Trick of the Dark- Light Contrasts

Throughout Trick of the Dark, one thing I want to play on and to manipulate is contrast, this is both visually and in thematically. So firstly I would like to talk about visual contrasts; my biggest influence for my biggest visual contrast is Lord of the Rings, specifically the final film in the trilogy, the Return of the King. In the final act of this film we see exactly the visual contrast I want to emulate in my own work.

So in the first shot we see Frodo in a dark setting and everything is bleak and dark, there is some light in the scene as the orange glow surrounds his face but this is to reflect the fire and lava surrounding him which only serves to highlight his desperate situation. This is how I want to portray Scott in the cave, though minus the fire I want the visuals to reflect his desperation and the bleak outlook on his life that I am presenting. In Trick of the Dark there will be a much darker surrounding around Scott and the people in the cave as they are trapped and it is a dark scenario, the only light in these scenes will be from the hole in the cave that represents the light that is out of reach for them, just like their hope and how it is distant and faint. The other light in the scene will be from a lantern, which in all honesty isn't really symbolic, it is simply a practical light to explain why the characters are lit the way they are. Almost straight from that scene in Lord of the Rings they cut to a brightly lit room which is filled with lots of whites and creams and we see Frodo on the mend from his exertions on Mount Doom.

The above screenshot shows the wide shot from this scene and though it isn't the first shot in this scene, it does highlight my point pretty well. We can now see Frodo and the fellowship whom we have gotten used to wearing dark colours now all wearing mostly white or certainly brighter colours than previously, this is symbolic of how darkness has literally left there world and light is returning, this is essentially the crux of the ending in that darkness or the main source of evil (Sauron) has been defeated. My film will feature a similar theme and visual because when Scott leaves the cave it is the beginning of his recovery and he is on the road to eliminating the darkness in his life. I will visualise this with a vibrant white hospital and a brightly lit room where everything has a glean to it and appears to be clean. This is to represent the cleansing of Scott's life. It would be naive for me to say that he is cured of his problem simply from the events of the film, however, it is a film with a hopeful message and what I am wanting to visualise is that hope and thus light have re-entered his world after he has acknowledged and sought help for the damage he and his destructive brain have inflicted upon himself and those around him. So in essence by making the scene vibrant and bright it shows the audience that the light has returned to his life and it is no longer far off and unobtainable, instead it is right there to behold and enjoy again. Now this is not a fairytale where everything is suddenly better but it is the start of that journey and I want to leave the audience on the happier feeling coupled with the impact of the ending that it was all in his head, thus again being symbolic of his health. So that is what I look to do visually with the film, hopefully it shows through and we get this emotion form the lighting.