#also blue cheese produces neurotoxins when it goes off

[apatheticlexicographer]

all of the lighting in stranger things is intentional, please stop saying it isn’t ( -sincerely, somebody with industry experience)

i’m pretty sure that the people who shit on the byler light symbolism theories have never been near a film set before. the idea of any kind of light being “accidental” on one of the most expensive shows ever made isn’t remotely credible if you have any kind of experience with the film industry. that being said, i know that most people don’t have firsthand experience or even secondhand knowledge of how the industry functions on the ground. as somebody who has both of those things, i figure i can try to spread the knowledge around a bit!!!

so, here we go!!! lexi’s fun fact science corner about film lighting, from the experience and knowledge of somebody who’s been on and around film sets and surrounded by filmmakers since they were 6 years old.

first of all, all the light on your screen is a lie.

(well, not all of it all of it, but most of the fun stuff is Big Lightbulb’s doing)

you see huge lights like these:

pretty much anywhere you go on a film set. any film set. and yes, that includes outdoor scenes: the sun is a ball of fire and spite with a specific vendetta against filmmakers and the clouds are its loyal minions. natural light is a bitch and should not be trusted. 

all light in a scene, even seemingly ambient light, has been curated very intentionally. the angle, the intensity, the tone, how sharp or soft it is. part of this curation is done in postproduction using editing software, but a lot of it is done on set by moving and covering lights. the quality and angle of light is pivotal in changing how a scene comes across. 

let’s look at an example unrelated to byler, to prove there’s no conflict of interest here:

here’s max while she reads her letter to billy. she’s backlit, leaving her face in the shadow. this is a lighting technique commonly used to communicate dramatic effect, tension, and an ominous feeling. the shadow cast by the backlighting isn’t hugely intense as the outdoors light conditions are otherwise very flat and quite pale. this gives the whole shot an exposed feeling: there is nowhere for max to hide. in retrospect we know what’s about to happen to max, which now makes the accuracy of that emotional signaling very blatant. while watching it for the first time, however, this lighting motif is intended to make you subconsciously uneasy. even before you know exactly what’s coming, you’re set a little on edge. as you should be!!! there is no tension without foreshadowing, just as there is no tension with too much foreshadowing.

here’s a closeup on her face, to show it more clearly:

notice how no direct light at all is hitting the right side of her face.

now here’s max a few minutes later:

...sorry.

anyway, see that light hitting half her face, while the other half is shadowed??? the position of the light source hasn’t changed, it’s still hitting her left side, but because the camera has moved she’s now being sidelit. sidelighting usually communicates mystery and conflict. Of course max is conflicted here!!! she’s facing the physical manifestation of her trauma, right after forcing herself to verbally process her joint feelings of relief and bereavement over billy’s death. as for mystery, there’s the short-term uncertainty over whether max will live or die, and the long-term uncertainty pertaining to vecna and what exactly his deal is. These are mysteries to both the viewers and the characters.

also, briefly: the tone of the light has changed from slightly warm in the first picture (nostalgia, comfort) to slightly cold (fear, death). it’s a subtle shift, but very clear.

the whole sequence is actually a very neat piece of lighting work!!!

“but lexi, how do you know that was intentional??? are you sure the sun didn’t just happen to be shining that way while they were shooting???���

yes. 

see, the biggest bitch about natural light is that it doesn’t last. the entire scene with max in the graveyard takes place within a very short span of time canonically, but there are a lot of different shots involved. it’s also a highly important and emotionally charged scene, which means it needs to be acted perfectly, however many takes that requires. the sidelight would not remain consistent across the filming of the entire scene if it wasn’t artificial. it probably wouldn’t last a single take!!!

“oh, but lexi, you’re talking about a really important scene. the lighting here might be intentional, but that doesn’t mean it’s always so important!!!”

wrong!!!

well, you are right to an extent. the lighting isn’t always super pivotal, but it’s not an optional element of film production. you can’t film your important scenes with super thoughtful lighting and just rely on the sun and the ceiling lamps for the rest of the show. lighting definitely isn’t always inspired and meaningful but it does always have thought and intention behind it (and effort!!! lighting guys are criminally underappreciated).

also, the byler scenes that people analyze the lighting of??? they’re all important scenes too!!! they might not have much bearing on the main plot at the moment, but they’re keystone scenes in the joint arcs of two of the show’s main characters. the graveyard scene is important to the plot, obviously, but it’s huge in max’s character arc. and what do you know??? most of the lighting symbolism is tied to the character aspect of the scene, and not the plot aspect.

so, to recap: the sun is evil and mostly fake, lighting symbolism can be clearly mapped, and it’s typically used to communicate deeper insight about the character being lit, which will register subconsciously.

i’m very much not done here yet lol, i have a lot more to say about colour, the lighting work done in postproduction, and the way lights are physically manipulated on set. however it’s also 7am and i’m an idiot who stayed up all night reading scientific journals about mould. i’m gonna turn in, but i plan on making a part 2 in the not too distant future!!!

hopefully this has been at least mildly interesting or informative lmao. when i see people saying stuff about what they think of byler as people working in or studying film i always forget that i am... also that lmao. also though, those posts tend to come at things from the perspective of scripting and preproduction. since most of my experience is on the ground i hope i can provide a slightly different angle to that of other film people of the tag.

til next time <333

#byler #stranger things meta #stranger things analysis #byler analysis #stranger things #some types of mould don't have barriers between the cells of their hyphae #that's fucked up dude #also blue cheese produces neurotoxins when it goes off