#lighting analysis

As I rewatch the show, one of the things that always strikes me is the cinematography which takes inspiration from art, because so many still shots from the seasons have a painterly look to them. I have previously done analysis of some art pieces in the show, but I wanted to directly look into the cinematography and how it uses in particular chiaroscuro, a lighting technique that was particularly popular in the Renaissance with artists like Caravaggio. The word chiaroscuro comes from the Italian words for light and dark, and defines the lighting style that plays up the contrast between the two. Obviously, chiaroscuro in art and in cinema or television play out slightly differently, and I would highly recommend this link in particular that delves into cinematic chiaroscuro, tracing its roots in the Renaissance, through German Expressionism, Film Noir, and all the way up to James Bond. I’ll get into each shot without further ado, examining the lighting techniques and how they play up this contrast with light and dark

CHIAROSCURO VIA BACKLIGHTING USED AS KEY LIGHTING

This is one of my favorites, when Claudia is performing as Baby Lou. This is chiaroscuro as achieved by backlighting used as key lighting. I think before I delve into explaining this, it’s necessary to understand the concept of three-point lighting in the first place. Okay, so all of photography lighting relies on this principle concept of using three light sources to shape a subject - (a) the key light, the main and strongest one that defines form and direction of the subjects, and typically is placed directly at the subject (b) the fill light that is responsible for softening the shadows created by the key light so the images is not very harsh, and is placed at a side angle relative to the key light, and (c) the back light that is placed behind the subject to separate them from the background and add more depth. Most of cinematography is playing around with this system to generate various looks and styles. 

Now typically, backlighting hits an actor or the subject from behind, but sometimes, it can also be sometimes used as the main key light of a shot to create a silhouette to heighten drama. You can see it here in the first image, where cinematographer Roger Deakins uses backlighting as key light in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. In this image, you can see that the backlight has been used as a key light as well. It is also filtered through a kind of haze or smoke in the same color as the Baby Lulu dress, all the better to highlight it against the relative darkness of the rest of the frame. Thematically for me, I also read it as her overall isolation in the narrative, how she stands alone while her story is made out to be a spectacle for the audience to consume. Yes there will be those who will say something about her diaries and how her perspective is presented - yes I know, she’s still overall isolated in the story.

2. CHIAROSCURO WITH LOW-KEY LIGHTING AND TENEBRISM

This is a still shot of Armand’s back during the first time Claudia and Louis attend a TDV play, from S2E5. This is an amazing example of chiaroscuro achieved through what is known as tenebrist, low-key lighting. Okay, so that’s a lot of technical words, so I’ll explain one by one. Tenebrism is a form of chiaroscuro, which is an especially heightened contrast between the light and the dark, and darkness becomes a dominating feature of the image. Low-key lighting, on the other hand, is especially used in film and TV for its chiaroscuro effect, since it accentuates the subject’s contours by throwing certain areas into shade while a light source illuminates the subject to control the contrast. As you can see here, a single spotlight on the upper left of the frame is cutting through the darkness, and both Santiago and Armand, but especially Armand, are now foregrounded in silhouette. It’s very dramatic and in tune with the nature of revealing the powerful nature of both these characters in the narrative - though Armand has a more “complete” silhouette to him with a dominant stance, so it grounds him as the one with more power.

3. SHAFT LIGHTING

This is again one of my favorite shots in the entire series, a shaft of light separating Louis and Armand post-trial. This is a very beautiful use of a light shaft as technique, but particularly in a chiaroscuro way, to heighten the drama of the scene. By its very definition this kind of lighting uses chiaroscuro because you need high contrast (dark background, focused source of light through a window or a beam), but in this particular case it’s also a matter of where the light shaft lands. If the emotional dissonance between Louis and Armand earlier wasn’t clear as they were still navigating a whole set of complex emotions, Armand’s betrayal has clearly separated them now, and cinematography delivers where words fail. Metaphorically, I think this also speaks so much to how while they remain in one space, there would always be a barrier between them, and Louis’ decision to remain with Armand, partly to spite Lestat, is made with at least some semblance of self-awareness that something is quite wrong in this relationship.

4. TOP-DOWN LIGHTING WITH TENEBRISM

This is another one of my favorite stills that is a near-perfect example of tenebrism. In the first one, there is top-down lighting, where the subjects, Annika and the rest of the TDV vampires, are highlighted sharply against the near-total blackness of the rest of the frame. This seriously heightens the drama of the scene as we are first exposed as audiences to the brutality and savagery of the TDV vampires, as Annika is consumed not just literally by these vamps but also the darkness of death, which she was gently coaxed into by Santiago. Metaphorically, this is some beautiful use of lighting to illustrate the themes of consumption by both vampirism and the darkness of death. 

5. CONTRE-JOUR

chiaroscuro: contrasted light and shadow created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction on something

creates an opposing balance of light and dark to give the characters, objects, and settings on screen a sense of volume or mystery