Assignment 25: Set the Mood

[Filmmaking 101 overview]

Purpose: To develop your skills in using light to communicate.

Basis: Film is a visual media, so light plays a huge roll in communicating. The kind and color of light you use, as well as the quantity and quality, dramatically changes what the scene communicates. Comedies have a certain look, dramas another, horror yet another.

Directions: Set up a scene where a simple action unfolds (such as two people chatting, or someone reading, or a person walks through the frame). Then shoot it with different lighting styles to make it look like this scene comes from a comedy, a drama, and a horror flick.

Looking Forward: You’ve shot your scene, now cut one that’s pre-shot.

What to Watch: "Stranger Than Fiction" Trailer [PG-13], "Deja Vu" Trailer [PG-13], "Underworld" Trailer [R] Notice the difference in color, lighting style and approach.

Watch Samples:


Even more Assignment 25 Samples and Student Examples

If you'd like some more ideas on how comedies, dramas, and horror flicks differ in lighting, check out How to Light a Scene: Horror, Comedy, Drama.