Vision’s of Light

Applying “Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography” After watching the film, “Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography,” I was introduced to the beauty of capturing perfected lighting, highlighting, and shadowing. Before watching this documentary, I never truly focused on how a scene was portrayed and why it made me feel how I did. After careful consideration, I have decided to apply my new knowledge to why I feel, “A Little Princess” has been perfected by cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki. Furthermore, why I am pleased to know that “A Little Princess,” was nominated Academy Award for Best Cinematography back in 1996.
During the film, “Visions of Light,” I learned about the importance of how lighting an individual or a certain part of a room can speak for itself. One fact that I found was interesting, was one character in a scene will have more light on them than any others in the room to show the importance of that character in that moment. Another interesting fact I learned was on female actresses, they used flashing to make the image look soft and beautiful. In “A Little Princess,” Emmanuel Lubezki used flashing during filming.
My favorite scenes are of India with the contrast between the richness of whites, oranges, and bright yellows. The cinematography is so soft and beautiful, it can easily consume one. Another scene that takes my breath away, is when Sara wakes up one morning to the light shining into her glass windows. As she gets out of bed, her windows fly open with little snow flakes floating in the air. The light captures it so well, you can see each speck of glittering snow. The rest of the room is dark, while the light strictly focuses on her while she twirls in the snow.

It truly is alluring. On the contrary, shadowing and darkening also can speak for itself. “Visions of Light,” referenced darkening scenes to give off sadness, lonesome, anxious, and horror. It builds up suspense and thrill. This aspect of “lighting” is applied to “A Little Princess,” as well. There is such a dullness to New York in the movie. It has colors of green, black and white. Each scene is gloomy and sad. The scene where Sara Crew’s father has recently been presumed dead, she is walking up to the attic where she will be living with absolute nothing.
During her walk, the long hall behind her is dark with only a few candles lit. As Sara proceeds to walk to her bed, the room is shadowed and darkened, giving the watchers a sense of sadness and loneliness. The way this movies heightens and diminishes colors is quite symbolic. The cinematography captures the beauty in the movie so well, it almost creates the story on it’s own. Being more advanced in knowledge, I cannot wait to start comparing differences between movies and how each cinematographer displays their own piece of art.