Lighting More Research

The Big Combo

Low Key
In filming, the lighting of a scene so that there is a contrast between dark and light areas, making artistic use of deep shadows. Low-key lighting is used effectively in dramatic presentations to create variety and establish mood, particularly in thrillers as its as if something is lurking in the shadows. In film noir it is especially traditional to use low key lighting to increase tension as there is more of a juxtaposition between light and dark as seen in the picture on the right of two silhouetted figures in The Big Combo which was filmed in 1955. Another more recent use of low key lighting would be in the tailor of a film called Brick as it hides the features of the character creating a climax of tension and mystery.

High key lighting is basically the opposite of low key lighting (high contrast) as high key lighting has low contrast for example in the wizard of oz:

This photo is of page 39 from OCR media studies for AS third edition by Julian McDougall. This primary research explains that even though we have a low budget there are still lots of ways to use lighting.