Chapter 5: Cinematography

In chapter 5 it discusses the cinematography that goes behind a director's choice in lighting, distance, and quality. One that I wanted to force on was the hard and soft lighting. These choices in which one is used can change the scene and depth. Hard lightning is crisp, harsh, and more focused while soft fills the screen with an even level of light. To create either it requires just changing the distance and adjusting the light source. 

 

This can change the feeling in the scene with harsh lighting the further the source of light helps create harshness. The opposite is true for soft, the closer you are to the light source the softer the outcome. Diffusion is confused for soft light because they look very similar but it's different in how it is created. Diffusion, unlike soft light, isn't made by being close to the light source but is instead created by making the light pass through a material or object to create it. This scatters the light source making a more even distribution of the light across whatever the director wants for the scene.  

What is the significance of these in films? Well, these lightening methods create moods, setting, and themes for the director to tell the story. If the story takes place in the winter, it's best to use more harsh lighting methods like a bigger area with light further away to represent the weather and overall mood. If it is during summer, softer lighting will make it seem warmer if the light source is close by.