Lighting plays an important role in cinematography because it can influence how a scene is captured on film or video in a variety of ways. In general, a production’s director of photography collaborates with both camera operators and the lighting crew to achieve a unified vision. Lighting can be used in a variety of ways, often reinforcing the action of a scene visually demonstrating what is important and what is not. Lighting can also be used to support the story visually representing or reinforcing emotions in a scene.
In cinematography, lighting refers to the application of various lights to a set or location in order to give a scene a specific appearance after it has been captured on film or video. While lighting is usually done a crew on set, the director of photography is often in charge of overseeing the process. Because the director of photography is also in charge of the camera crew, he or she can supervise lighting and ensure that it matches the way a scene will be filmed. As a result, lighting is critical to the overall feel of a scene as well as how it appears on screen.
One of the most common uses of lighting in cinematography is to emphasize or reinforce the action of a scene. Lighting can be used to make specific actions or objects stand out among other elements in a scene. If, for example, someone is going to reach for a gun that is lying on a table at the end of the scene, lighting can be used to highlight that gun throughout the scene. This allows the audience to see the gun before it becomes significant, ensuring that viewers understand where it came from at the end of the scene and allowing keen observers to predict its significance.
In cinematography, lighting can also be used to help reinforce a scene’s emotional content. For example, harsh lighting can make a scene feel more direct or eventful, whereas softer lighting is frequently used for more romantic or emotional scenes. A scene may feel jarring or not play properly to the audience if lighting in cinematography is used incorrectly. A powerfully dramatic scene that is lit softly may betray the events in the scene and ultimately feel weak or unimpressive, while an emotional love scene lit with strong and harsh lights may feel strange or inappropriate.