Skip to main content

lighting research

Lighting plays a powerful role in shaping the mood, emotion, and overall impact of a music video. The choice between natural and artificial lighting can completely transform how a story is told and how viewers connect with it. Natural lighting often creates a sense of realism, intimacy, and authenticity, while artificial lighting allows for bold creativity, dramatic effects, and stylized visuals. In this blog, I’ll explore examples of music videos that rely fully on natural light, those that are built entirely with artificial light, and how these two approaches give different experiences to the audience.

Natural Lighting

  • What is Natural Lighting?
Natural lighting refers to light that comes directly from natural sources, mainly the sun. In music videos, this usually means filming outdoors in daylight or indoors with sunlight streaming through windows. Directors often use it to give scenes a realistic, raw, and organic feeling.
  • Why is it used in MVs?

Natural lighting is used in music videos to create a realistic and authentic mood. It makes scenes feel more emotional and relatable, while also giving a simple, raw beauty that connects with viewers.

MVs with Natural Lighting

Blue - Yung Kai


As shown below, the music video uses a lot of natural sunlight to portray the feeling of the song in a more natural way without using any strong lighting 


In Blue by Yung Kai, natural lighting is used to highlight the song’s emotional and intimate tone. Most of the visuals rely on soft daylight, often captured outdoors, which creates a calm and melancholic mood that matches the gentle sound of the track. The use of sunlight gives the video a raw and authentic feeling, as if the emotions are unfolding naturally rather than being staged. This simple, natural light reflects the vulnerability in the lyrics and helps the audience connect with the song on a deeper, more personal level.

Day Light - David Kushner

As shown below, the music video is filmed in natural lighting that is very light, creating a dark look to the music video and giving it a very dark mood 

In Daylight by David Kushner, natural lighting is the key element that drives the visuals. Most of the video is filmed outdoors with soft sunlight, often during golden hour, which creates a warm and spiritual atmosphere. The shifting daylight reflects the song’s themes of struggle, hope, and redemption, making the emotions feel raw and real. By relying on natural light instead of heavy artificial effects, the video carries a grounded, almost timeless quality that draws the viewer deeper into the meaning of the song.


Artificial Lighting

  • What is Artificial Lighting?

Artificial lighting refers to any light created by man-made sources rather than the sun. In music videos, this includes LED panels, spotlights, neon lights, studio lamps, and colored lights. Artificial lighting gives directors full control over brightness, color, and shadows, allowing them to create dramatic, stylized, or fantastical visuals. It’s often used to emphasize mood, highlight performers, or produce effects that natural light alone can’t achieve.

  • Why is it used in MVs?

Artificial lighting is used in music videos to create mood, drama, and visual style that natural light can’t always provide. It allows directors to control colors, shadows, and intensity, making scenes look more cinematic or stylized. Whether it’s neon lights for a modern, energetic feel or spotlights to highlight performers, artificial lighting helps bring the concept of the video to life and enhances the storytelling.

MVs with Artificial Lighting

Lover - Taylor Swift


As shown below, it shows how the MV is made of different artificial lights with different colours to portray different moods and feelings


In Taylor Swift’s Lover MV, artificial lighting is used to create a dreamy, romantic atmosphere. Each colorful room is lit with controlled lights that set different moods, from warm and cozy to cool and serene. This careful lighting enhances the whimsical, storybook feel and highlights the emotions in the song.

Blinding Lights - Weekend



In The Weeknd's Blinding Lights music video, artificial lighting is masterfully employed to create a vibrant, cinematic atmosphere. The video features dynamic neon signs, streetlights, and glowing cityscapes, all contributing to a retro-futuristic aesthetic reminiscent of 1980s nightlife. This controlled lighting design not only enhances the video's visual appeal but also underscores the song's themes of longing and exhilaration, immersing viewers in a world of pulsating energy and emotional intensity.

Natural lighting creates real, emotional scenes, while artificial lighting adds style and mood. Both shape the look and feel of a music video.

Learning Outcome

While researching natural and artificial lighting, I learnt how important lighting is in creating mood and emotion in a music video. I realised that natural lighting helps scenes feel more realistic and relatable, whereas artificial lighting allows more control to create different atmospheres through brightness, colour, and shadows.

This helped me understand that lighting is not only used to make scenes visible, but also to reflect the character’s emotions and support the overall message of the music video.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Genre and Mood exploration

 Here, I aimed to explore the genre and mood of similar songs to examine how the music video concept has been developed, and to investigate how the music video's narrative (the story) relates to the song's actual theme. The main theme and genre of my choice of song (Numb little bug )    Main theme - mentalillness, post liminal sad but beautiful Genre - Indie pop Some songs that depict a similar concept to the post-liminal theme and the genre of indie pop Ceilings by Lizzy McAlpine Heather by Connan Gray Ceiling By Lizzy McAlapine  Theme - Grief and blurred memory after a breakup Genre - Indie pop  The main meaning of the song  can be interpreted in two ways: as a lingering feeling of a broken relationship or as the aftermath of an imagined scenario. The song can be taken as an understanding of the real-world situation of a breakup, even though the relationship wasn't real. How does the song lyric match the post-liminal concept?  First chorus - The ch...
Post a Comment
Read more

Behind the scenes

 Here I'll show the behind-the-scenes of me filming my music video Here the camera was not the actors face is not in the middle of the screen so the shot was not right Here the camera was not the actor's face was not in the middle of the screen so the shot was not right I  first wanted to take the shot where the dog was sitting beside her, but it was a failure because it did not show any interest, so we took the shot with the dog sitting down and looking up Small mistake She did not look angry enough in this shot  I did not include this clip in the last MV It was actually a very fun experience filming the MV, but we also had an annoying number of mistakes which we had to correct and move forward. These show the wrong takes and the bloopers of filming (behind the scenes)
Post a Comment
Read more

Practicing Photography of backgrounds(locations)

 Here I will be practicing some photography with different backgrounds that bring out different moods Places Melancholy Place - A lane with houses This picture feels calm but a little lonely. The empty stone road and quiet houses make it seem peaceful, like no one is around. The dark clouds with bits of blue sky give it a dramatic feeling, like rain might come soon. It feels calm, quiet, and a little sad in a nice way. Scenes to film in this background  (empty road and cloudy sky) can be used for a dramatic walking away scene, someone feeling lonely or lost. it can also be for a new beginning scene like someone coming to a new town. it’s good for a quiet talking moment between two characters or just before a storm to make it feel suspenseful. Serenity Place - A tea cultivation This background gives a very peaceful and calming feeling. The green tea bushes in the front with the mountains in the distance make it feel natural and quiet. The orange and pink sunset adds a warm, dre...
Post a Comment
Read more