How do lighting and sound alter the mood of a scene?

Hoang Phan My Linh
Nov 11, 2023
3 min read

Before getting into the real project, our class had a lesson about lighting and got the chance to experience using different lighting temperatures and also placement to try to convey different meanings from 1 scene.

First, what are the three main lighting needed in photography and cinematography? That is key light, fill light, and backlight (3 point lighting system).

This lighting setting makes sure that the subject is well lit but not over-exposed, so that their features appear more defined (because of the shadow), thus the footage looks more cinematic.

Based on this lighting system, different lighting compositions are developed to create different effects on the subject: High-key, Low-key, Hard/Soft light, Frontal/Back Lighting, Under/Top lighting,... But the 2 compositions that are mainly focused on and is frequently used in movies are: Dumb-side lighting and Smart-side lighting.

Dumb-side lighting is used to make the character seem approachable and candid (all the truth is revealed). It is when the camera is put on the same side as the key light, so we're filming the bright side of the face.

Smart-side lighting is the opposite of dumb-side - used when there is something we haven't known yet -> the character appears mysterious. The camera is on the opposite side this time -> filming the shadow side of the face.

Smart-side lighting is usually paired with low-key lighting, which is when the majority of the scene is in shadow -> create a greater contrast between the dark and light area of the image.

Another thing that we learnt about lighting was light temperatures. Lighting temperature is just as important as its composition. Two common lighting temperature we learned was Daylight (5600 K) and Tungsten (3200K). The daylight lighting brings a blue-ish and cool effect to the footage, which can stimulate natural daylight and is commonly seen in Tim Burton's movies (complementary with his dark themes and plots). Contradictory, Tungsten brings an almost orange warm feeling to the footages that makes them seem unreal but also brings a happy and bright mood to the scene, and is frequently used by director Wes Anderson (the light temperature is contradicting with the dark plot).

After learning all about lighting, we had a project which requires to think of a scene with no plot (just a short scene showing an action) and then use lighting to motivate 4 different meanings to that scene. I came up with an idea of filming a character widening their eyes and mouth after receiving a text, and our team got together to think of 4 different emotions to this action which are: Happy, horrified, puzzled, and emotional.

For the happy scene, we chose to use high-key lighting, so that there is less contract between dark and light, and to give the footage an overall bright and happy look. The temperature of the light is more skewed to the warm side, also to bring a joyful feeling but not too warm that shadows are casted. The music we chose for this scene is also very lovey-dovey since he received the text from his girlfriend.
Next is a completely opposite lighting composition for the emotion "horrified". We used cool, and hard lighting, casting shadow onto the subject, to indicate something hidden, and scary is surrounding the character. Hence, the music we chose also brings the same effect with dissonance, and notes from lower octaves.
The other 2 scenes are less contradicting than the first 2, so they are included after. The next emotion is puzzled. This emotion doesn't need any special effect to accentuate, thus we chose a soft light with a slightly cool temperature to resemble daylight and make this scene looks more similar to real life. The music I chose for this scene is a funny background music, to show that this scene is more on the comedic spectrum and not focused on expressing emotions.
The final emotion is emotional, which we thought would be a feeling a person feels when received a text message from their "studying abroad" sister. The lighting for this scene is a bit more warm than the happy scene, paired with soft light, to make this scene feels heart-warming, but not too happy and bright.