The Green Mile (1999)
Writer: Stephen King
Director: Frank Darabont
Major Actors: Tom Hanks, David Morse, Michael Clark Duncan
In “The Green Mile” three point lighting is used throughout the movie. Three – point lighting is based upon careful control of shadows by using three main light sources (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). From watching the movie this choice of lighting seems to work very well. Neither high-key lighting or low lighting would not properly highlight the size of Jon Coffey. The picture below shows that properly using three point lighting viewers can see that John Coffey is substantially taller and bigger then the other men in the picture. This would not be possible if any other source of lighting was used.
While Three – point lighting works well to show the viewer the size difference between men, it can also help with close up shots of actors in scenes where details are important. Take the scene below for example, Three-point lighting works in a way that does not become a distraction for the viewer. The lighting is not too overbearing like high-key lighting could possibly become in this shot.
This movie is pretty straight forward, it is about a prisoner who has a special power to heal people. This power is misunderstood and ends up killing him in the end. There are no special effects or crazy scenes that special lighting would be needed. This was not the intention of the film from the beginning. I feel that three-point lighting complimented the film very well. Something that is typical for a Stephen King movie.
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi552796441/?stop=1&ref_=vi_cmt_tt_ov_vi#discuss
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. (2014). Film: from watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education Inc
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