David with the Head of Goliath - Caravaggio (1610)
Part of the expressionist elements that I planned to display was the lighting. It is important to note that in the wave of German expressionism, lighting was also viewed as an important form of expressionism.
Chiaroscuro lighting is one of the prominent features in such expressionist films, in which the byproduct of the extreme contrasts of light and dark are dramatic shadows. This technique was also used to reflect the disturbed psyches and oppressive world during the post-WWI era.
While having the chiaroscuro lighting present, I also wanted the lighting to have multiple colors - specifically, colors of primary hues.
The artistry of technicolor is most evidently celebrated by Dario Argento's Suspiria. The film's cinematographer, Luciano Tovoli, described his artistic visions during an interview as such: "A [horror] film brings to the surface some of the ancestral fears that we hide deep inside us, and Suspiria would not have had the same cathartic function if I had utilized the fullness and consolatory sweetness of the full color spectrum. To immediately make Suspiria a total abstraction from what we call ‘everyday reality,’ I used the usually reassuring primary colors only in their purest essence, making them immediately, surprisingly violent and provocative. This brings the audience into the world of Suspiria.”
Like Tovoli's use of primary colors, I planned to do the same by creating sources of red light. Since my concept was the Red Room, I wanted to have red as the mid-tone of the film.
To create such effect, I did some practices at home before the production. At my first attempt, I thought of covering the LED lighting kit with a plastic wrap painted with red watercolor.
However, this did not work out as I expected. It was at this point where my father suggested that I reflect the light from the lighting kit with a red plate.
This proved to work much better and I was satisfied with the results. After creating the red light, I began to experiment with creating the chiaroscuro lighting, where I asked my father to be my subject.
While taking a video of him with the lighting kit on his right, I've asked him to make some movements in his facial expression and his body so I could evaluate its success on dramatizing the shadows of his body.
Overall, I found the technique to be substantial and effective, and I plan to use this during the production.