Lighting and Eyeline

Eyeline -

Observing the eyeline of people filmed on screen, normally, people appear to be at the 2/4 area of the screen, or perhaps even the exact line where the 1/3 and 2/3 part of the screen meet.

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|---------------------|If this <-- were a TV image, the eyeline would be

eyeline <-- here

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This of course, varies slightly for far away shots, but for middle and close-ups, this formula appears to be common, as seen in series such as Torchwood and movies like Hunt for Red October.

Lighting -

Lighting appears to vary. On TV shows such as The Office, outdoor lighting and simply the use of built-in overhead lighting seems to be used quite frequently. To make characters pop out from their surroundings, background objects were often placed out of focus. One series that I believe has excellent lighting is Legend of the Seeker. While many shots appear to be outdoors, Shadows appearing on the face are softened dramatically. Dungeon scenes appear to cast more harsh shadows, indicating a creepy atmosphere. When the characters go into a dark area at a time of intense drama, backlights are increased for an intense halo, while almost completely doing away with any source of light for the face. While movies like the Lord of the Rings Trilogy used similar effects, their lighting crew went above and beyond. In the scene involving the first meeting of Galadriel, a set of christmas lights were strung up in front of her as to reflect "starlight" in her eyes to symbolize her wisdom and immortal nature. Light appears able to create mood, verify the reality of a location, perhaps tell something about a character, or to add drama or calm to a scene. Without lighting, the world of movies and TV would likely be doomed.

In the real world, light is not so perfect. Looking around, flourescent light appears in a large amount of office and school buildings, causing a person to look rather flat and overly illuminated. Other overhead lighting causes shadows in areas of the face that are not usually shadowed (upper forehead, versus bottom lip). Lamps usually light one side of the face. Touch lamps are much like studio lights, and create a very interesting array of shadows based on your proximity and location in relation to the touch lamp. Indoor lighting can be somewhat of a trial and error process.