We unpack why light from below just looks scary.
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Transcript provided by Youtube:
00:06
in a horror movie
00:08
the dark the unwelcome shadows and light
00:10
coming from the wrong places fuel our
00:12
feeling that something’s off
00:14
even before we have any concrete
00:15
encounter with a threat there’s a reason
00:17
you often see the same kinds of lighting
00:19
in Horrors and there are historical
00:21
aesthetic and scientific explanations
00:23
for our emotional reactions to what we
00:25
see lighting from below or up lighting
00:28
is a long-standing practice in horror
00:30
cinematography that heavily distorts the
00:32
human face
00:33
creating alarming shadows around the
00:35
eyes and facial features this eerie
00:37
appearance creates instinctive alarm
00:39
which is why for as long as we can
00:41
remember kids around camp fires have
00:43
been shining flashlights under their
00:44
chins as they share scary stories light
00:46
from below looks unnatural because it
00:48
doesn’t occur in the natural world
00:50
sunlight of course shines on us from
00:52
above from the side or from behind not
00:55
up from the ground but the fear comes
00:57
from a deeper symbolism lighting coming
00:59
from below evokes the idea of light
01:01
coming from the bowels of humanity from
01:03
the depths of hell the opposite is also
01:05
true
01:06
light from above creates the illusion of
01:09
heavenly light actors lit a little bit
01:11
from above or in golden sun color hues
01:13
take on a luminescent natural angelic
01:16
appearance as if they’re bathing in a
01:18
pretty beam of celestial light it may
01:20
seem strange but even if as individuals
01:23
we don’t necessarily believe in heaven
01:25
or hell or any tenets of Western
01:26
religion up lighting will still strike
01:29
us as uncanny and unnatural but it’s
01:31
hard to escape the instinctive visual
01:33
recognition that this traditional use of
01:35
symbolic light has deeply entrenched in
01:37
our minds light from below just looks
01:40
scary there’s also a more scientific
01:43
explanation studies have shown that the
01:45
human brain is hardwired to recognize
01:47
faces even when they’re not there so
01:49
this could be why we find distorted
01:51
faces like the ones created by up
01:53
lighting especially disturbing other
01:56
common horror lighting techniques
01:57
include silhouette spotlighting under
02:01
exposure
02:02
harsh light prominent and projected
02:04
shadows shooting through objects like
02:07
windows and shooting through elements
02:09
like fog or haze all of these techniques
02:11
evoke a mood and present an obscure get
02:14
exaggerated vision of the threat
02:16
crafting the atmosphere of horror before
02:18
a line of dialogue is ever uttered our
02:21
fear is no accident it’s the careful
02:24
design of storytellers who know exactly
02:26
what’s going to freak us out
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This post was previously published on Youtube.
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Photo credit: Screenshot from video