Lighting Examples: Edge

The last lighting technique we attempted was the use of Edge lighting which creates a very high contrast between the light and dark areas of a subject, and exaggerates shadows and has very little highlights or illumination to give the subject an almost sinister, mysterious appearance. We tried to create this lighting by using a small source of light to create a hard lighting effect that would only highlight a small part of the subject while the rest would be cast in shadow, our footage shows how the shadows cover more than half of the subjects face and there is only a small glimmer of light from the subjects eye which makes the subject look almost mysterious.



Edge light ex from Lewis Mercer on Vimeo.

This lighting technique is also used in New Wave films, again because its shot in high contrast monochrome, but also because of the effect it has on the subject, by maxing their features in shadow it creates a mysterious effect on the subject, and makes the subject seem darker, almost more cynical which could be seen in certain new wave films such as Jean luc Godards "Breathless" (1960). These lighting techniques are also new wave because they were low budget films so shots that have lighting that only requires one light source would be easier to film on a small budget.

This is a screenshot from Godards film "Breathless" which shows edge lighting in effect on this character to cover his facial features in shadow.