High-key lighting is a style of

lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing dayl ...

for

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, or

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...

that aims to reduce the lighting ratio present in the scene. This was originally done partly for technological reasons, since early film and television did not deal well with high contrast ratios, but now is used to suggest an upbeat mood. It is often used in works of

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

. High-key lighting is usually quite homogeneous and free from dark shadows. The terminology comes from the higher balance in the ratio between the key light and the fill light in a traditional three-point lighting setup. In the 1950s and 1960s, high-key lighting was achieved through multiple light sources lighting a scene—usually using three fixtures per person (left, right, and central)—which resulted in a uniform lighting pattern with very little modeling. Nowadays, multiple hot light sources are replaced with much more efficient

fluorescent Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, ...

or LED soft lights, which provide a similar effect. The advantage to high-key lighting is that it doesn't require adjustment for each scene which allows the production to complete the shooting in hours instead of days. The primary drawback is that high-key lighting fails to add meaning or drama by lighting certain parts more prominently than others. Shows with bigger budgets have moved away from high-key lighting by using lighting set-ups different from the three-point standard. Part of the reason for this is the advent of new lighting fixtures that are easier to use and quicker to set up. Another reason is the growing sophistication of the audience for TV programs and the need to differentiate.

Movies

High-key lighting found its use in classical Hollywood cinema because it was well suited for three-point lighting and other filmmaking traditions. It is an overall lighting design which uses the fill light and backlight to create low contrast between brighter and darker areas. It can be used for both daylight and night scenes.

References

Cinematography Photographic techniques Stage lighting {{filmmaking-stub

Movies

See also

References