Lighting and its effects of a Still Image and Short Extract

Carrie

This is a still image from the film "Carrie" which was produced in 1976 by Brian De Palma. From looking at the image you will probably notice that there is a mixture of lighting which has been used as it shows both high key and low key elements. Low key lighting has mainly been used in the background which in a way represents the danger that may be seen within the film. High key lighting has been used to make the image appear more realistic giving a definitive meaning possibly behind the narrative, the way in which the woman in the blue garment is positioned and the way in which the high key lighting is shining upon her face links to how her character could be portrayed within the film, possibly a deep believer in God as she is also looking up. The audience get to see the characters' facial expressions due to the lighting on their faces, the image shows that the young female character is possibly scared and unsure of what the older female character is going to do and it appears as though she is struggling to set herself free from the older female character's hands due to her tight grasp of the younger female character.

A typical convention of horror films (which is the genre of this image) is underlighting, within the image this has provided a distorted effect which contributes to the genre of the film due to it's use of making the two characters seem more creepy and frightening. With both uses of high key and low key lighting seen within the image, it also let's the audience know that either one or both character's seen within the image have another side to them, possibly a dark one which will make the audience prepare themselves for what events may unveil within the film and how these events may lead to the climax of the film.

This is a short extract taken from the film "Carrie", there appears to be a distinction between the types of lighting used or at least seen within the extract. Mostly seen within the extract is low key lighting, this gives the impression that something unpleasant may be about to happen, this makes the film or at least the extract appear more realistic as low key lighting greatly represents the horror genre.

Although it is mainly low key lighting being used within the extract, there are elements of high key lighting which have been provided by the filler lights which helped to soften the shadows created by the characters; this enables the extract to appear as dim as possible allowing the setting of the extract to be taken into account of with it being a prom. Throughout the extract we also see that a red type of lighting has been used possibly provided by the underlighting, we mainly see that this has been used throughout all the extract, with red possibly connoting blood and death within the film, the audience get a quick insight into how this may be linked to the climax of the film and possibly what could happen. As with the still image and the connection between the high key and low key lighting being used the audience know that the female character at one point within the extract does have a good side which is portrayed by her winning Prom Queen but they may also realise that she does have a bad side deeply represented by the amount of low key lighting used within the extract.