The Basics of Lighting for Film Noir

Film Noir

By learning about the three point lighting to start off with which is the fundamental system all filmmakers learning how to light will start with, I thought I would also research online and look into the basics of lighting of when my group produces the Film Noir.  The concept of lighting for film noir is deep and complicated topic but a great subject for modern filmmakers.

Lighting -

Link for website I have read and got information from - http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/the-basics-of-lighting-for-film-noir/

The common thread of film noir lighting is low key lighting, a style called Chiaroscuro which emphasized shadows and harsh lighting to create a sense of depth and volume in paintings.

The three point lighting system in regards to lighting a face mainly for terminology as noir setups could use fewer or considerably more more than three lights. The first and most important light is the key light – this is usually the brightest and most dominant light of a setup. Complementing the key is the Fill light, which is place opposite of the key light to fill in some of the shadows left by the key. The final light of the three point setup is the back light – this light adds an outline to separate the subject from the background.

In Film Noir, the most prominent lights are going to be strong keys and back light. Film Noir generally uses “hard lights” – the hardness or softness of a light is the type of shadows it creates. Hard lights leave sharp edged shadows – this is created by a single point source of light where the light rays are running more or less from a single point in space. 

Hard shadows almost define the film noir look: be it the alternating patterns of dark and light slashes from venetian blinds to a silhouette of a man running down an alleyway. Soft lighting is used more conservatively often glamorizing female characters.

From researching and reading from this website, it has helped me of understanding more about using the lighting for the Film Noir which obviously will be helping me and my group when it comes to making our short film.