Watching what Hollywood has been releasing recently has been quite a challenge. The production of films and TV shows has been showing a shortage in the light department, making all recent productions a dark and gloomy disaster.
The use of lights in entertainment history was first practiced in Ancient Greece with its open theaters. Existing natural light sources were shining behind the audience so they could see what was taking place on stage. However, it was not until the arrival of Humphry Davy’s arc lights, Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb and Cooper Hewitt’s mercury vapor tubes that the first artificial light sources were used for film.
Light usage in film is now easier to obtain thanks to the creations of these lighting pioneers who drastically changed the process of illuminating the visual arts. Nonetheless, the question still remains: What happened to the lighting in Hollywood today?
Directors often argue that there are ma ny causes for dark scenes in TV shows and films: aesthetics, mood of the scene, camera work and special effects. It is logical that some scenes might look dark due to the usage of motivated lighting, which is lighting a scene in a way that looks natural and justified. However, in some cases, this just seems like an excuse to hide the terrible special effects that some films produce.
Examples of this can be found in many fight scenes in Marvel films, where it is evident that the obscurity shown in most scenes was all due to the rushed production of special effects. Many CGI artists explain that recently there has been a decline in VFX, due to the lack of planning and time directors give to these artists.
The lack of light usage in recent films can also be explained due to the directors’ inclination to use natural light, which allows the audience to experience the setting as if they were living the moment within the film. Yet most cases of obscuring scenes in films just appear to be due to the downfall of high-quality special effects. VFX artists are not to blame; the overproduction of films that lack time, planning and overall creativity is the source of the problem.
Film directors need to be more generous with their light sources, it is also crucial for them to be reasonable with special effect artists since they are one of the main causes for films to succeed in the box office.
