The film Saw, 2004, a horror film that mostly takes place underground in a mildly lit room. The lighting played a major role in the mise en scene of the film. Because the film is dark and gruesome, it is not set in a well-lit environment. The cinematography of the film is captured correctly to create the mood of fear and despair. The filming that takes place in the room where the main characters are being held captive is dimly lit. The use of natural lighting is use throughout the film the movie start with the characters scrambling around in the dark searching for a light switch. When the switch is found the room illuminates but never truly bright, creating the environment of an abandoned warehouse, with faulty lighting.
The lights go in and out throughout the film, as a reminder of how run down and secluded the environment the characters are trapped in is. The entire film has an eerie dark feel throughout which is portrayed through the use of dark grey, blue hues and at times pitch black shadowy lighting. Even in the flashback moments of the actors reflecting on what brought them to this moment, bright high key lighting is never used.
Throughout the movie the scenes switch from the room the main characters are in and that of the kidnapper who is watching them through a camera, those scenes are shown in black and white. The moments of the scene showing that the camera is in black and white, it alerts the audience that the camera is indeed just for surveillance, that the kidnapper can only see what is happening in the room, but cannot hear. If the scene showing the footage of the kidnapper had been shot in full color and bright high key lighting, it would have left the audience thinking that there would be audio attached to the camera. This lighting scenario is particularly crucial to the scene where the main characters discuss their ploy to deceive the kidnapper by turning off the lights and speaking amongst themselves.
If the audience would have been under the impression that the kidnapper could hear them, the anticipation of the scene would have lost its momentum. The characters choices and scenes of hopefulness would have been greatly decreased by having the lighting switched in this manner. The major sigh of relief comes at the end of the film when the audience discover that the main character did not indeed kill his counterpart, that they had previously discussed during the lights being off that he would shoot him in a non-lethal place and for the other character to lie still as though he had died. This allowed the audience to have faith in the humanity of the protagonist of the film, to show that he indeed was not selfish and wanted to save the life of another not just himself and his family. Had the dark lighting been used to shield the actor’s discussion, or the black and white to identify the use of audio, it would have made it nearly impossible for the movie to have the effect and outcome that it did.
References
http://docuniverse.blogspot.com/2013/10/review-saw-2004.html
SAW CUTS ITS WAY BACK INTO THEATERS THIS HALLOWEEN TO CELEBRATE 10TH ANNIVERSARY
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