specific temperature.
 Principles of Design

Design has three basic functions in

a dramatic production:

1.To establish the time, place, and

mood.

2.To reflect character.

3.To reinforce specific themes.

 Principles of Design

Costumes, sets, props, and

titles denote a specific time
and place at the same time
that they reflect a specific
style or mood.
 Principles of Design

The mood or atmosphere

results primarily from the
abstract, emotional aspects
of design elements and
principles. Specific colors
and shapes create an
emotional mood that can
reveal character and
reinforce themes.
 Principles of Design
An art director works with
three basic principles of
design: design elements,
color, and composition in
creating settings, properties,
costumes, and makeup. The
ways in which these
elements are selected and
combined determines the
nature and success of each
aspect of the design.
 Design Elements
Design elements shares the same
history, theory, and techniques
as the same elements used in
two-dimensional and computer
graphic design.
 Design Elements
SHAPES
Shapes can carry symbolic
meaning. A square-straight flat
gives the viewer a different
impression than a set
constructed using circular and
curved forms in the background.
 Design Elements
TEXTURE
Texture provides a tactile
impression of form on the walls
and on the surface of costumes.
Texture can be real or
represented.
 Design Elements
TEXTURE
Real textures are revealed by
directional light, which creates
shadows and modeling on a
nonsmooth surface. Represented
textures, such as granite, marble, or
wood grains, have smooth surfaces
that create a tactile impression.
 Design Elements
MOVEMENT
Movement can be real or imaginary.
Specific shapes and lines, such as
spirals, concentric circles, and radial
designs, can generate significant
movement and space for actors to
appear and work.
 Design Elements
COLOR

The three aspects of color of primary

importance to a designer consist of
color harmony, color contrast, and the
emotional or symbolic effect of color.
 Design Elements
COMPOSITION

The arrangement and selection of sets,

props, furniture, costumes, and actors
within the frame make up the objects of
composition combined in the following
elements: balance, perspective,
dimensionality, and image area.
 Design Elements
BALANCE
Balance in a set can give the feeling of
stability, or instability. If the design
seems to be out-of-line unnaturally,
then it has lost its stability. Balance also
may be gained by using precisely
matched objects on each side of the
frame, such as two chairs set the same
distance from the side of the frame.
 Design Elements
BALANCE
A set may still be balanced but not have
precisely the same size and graphic
weighed objects on each side of the
frame. Instead, one or more objects of
the same weight on each side of the
frame may create an asymmetrically
balanced design.
 Design Elements
PERSPECTIVE
Perspective refers to the arrangement of
various elements to draw attention to the
most important aspect of the image, which
is called the focal center. A common focal
center is the performer, but for the actor to
be the focal center, the objects in the set
must be arranged so that they do not
overwhelm, hide, or distract from the actor.
 Design Elements
DIMENSIONALITY
The three-dimensionality of reality is
created in either a video or film frame with
a twodimensional reproduction. To give the
impression that the picture represents the 3-
D world, an understanding of how the three
dimensions relate to the frame is necessary.
On-Set
Design
Elements
 On-Set Design Elements

The most important

interactions are those
between scenic design and
each of the following:
lighting, performer
movement, and camera and
microphone placement.
 On-Set Design Elements

Important set elements, such

as key props, can be
emphasized by lighting them
mo re b rig h tly th a n o th er
elements. The texture of a
rough surface can be
accentuated with side
lighting, which creates
textural shadows in the
surface indentations.
 Scenic Design

The first stage of scenic

design is analyzing the script
to determine what kinds of
sets, costumes, and makeup
will be required. A script
usually provides a clear
indication of general time
and place, even if it does not
describe settings and
costumes in detail.
 Scenic Design
The script itself can be
broken down into a list of
specific times and places, in
much the same way as a
breakdown is done for
production scheduling and
budgeting. A designer can
then note the specific
psychological mood of the
action and characters for
each time and place.
 Set Construction
The design of specific physical sets can
b e c onveni entl y d i vi d e d i n t o t w o
stages: layouts or floor plans and
actual set construction. Design
research, layouts, floor plans, and
costume sketches are considered
above-the-line expenses. They are
created before actual production and
before a commitment is made to
actual construction, so that changes
can be made before more sizable
below-the-line construction expenses
have been incurred.
 Set Construction

Before underta ki ng the wor k a nd

expense of set design and construction,
some designers may consider the use
of a neutral background, called a
cyclorama or cyc . A cyc is a heavy,
monochrome curtain that provides a
neutral set backdrop. It is convenient
to set up in a studio and can be used
for many production settings.
 Set Construction

A cyc also may be used as a green

chroma key screen background if
washed with the proper balanced
green lights.
 Virtual Sets

Design of computer-generated or
virtual sets is done completely within
one or more computer programs
intended for that purpose. The same
amount of research and planning must
also precede the actual computer
design as is accomplished for a set
constructed of physical materials.
Many Hollywood reporting and some
news sets now are virtual sets.
 Properties

The designer of a more realistic set

must also select the necessary furniture
and dressings, which fill in the set with
objects and materials that add interest,
realism, or atmosphere. Props or
properties are functional furnishings
that are integrated into the program.
 Costume Design

Most television and film productions

require costumes and clothing that are
selected and designed specifically for
one show. For the majority of such
productions, the wardrobe person
procures costumes from rental houses
that specialize in supplying costumes
to theater, film, and video productions.
 Make Up

Video and film performers’

makeup can be divided into
two types:

1. cosmetic

2. prosthetic.
 Make Up

Cosmetic makeup enhances the

appearance of perfor mer s by
hiding imper fections, adding
needed color, and accentuating
their better features, and
prosthetic makeup transforms the
appearance of a performer’s face
through temporary plastic surgery
and other corrective means.
 Books/References

Introduction to Media Production: The Path to Digital Media Production,

Fourth Edition, Robert B. Musburger Gorham Kindem 2009

Single-Camera Video Production, Fifth Edition, Robert B. Musburger 2010