Cinematography comparison of two different eras

Film from the 1960s- Psycho

Film from the 1990s- Die hard 2

In the extract for Psycho, there is a key aspect of high key lighting which is used even though the film is in black and white.there is presence of high key lighting coming onto the top of the womens hair, and there is front key lighting placed onto the man. The director has purposely done this and not used any back lighting so that a large shadow is created belonging to the man. Shadows often connote darkness and evil within a character which may be the reason for this type of lighting. It’s a coincidence that the man has bright key lighting placed onto his face so we can see his expressions and facial features while talking to the lady, and then he has a large dark shadow behind him, as he draws his hand to his pocket. The rest of the room is brightly lit, so we can see the surrounding and everything else in the room. There also seems to be a glance of key lighting placed onto the woman's top half of her back, to show that there are other sources of light around the room.the type of shot used in this extract is a medium shot, so both characters are placed into one shot, so we can see how both characters act when they are next to each other, and how one may intimidate the other.the shot used makes us feel that we are with them watching what they are doing, and even though we are not at a high angle we feel like we are playing God by over watching the situation.

The extract from die hard 2 has a great deal of low key lighting, but key lighting is placed directly onto the two characters so they stand out from the rest of the background , showing that they are important in this scene and something may happen to them. Key lighting is also placed directly onto both characters faces so we can see their expressions easier.there is no back lighting used so that the rest of the background remains mysterious. The type of shot used in this is a medium shot, which puts both characters into the same picture.

Something which is similar in both images is the type of shot used, as they are both medium shots and include 2 characters in there so we can see how they react with the other character present. However, unlike the image from psycho we do not feel as if we are a part of the action in die hard 2, as we don’t feel like we are there and instead we feel like we are just watching the movie. Another difference is that in die hard 2, both characters are looking in one direction so we can see both of their expressions and facial features. However in the image from psycho, we can only see the mans, as the women has her back to us. Another difference is that both images use different lighting, as the 1st one used high key while the second used low key.