Lighting - High Key & Low Key

Light not only provides us with the ability to see an object or subject, it also adds to mood and ambience, offering various atmospheric elements. Both natural and artificial lighting is heavily responsible for giving visual depth and meaning in moving image, therefore I experimented with capturing a variety of scenes in different lighting situations, in an attempt to develop a better understanding of how to use light in the most effective way.

I looked at the use of a low light set-up and began by exploring the effect of natural light; although it may be predominantly associated with high-key lighting, I wanted to manipulate it in a way that would produce a nice contrast between high and low-lights.

For these videos, I made use of window frames and blinds, allowing them to cast shadows across the subjects, creating various shapes and manipulating the intensity of light, hence acting as a diffuser.
To add visual appeal, I also incorporated the use of rack focus, shifting the perspective and making use of the entire frame. Overall, quite a moody atmosphere was created, offering an alternative interpretation to these otherwise mundane objects.



In addition to this, I used a studio set-up to achieve low-light. By using a backlight as the predominant source of illumination, a somber and more dramatic ambience was conceived. The light was placed to the side of the subject, opposite the camera position. This created a distinct contrast, placing only half of the subject in illumination.






I then began to experiment with using natural light to create more high-key style lighting. Although it is a powerful light source, the way it is used will determine what kind of light is produced. Therefore, I chose to have the subject, or the object directly in the light, allowing them to be illumined to a higher extent. The colour that the light produces, is also a significant factor in affecting the overall ambience and in this instance, a warm tone has been constructed, as a result of the use of natural sunlight.