Lighting in The Village by M. Night Shyamalan

 

In the movie, The Village, by M. Night Shyamalan, the lighting which is used fits the description of Low-key lighting, with the dramatic use of heavy shadows in the night-time scenes, which tend to be the ones which add to the thriller aspect of the film. According to our text, low-key lighting “looks dark overall by comparison. It is marked by extreme use of deep shadows, with very high contrast between the brightest parts of the scene and the darkest parts, which are obscured in shadows”, (Goodykoontz, 2014). This type of lighting sets the tone for mysteries, horror films, and psychological thrillers, which is the genre of this particular film. The shadows are used to especially great effect for the scenes in which the villagers are looking to their leaders at night, by firelight, to help protect them from the “monsters” living in the surrounding woods. Had this film been made with high-key lighting, it would have lost the authentically scary nature of the story, and three-point lighting, with its illuminating backlights as well as removing most of the shadows,  would not have contributed to the overall idea that there were secrets which were not known to the villagers. Even in the daylight scene shown below, the sun is obscured and the lighting is not bright, lending to the idea that this village lives in shadow, even in the light of day.

And the scenes when the main character is blindly walking through the woods in search of the medicine on the other side are even more terrifying when we can see mostly shadows, and we know she is completely without sight.

The choice of low-key lighting for this film definitely makes all the difference in how we perceive the story and adds to the suspense inherent in its telling.

References

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. (2014). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Google Images, “The Village”, m.night shyamalan https://www.google.com/search?q=the+village+m+night+shyamalan&biw=1366&bih=652&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=FZzmVPEF0uOwBImwgMAO&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ