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I like justification for lighting in a shot.
I think it adds a kind of realism.
I'm not necessarily saying naturalism
because I think I've done some films that don't necessarily look very naturalistic.
But I hope you kind of believe the lighting is real.
You know, you believe the world that is being created
in terms of the way the light works in that space.
So, I've always been a kind of a minimalist I suppose.
♪ Cinematography Techniques - Intro ♪
Practical light sources.
It would be usually refer to the idea that you're not using film lights.
Or if you are... you're augmenting something that exists
rather than creating something from scratch.
Any light source that looks like it's light in the set
I guess it's a practical light.
I mean you could say it was table lights
or, you know, tungsten lights or fluorescent lights.
You could also say daylight as a factual light source.
"- What are you jimmies staring at?
- Back to work! - Let's go. Work."
On one hand, I'd say, well, yes I use a lot of practical light sources
but they're usually the ones of my own design, you know,
myself and the production designer.
I've always been that way
because where I came from
which was kind of film school at start
and then low budget film making and then documentaries.
So you had to kind of balance the content
with the reality of the light sources.
♪ ♪
You don't ever want to go on a location scout thinking,
"First, primarily where's the light coming from?
That's death.
"- You guys are dead in the water."
You really want to be feeling
does this work for the feel of the scene?
Can you imagine the actors in this space?
Can you imagine the blocking?
"- We could keep it this or we could get a drink.
- I'll take the drink."
You think about the space in those terms first.
And then the practical thing,
you can always figure out later.
I don't think there's anything worse
than going in with this sort of set idea
of what it should be
and then it's just like,
you're doing it like painting by numbers.
But it's also I don't think creatively interesting.
So, you know, it's always a balance
between these different aspects.
"- So you're a professional... person?
- That's right, miss. Initial here, and here."
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I like the way a scene looks to be justified
by a light source.
Whether it's a window or a practical.
Or if it's like "Blade Runner",
it's just the soft overhead orange sky.
Even the causticks in "Blade Runner" coming off the water.
Or those funny patterns, I mean they're vile
but it's real.
That's, you know, sunlight hitting water wouldn't do that.
Obviously, everybody's seen it around the swimming pool.
I like within the scene somewhere
to see that practical
or see the window
to know the justification for the light in the space.
" - Objection. Speculative. - Sustained."
For me, I always like to see it in shot.
The rubber shots you can obviously soften it off.
You can might close up separately
but always with the feeling
that the lighting is justified
by this natural sources that you've seen.
I like it to feel real
in the sense that the light is doing something real.
"- You're free."
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(inaudible)
...so often you're taken out of a film.
"- Chip, chip, chip."
It's not that the lighting is too stylized or anything.
It just doesn't feel real.
I don't know where that light is coming from.
I don't know why it's there.
"- Are you okay, Danny?
- I'm okay. - Are you okay?
- I'm okay. -What's okay?
He's taking drugs.
- Come on. Stop."
You often see a wonderful blue backlight
and where's that coming from?
It's not like it's wrong, it's just not justified.
It's the same as in the old days
when they had the light exteriors with brute arcs.
"- So I'm going to turn the switch on
and we're going to go ahead and strike this guy right now.
Beautiful strike.
So that's how it burns inside there.
That's the flame.
Pretty neat, pretty neat."
You know, on a sunny day they would punch in a brute arc
to get in the shadows on someone's face.
And but then the result is you look
like, you know, the cowboy in the western.
And there's the wonderful sunlight doing a shadow of the hat.
And then there's another light coming in lighting in the eyes.
But there's a no shadow,
so now you've got two shadows.
"- No!"
It just takes me out of the film
and I think all cinematography should just dissolve into the movie somehow.
Shouldn't take you out.
It shouldn't be something that stands out in any way, you know.
"- I'm Deakins."
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