Effective Lighting In Films - UP

I bought the Dvd of Up the other day, and have been watching it over and over again since. I noticed that there were some fantastic moments that have been improved because of the clever use of lighting. Since I have been unable to put a lot of input into the lighting for our project, I figured that it would be a good idea to analyze a scene from UP to make up for it.

The scene I want to talk about is the one where Muntz has invited Karl and Russel into his blimp as guests, and they eat a meal around a large table. Muntz then talks about his desire to capture the endangered bird (Kevin) to prove its existance. He finds out that Karl and Russel claim to have seen the bird. Muntz then threatens them by retelling the tales of people who have stood in his way.

This scene starts off warmly. It is a meal in which Karl meets his idol in person. In order to show this warm friendly atmosphere, the lighting needs to help emphasize this. Pixar do this with success by placing a single light source in the centre of the table, which shines light on all the characters in the room. The lantern creates a nice orange glow, and this enables a nice contrasting colour to the blueish shadows and darkness outside which can be seen through the windows. Later on, this blue presence comes in handy.

The next part of the scene shows Muntz's stubborn and ruthless determination to capture the bird. The attention is now on Muntz's story of his struggle to seize the bird and show it to the world. How can the attention be centered on the bird? The great thing about the lantern is that it can be moved around the room. So Muntz picks up the lantern and places it behind the skeleton of the snipe at the far end of the room. The light draws your eye straight over to Muntz and the skeleton. This effect also creates some interesting shadows which make the skeleton look more imposing. The cameras are placed in places that show Muntz as a rather stark scary silhouette. The audience will now begin to wonder about Muntz's morals.

The scene progresses as Russel blurts out that he and Karl have met the bird. Karl tries to save the situation, knowing that Muntz has bad motives for wanting to find the creature. Muntz decides to threaten them by showing some wooden pedestals showing the hats and goggles of past explorers. We can only assume that Muntz has "gotten rid of them". He drops each one to the ground with an aloof and threatening manner. Muntz has now placed the lantern behind the row of pedestals, creating a similar intense light and shadow effect to the last sequence. This time, the light hits Muntz's left side of his face, leaving the other side of his face in shadow. We have a wonderful example of how colour contrast can be used effectively here. The blue and orange give Muntz a rather ominous look, and further intensifies the audience's suspicions that he's up to no good.

Now Karl tries to make a hasty retreat with Russel, as Muntz advances on them in a provocative way. The light leading to the exit is quite light and inviting, so it shows the path that the old man and boy need to take. Muntz, on the other hand, is walking away from the light source that is still next to the iconic explorer headware on statuettes. The orange glow is draining away from his face, which symmbolizes his hospitality slowly turning into hostility.

I think this is a perfect way of helping to tell a story with the tool of lighting. I think it is important that we dont take this tool for granted when it comes to our project.