Planning Lighting and Colours

What is the purpose of lighting and colour?

Lighting in production is often used to create a certain mood for the audience to pick up on. It creates a desired atmosphere in order almost 'set the scene'. For example, low key lighting is often used in thrillers in order to hide the identity of the antagonist and therefore keep the audience in suspense as to who it is. It also creates a eerie atmosphere because it is dark, and therefore the audience cannot see very much, making them vulnerable to any sudden movements or sound in the film. Conclusively, it can be argued that lighting is significant in creating an ambience, conventionally to effect the audience in some way or another. Colour is used in production as they connote hidden meanings that subconsciously effect the audience. For example, if a person is wearing white, the audience are prone to presuming that they are innocent and pure as these are conventional connotations of the colour white in which humans are likely to associate with one another. Therefore colour is purposeful in suggesting hidden meaning which in the case of our music video, could possibly contribute to the artist representation and the narrative its self. Colour is effectively used in our music video, explained below:


What lighting will you include and why?

Light is a motif in our music video as the artist often refers to it in the lyrics of our chosen song. We have discovered that the allusion to light conveys hidden meaning when annotating the lyrics of our song, presented in the Lyrics Analysis post. The lyrics refer to different sources of light, one being the indication of sun rise in the line 'He goes out, till the lights up' suggesting that the 'light' is in fact the sun coming up and therefore, he has been out all night. We decided that to create a scene in which both the artist and boyfriend are out on a field at sunrise to show that they had been out all night. Because the sunrise is effectively to start of a new day, this could be symbolic of a new period in their lives, as if it were a 'new start'. However, the lyrics state that his behaviour continues and therefore this portrays the endless cycle of their relationship as there is always a new day, but nothing ever changes for them to have a 'new start'. Therefore this use of light conveys to the audience that the relationship in non-progressive, a deeper understanding than what the lyrics provide alone.

Another source of light we aim to use, is fireworks and sparklers. In the post Planning Setting and Iconography I have spoke about the desired effect in which these pieces of iconography are aimed to have create. The fireworks will be used to suggest chaos, the couple being out of control in terms of reality, for they are unaware of such thing. The fireworks will be used in a field so that it is emphasised that such chaos and lack of self control is cut of from the real world for they have isolated themselves through delusion. In turn, this source of light will present the relationship as destructive and wild, again providing the audience with a deeper understanding of the song itself. Further explanation regarding our light motif can be found in the post above.


What colour will you use and why?

During the firework scene, we plan to use red flares in the background of the scene so that they are visible but not completely focused on. We decided on the colour red as this colour in particular has many ambiguous connotations that allow the audience to decide for themselves as to which they choose. The colour red can be associated with feelings such as love; in which this could be portray the viewpoint of the artist, as in the beginning of the video she believes that she does in fact love her boyfriend. However, this colour also connotes emotions such as anger, can be used as a warning for danger, as well as being used to inform people to stop. All of the previous connotations are relevant to the portrayal of the relationship between the two individuals as the artist does become angry with her boyfriend, he is dangerous to be around and in the end, the artist does want to stop the relationship and move on.

Costumes of the characters will vary in colour an therefore portraying their diversity as the contrast of colours suggest an ever changing personality, relevant to the boyfriend in particular. DONT KNOW WHAT TO WRITEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE


How is your lighting and colour conventional to your music genre?

Sources of light that are naturalistic such as the sunset are conventional to the indie genre as it is simplistic. The indie genre often consists of natural and simple content as this contributes to their laid back image that can be easily related to by their target audience. However, sources of light such as fireworks and sparklers subvert the indie genre, as they aren't natural can arguably be interpreted as contrasting to simplistic. Also, as we are using these to convey the hidden meaning behind the lyrics,  this also subverts the indie genre as artists typically focus on the music itself rather than its visual understanding. We have chosen to challenge such convention in order for the audience to remain engaged in the music video, as it provides an unpredictable indie music video because it doesn't completely conform to the generic conventions.


How does it build a relationship with your target audience?

The light and colours are symbolic of the hidden meaning of the song and therefore provides the audience with a deeper understanding of the portrayal regarding the relationship the artist depicts. This encourages the audience to increasingly connect with the song as they understand the meaning in more depth, therefore understanding the artist in more depth also, as they are familiar with how she is feeling, what she is going through etc etc. In turn, the lighting and colour used in the video allows the audience to build a relationship with the song and artist. Not only this, but the lighting and colour are visually appealing and therefore engage the audience in watching it, as it becomes appealing for them to watch.



This post demonstrates proficient planning techniques. You have explained the reasons for selecting your lighting and colour that you wish to include, by focusing on the effect each will create. 

Now you need to ensure that you have related your points back to the codes and conventions of an indie music genre. Also aim to include images to support the points that you have made.

Finally, read over the introduction to this post, as you have confused yourself with the purpose of lighting and the effect it creates.