Lighting is one of the essential elements of a great movie. Although “Elements of cinematography go far beyond the mise en scène element of lighting” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014), the way a cinematographer creates the “look” has much to do with lighting. Lighting sets the tone to give the film or scene an accurate feel.
High-key lighting and low-key lighting are used by cinematographers to give a film a certain “look” and feel but often three-point lighting is used. Three-point lighting “is based upon careful control of shadows by using three main light sources” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014), and is made up of backlight, fill light and key light. The clip from FilmSkills below demonstrates the three-point lighting technique.
In a clip from Scarface the dramatic feel of Tony Montana (Al Pacino) being executed, low-key lighting was used. As this ruthless underworld figure violently murders the individuals who have come for him. Large shadows were cast as some of them scale the wall into his palace. The lighting on the intruders is dark, however while Tony is in his office shooting back at them a very dark room is made well lit using three-point lighting. The lighting provides Tony with “a sense of depth in the frame, but not dramatic enough to anything deeper than light shadows behind” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). The scene was given a climactic feel leaving the viewer on the edge of their seat as the shooting continues, and the bodies fall.
Background light is used to separate Tony and his dark suit from the black color of his office. Hard light and blocking is used to give the dramatic feel and show the supremacy of Tony Montana as opposed to those coming to assassinate him. Key-lighting is used to make Tony the interest of the scene and fill light is utilized in the closeup of Montana sweating from war and cocaine. These three dimensions incorporated are the three-point lighting technique.
As smoke fills the room from grenades, a barrage of flying bullets, and debris making the area somewhat murky and dimly lit. Once Tony is shot from behind and falls to his demise, the smoke clears relighting the scene as if nothing ever happened. The Cuban gangster dies in an explosive finale with his guns blazing.
The lighting technique very well suited this scene. The use of low-key lighting made it dark in all of the right places. It showed how intense the scene was, and there is always something very dark about the bad guy in gangster or crime film. There were “deep shadows, with very high contrast between the brightest parts of the scene and the darkest parts, which are obscured in shadows” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). There is no way high-key lighting could have been used in this part of the film because there was nothing happy or comical about it.
Even though Scarface was filmed in the early 80’s before all of the new technology use of three-point lighting played a pivotal role in what tone and feelings came from this scene. The use of low-key lighting provided the dark atmosphere needed for a gangster film scene. Lighting accented the robust performance by Al Pacino giving off the dramatic feel needed. Lighting gave this movie the “‘gangster” look.
Resources
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
FilmSkills (2013 June 3). FilmSkills.com – Three Point Lighting Tutorial. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7whLKkyGYo
Movieclips (2011 June 16). Say Hello to My Little Friend – Scarface (8/8) Movie CLIP (1983) HD. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_z4IuxAqpE
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