84 Grammar of the Shot

Contrast

If you stare at an all white wall, no visual contrast existseverything is the same, a
wash of white. If you then paint half that wall black you will create a very well-dened
high contrast visual statementwhite instantly turns into black along the painted edge
between the two tones, resulting in half-bright values and half-dark values. Film light-
ing deals in similar terms, where contrast can mean the relative differences between
light and dark areas within the frame. A high contrast image is an image that contains
areas that are both very bright and very dark, with well-dened edges between the two.
Conversely, a low contrast image contains more even lighting levels across the whole
frame such that the delineation between light and dark regions is not well dened.
Most often, the common goal is to have a well-balanced contrast within your frame
where you have bright regions, dark regions, and a good representation of grey scale
tones in between (Figure 3.24).

High contrast, snappy or punchy, lighting schemes can make for more dramatic or sus-
penseful imagery, but they also yield more depth to your frame. The interplay of light and
shadow across the foreground, middle ground, and background of your shots helps create
a layering effect within the sets deep physical space. The irregularity of objects in the
frame, including the human face and body, gains a relief or modeling from these pockets
of light and dark, which helps them achieve a three-dimensional appearance on the two-
dimensional lm frame. This type of lighting design is often called low-key lighting.

Low contrast, at or even, lighting schemes can make images seem more open, friendly,
or brighter, but they also yield a atter, less visually separated frame. Often, the point
of low contrast, or high-key lighting, is to provide overall even lighting so that all ele-
ments of the frame are visible to the viewer. Talk show, news broadcast, and situation

FIGURE 3.24 These abstract images represent a high contrast and a low contrast image.