General analysis and lighting analysis on a film extract and still image

In the short extract from the film sin city the attention of the audience is pointed to the orange/yellowish cylinder held in the hand of one of the characters who is covered in plasters, the whole film is shot in a neo film-noir style which means that everything is in black and white (which could connote good and evil which is a binary opposite and a theory of Levi-Strauss) but in that scene the only colour that springs out at the audience is the orange/yellow cylinder which could be a tube used to store pills for medical reasons, this connotes that the reason that the cylinder is in colour is to emphasis the pain the character is going through. Throughout the short scene we see a number of lighting techniques, one of which include extreme low-key lighting. By using low-key lighting, there is a strong contrast between light and darkness which creates an effect of chiaroscuro, this could connote that the characters have some sort of darkness within them, that the male who has a much deeper and darker look about him with the help of top lighting, is some sort of villain which relates to Propps character roles theory. Top lighting has also been used in this scene to show the characters facial features and seeing as the setting is in a bathroom, the lighting is expected to come down from the top giving it a more realistic setting rather than to use a heavy amount of key lighting making it look unrealistic from the setting.

The lighting in the sin city film poster is used to highlight power in the characters, Bruce Willis is the actor centred in the middle and due to the low angle shot and the fact that he is looking down connotes that he is the superior of all the characters, he is the only one looking down on someone making the audience who view this poster feel intimidated by him. The lighting on Bruce Willis face leaves a few shadows on and around his face which is a low key lighting, it connotes power and could emphasise the darkness within the character and relating to Propps theory Bruce Willis would be considered as a Villain and an antagonist. The two characters behind Bruce Willis, especially Jessica Alba, are shown in a high key lighting with the help of a key light which connotes that these two characters are pure, good people and possibly some sort of hope within the film. The weather also provides a sense of darkness, combined with the facial expression of the characters and the lighting on them the weather shows pathetic fallacy as it shows the mood of the story, the majority of this poster uses a lot of low-key lighting to highlight the characters and portray them in a certain way.