Cover photo: The Others (2001) – Lucky Red Distribution
We rarely pay attention to it, but light is one of the clearest visual markers distinguishing a homemade YouTube video, a television broadcast, or a cinematic production. Whether creating a scene for a screen or a theatre, light plays a fundamental role in defining professional quality, guiding attention, and building atmosphere. The director of photography in cinema and the lighting designer in television share a responsibility beyond simple illumination: they shape the audience’s visual perception and the narrative experience.
Why can we instantly distinguish an Italian TV drama from an American blockbuster or a French arthouse film? The answer lies in the design of light. Its intensity, modulation, and colour temperature create a stylistic signature that gives the product its identity. However, the principles that govern television light and cinematic photography follow very different goals.
How Television Light Works
Television lighting focuses on clarity, consistency, and functionality. Its primary goal is to guide the viewer’s focus and maintain on-screen coherence, often dictated by the requirements of the format. Talk shows and comedies typically employ high-key lighting, defined by its brightness and evenness, which eliminates harsh shadows and creates a polished, approachable look. In contrast, low-key lighting with deep shadows and stark contrasts evokes drama and tension, making it ideal for thrillers, film noir, and serious dramas.
This balance between light and shadow often relies on the traditional three-point lighting setup. The key light, serving as the primary light source, defines the subject. The fill light softens harsh contrasts, while the backlight separates the subject from the background, enhancing depth and three-dimensionality. Though modern productions tend to simplify lighting with tools like ring lights for interviews or streaming formats, professional television lighting still requires skill, precision, and technical expertise.
Each television program tailors light to serve its purpose. X-Factor transforms each performance into a visual spectacle. Enhanced with LED beams, intense shadows, and bold lighting contrasts, light becomes integral to a show’s musical rhythm. MasterChef employs a similar approach, heightening drama during intense competitions. In contrast, a program like Che Tempo Che Fa opts for soft, natural lighting that flatters interview subjects and creates a relaxed tone. Game shows like Wheel of Fortune use dynamic bursts of colour and directional lights to convey energy and excitement.
Television light is not a mere technical element; it is a language that defines the identity of a program and creates a connection with the viewer.
The Role of Cinematic Photography: Creating Atmosphere
In cinema, light becomes a narrative and artistic tool. Unlike television, which emphasizes function and consistency, cinematic lighting explores emotion, atmosphere, and visual storytelling. The director of photography, working alongside the director, uses light to evoke specific feelings, define the codes of a genre, and build a symbolic language.
In Lighting for Digital Video and Television, John Jackman refers to Hollywood’s “visual vernacular”, a set of techniques that prioritise visual impact over realism.
Cinematic lighting operates on the principle of suspension of disbelief, a term coined by poet Samuel T. Coleridge. Audiences readily accept the artistic illusion of light—bedrooms glowing like sun-drenched gardens or moonlight shining brighter than reality—because it amplifies the story’s emotional impact.
Light and Color in Film: Blade Runner, Traffic, and Beyond
Cinematic photography often manipulates colour to convey emotion and deepen meaning. Through a technique called colour grading, directors of photography can shape a film’s palette to heighten its impact. In Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011), pervasive blue tones communicate cool detachment and loneliness. In Siccità (Paolo Virzì, 2022), overwhelming yellow hues evoke suffocation and despair.
Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic (2000) uses light and colour to differentiate narrative arcs. The Mexican storyline adopts harsh sepia tones and unforgiving light to evoke the heat and chaos of its setting. The American sequences, by contrast, are dominated by glacial blue hues, reflecting a cold, bureaucratic atmosphere. A third narrative, presented with neutral lighting, strips the scenes of artifice to reinforce realism and raw emotion.
Light in cinema is rarely accidental. While movements like Italian Neorealism and Dogme 95 opted for natural light to reflect unfiltered reality, other films transformed light into an expressive choice. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) built an iconic dystopian vision with neon flashes, glowing hues, and surreal contrasts.
In minimalist productions like Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003), the interplay of light and darkness becomes a narrative co-star, mirroring the descent of its characters into moral decay. In The Others (Alejandro Amenábar, 2001), shadow and light represent grief and loss, weaving psychological tension into the very fabric of the film’s visuals.
Cinema light transcends mere functionality. It crafts a visual language that speaks directly to the audience, guiding their emotions, building atmosphere, and transforming visual perception into a storytelling art form.
