Light in "Heroes"

A couple weeks ago I began watching a show that my brother recommended: Heroes. The sci-fi serial drama had four seasons from 2006-2010 on NBC and was created by Tim Kring. My brother watched all four seasons, but he recommended I only watch the first one, because he says it "gets bad after that."

I knew I would like Heroes right from the get-go because I love me a good superhero story. I'm not exactly sure why, but there's something about that hero's journey formula that I find so fascinating. We spent so much time in my freshman year English class talking about archetypes, mythology, and heroes, that it sparked my interest in the genre and soon I was registering to take a mythology class my sophomore year with the same teacher.

Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey was one cycle I learned about in my mythology class. 

All the major characters of Season 1.

The superpowers possessed by the characters in Heroes are unique and among them are mind-reading, invincibility, intagibility (the ability to move through solid objects), flight, and the ability to take on another hero's power, among other things.

I found that the pilot for Heroes was easy to follow, despite the fact that there are many major characters. I've begun paying way more attention to color and light lately, and it's become clear to me how Heroes uses these elements to reveal details about the characters.




For example, Claire Bennett, the invincible cheerleader, lives in Odessa, Texas. She is a sweet girl, despite the identity crisis she is going through. Perhaps the warm light tells the audience that we should be rooting for her.

"Save the cheerleader, save the world" is a motif of the show.

Niki Sanders suffers from Dissociative Personality Disorder and can access super strength when her alter-ego, Jessica, is in control. The shots of Niki include many shadows, perhaps to show that there is a good side and a dark side to her.

Isaac Mendez can paint the future, but only right after he's done heroin. Many shots of him are very dark, showing how lost and confused he is feeling.

Hiro Nakamuro can alter space and time. This screenshot was taken right after he makes the second hand on his cubicle clock go back one second. I think the dim, boring, and repetitive office lights are meant to be juxtaposed with Hiro's energy and enthusiasm. He wants to get out, and eventually, he does.

Hiro right after teleporting into the future and New York City.

I think this quick ability to show a lot about the characters made the show easy to follow right from the beginning. I'm on episode 10 of season 1 right now, so hopefully I finish the season in the coming weeks. Maybe I'll watch Heroes: Reborn as well, when it comes out later this month.

Creating Depth in Art, Film, and Photography

Although 3D imagery is becoming more prevalent in blockbuster films, the fact still remains that depth is something established in 2D imagery.

A recent post on zevendesign.com outlined 8 pain ways to establish depth it art, photography, and film.

• Atmosphere 
• Color
• Linear Perspective
• Light
• Shadow
• Solidarity
• Focus
• Movement

We've all read or watched something that teaches us about creating depth, but the examples they used in this post were so beautiful and unique I found it necessary to share.

1. Atmosphere

The man stands holding an axe in front of the misty forrest that slowly fades off in to the distance. This form is depth is created by having the background less clear then where you want the focus to be.

2. Color

Maybe I'm just a color kind of guy, but I find this form of depth to be the most interesting. The repetition in color palette reveals some of the science behind creating depth.  

The opposite is also true with a white background.

3. Linear Perspective

Linear Perspective is probably an obvious one and usually one of the first ways we thing of creating depth. It's what your second grade art teacher called "the vanishing point". All of the material in your drawing is aimed at one focus point.

4. Light

Obviously if you point your light on to what's in the foreground the attention is going to focus there. But in this post they used light to show that when something is lit in the background, you get a very interesting effect. 

 In the picture below I feel pulled in to the scene. That path is beckoning for some quality strolling down.

The Light here is used in a much more metaphorical way. The focus in this painting ties in to religious beliefs on where our focus should be in life. Although we may first look at the man, that is not where the attention is pulled in the painting. 

5. Shadow

One the flip side of the last one, attention can be brought to what is not in the light by using shadows.

6. Solidity 

Solidity refers to the level of detail in different parts of the image. Solidity differs from focus in that it is usually used in cartoons and paintings. With this technique, the foreground has more attention detail then what is in the background.

7. Focus

Focus is the most common way to achieve depth in film and photography. It can also be achieved in computer art and animation, as they show in a couple of these examples:

 And hence forth the term "Bokehlicious" was created. 

8. Movement

Movement is another common technique used in film in photography. When your subject is on the move, moving the camera with them can blur stationary elements and bring focus to the subject. 

Which is also a synthetic effect I used in our promotional poster to give depth to the room:

The opposite of this (stationary subject with a moving background) is another way to achieve this effect. (Shout out to that time we made Cracked).

---

Of course, many of these examples are not limited to their exemplified use. Often times, it is the combination of several of these techniques that create depth in a scene. It's up to you to decide which ones will fit your image for the right effect.

Available Light

After shooting in a graveyard today I had to learn to deal with shooting only using available light. There was no power anywhere around and a generator wasn't exactly in our budget so bringing lights would have been useless so lighting department and I were forced to shoot using only the sunlight. Thankfully today was a beautiful day and I think the shots turned out pretty well.

The most useful tool to me when shooting only with available light is the reflector. Unfortunately PPECS only allows 1 reflector to each patron, but there are many things that work as a reflector. A large piece of white cardboard is perfect, even better if you wrap it in tinfoil. I most use a reflector to provide eye light and lessen shadows. When shooting exteriors I try to avoid directly bouncing a large amount of light onto the subject to avoid seeming like there are two sources of light.

Another useful tool is the scrim. Pretty much the opposite of a reflector the scrim's goal is to lessen the light on the subject. There are scrims with varying intensity and size. Scrims are one of the only ways to control and lessen the sunlight. Since PPECS only provides with a certain range of ND filters over-exposure on nice days can often be a problem. Simply throw a scrim on a c-stand and the sunlight will be significantly diffused resulting in a nicer shot.

The direction of the sun can often pose a problem. Theres not really anything you can do about that except for placing your subject accordingly. Always try to avoid having the sun behind your subject to avoid silhouetting  their face. If there's a situation where thats unavoidable that's where its best to use the reflector and try to lessen the darkness of the subjects face. Also when shooting exteriors always be mindful of camera shadows, because they are also hard to control.

Below is a video shot by Alexander Fox using only available light, and it turned out extremely well. Take a look.



Wild Dunes - Golf Group Getaways from Alexander Fox on Vimeo.