Lighting techniques in film

   Lighting is another really important part of film. Like color, lighting also plays a large part in creating the ambiance of a scene, many times working together to create the majority of the tone. There are many different lighting techniques to discuss so lets dive into them!

• Natural lighting - this one is very simple, it means exactly what it says. Natural lighting is the use of the lighting that is already available at the place you are shooting a scene for your film. Taking the time of day that a scene is taking place is very important on deciding the type of natural lighting you will be utilizing (for example night versus day.)
• Key lighting - this technique is used to bring attention to an important subject of a scene, typically a subject or an actor.
• High key lighting - uses white tones and bright lights, with minimal use of black or mid-range tones. Can be used to set an optimistic or hopeful tone.
• Low key lighting - opposite to high key lighting, uses mainly dark tones and shadows and creates contrasting images. Usually used in noirs and thrillers because it does a really good job at creating an ominous energy.
• Fill light - by using a backlight as well as a key light, fill lighting cancels out any shadows that would've been created by key lighting.
• Three-point lighting - this is created by using a a key light, back light, and fill light. This is the most standard form of lighting that most productions use. This can control highlights and shadows depending on how you position each type of lighting, so it gives a lot of leverage for the cinematographer.
• Backlight - this type of lighting hits the subject or actor from behind, and is usually placed higher than the subject it is lighting. They give more shape and depth and separate the background from the subject.
• Hard lighting - this is a harsh lighting, created by a direct beam of light. It creates shadows and harsh lines, but can also create silhouettes and highlights.
• Soft lighting - used to eliminate shadows, and can also be used as a fill light. It can give the illusion of coming from practical sources.

Color theory in film

  Color theory is an important part of film, and plays a big part in communicating the feeling of a scene to the audience. Not only does the color itself indicate a certain mood, but different hues of the color, the saturation of the color, and the brightness of the color can put make just one color mean entirely different things! A well known example of this is the use of the color blue. Blue can mean so many different things depending on its shade. Some blues are calm and peaceful, others mean sadness or depression. Sometimes some blues can be used to indicate professionalism depending on the hue. However, blue isn't the only example of this. Here are some other uses of different colors and what kind of context each can bring to a film:

  Another helpful resource in determining  all of the meanings different hues, saturations,  and brightness of just one color (let alone every color) can bring to a film and how you can use it to set the tone in your films was this video linked here: https://www.studiobinder.com/filmmaking-techniques-color-theory-in-film/                                          

  The use of color theory in my short film is going to be highly important. Because I am making a short film personifying bipolar disorder, setting the tone and the feeling is all the more important. I believe color will be one of the easier ways of doing this. Bipolar disorder is most simply put as a mood disorder in which manic and depressive episodes occur, and since I am bringing the disorder to life I immediately knew the type of color schemes I would love to utilize. I wanted to go with a red, blue and purple scheme. Red in this case would symbolize mania. This was a perfect choice because as you can see in the infographic, red increases physical energy, stamina, and spontaneity. These are all aspects of mania that red would symbolize perfectly. Blue in this case would symbolize depression, as mentioned previously depending on the tone of blue it can symbolize totally different things so getting the correct hue is super important here. Finally, purple will be used to symbolize either mixed episodes, in between states of red and blue, or the peace and harmony of a stable period (because people with the disorder aren't always experiencing a mood episode constantly, especially those getting treatment.) While purple doesn't usually mean this, I chose this color because when you mix red and blue you get purple. An in between state of the two. This ties in perfectly with a point the video makes, which is that you can make the colors of your film whatever you want them to mean, and with a good understanding of how to set the tone using color then this can be done well!

  

How people with bipolar disorder are represented in the media

 Considering my last posting,  I only thought it would be appropriate to showcase my research on how people with bipolar disorder are represented in the media, or rather misrepresented in the media. I have done some research on this previously for a past assignment in this class, so it is fitting to include said research here.

Law and Order: SVU, episode 22 “Influence” season 7

This episode follows a teenage character named Jamie who is accused of murder after mowing down a group of people, one of which she killed, during a suicide attempt after being found for giving a false allegation of rape. In the episode, it is confirmed that Jamie has bipolar disorder and refuses to take her medication. This is a common trope that other crime shows/films and many other genres of tv and film follow, someone with mental illness (particularly bipolar disorder but other severe psychological disorders as well) refuses to take their medication and so is a loose canon and ends up committing a serious crime or crimes against others (the victims usually being neurotypical) as a result.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

This film follows the main character, Pat, as he returns home after an eight month court ordered stay at a psychiatric facility after he beat up the man his wife was having an affair with. While this film does many things right in its portrayal of mental illness within a family and other supporting characters,  particularly with the main character Pat who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, they also resorted to using the stereotypical trope of violence and aggression that is often used in the portrayal of any mental illness, but particularly bipolar disorder, in the media.

The contents of this meme is a part of a long running “joke” that those with bipolar disorder don’t actually have anything inherently wrong and that they’re actually just assholes using a label as an “excuse” to be one. It insinuates that anyone with bipolar disorder is automatically an awful person, lumping them together under a collective identity of being violent and abusive people, which stigmatizes the disorder and puts a false idea in those without the disorder’s heads about what a person with the disorder should look and act like.

Once again, another long running “joke” about bipolar disorder that implies that people with the disorder can’t seem to stick to a feeling,emotion, decision, or opinion. That they are always flipping from one extreme to another, one second they hate something and the next they love it or vice versa. This oversimplifies the disorder completely by creating a stereotype of the main symptom in the disorder which is severe mood swings. Not only is this an incorrect depiction of how this particular symptom manifests, but it oversimplifies the disorder by overlooking the fact that this disorder has a spectrum and a wide variety of symptoms that everyone with the disorder experiences differently. Oversimplification of the disorder undermines the severity of it and can be seen by misusing the term in our everyday language which additionally creates a stigma. Some examples being “the weather is so bipolar lately”, or “sorry I can’t go out tonight, my mom said I could yesterday but she changed her mind she’s so bipolar.”

Common representation tropes of bipolar disorder in the media include:

• People with bipolar disorder are more likely to be criminals

• People with bipolar disorder frequently refuse treatment

• People with bipolar disorder are all hypersexual, unfaithful and have difficulty with long term relationships

• People with bipolar disorder (as well as other psychological disorders) are all violent

• People with bipolar disorder are all unable to maintain jobs and unable to experience successful careers

First blog posting for my new project!!

   Hello! Wow, it's been awhile since I created a posting on this blog. I'm excited to share my journey with you on my newest project for this class. I have decided to go with the short film option for this project. Immediately I knew exactly what I wanted to create for this short film, and that was going with the topic of mental health. Mental health is an incredibly personal and important topic to me and it was important  to me to be able to depict it as accurately as possible in the form of a short film format. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of accurate representation in the media on mental health, particularly the more severe disorders such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, e.t.c. Since bipolar disorder is one I don't see often and is a personal topic, I chose to focus on this disorder. 

  However, rather than focus on the person with the disorder solely, I want to personify the disorder. I was inspired to do this both by my teacher as well as a spoken word poem I began writing the other day that does just that, personify the disorder. My goal is that viewers would be able to get a deep dive into how struggling with the disorder actually feels. Often times we see it depicted in film as the behavior one with bipolar disorder exhibits, so it can be easily misrepresented and often leave room for stereotype and judgement. I want to convey the thought process and the emotions felt in an artistic way. With this method, I attempt to achieve a more empathetic approach to the conversation of mental health, and to expand it beyond just depression and anxiety. 

  I'm excited to share my progress in achieving this goal! I hope you are too!