HIGH KEY LIGHTING

True to its name, High Key Lighting is the style of lighting in which the scene is flooded with light. This in turn leaves very few shadows and can create a washed out look. In order to create a high key lighting, many extremely bright lights must be used in order to flood the scene with light.




Many Hollywood motion pictures use high key lighting to create a natural setting, however, this isn’t exactly true (Pacific Cinematheque). As many films are ‘shot in places where lighting conditions may not be perfect, the lighting director must increase the amount of light within a scene (See Fig. 5). Due to the fact that Hollywood films have been doing this for years, it is now common place for most media to use this style of lighting. People have become accustomed to seeing this style and find anything else to be a break from the norm.