Creating effective computer generated scene lighting using traditional film lighting techniques

Abstract

This thesis explores the process of translating traditional cinematic lighting into the digital realm by understanding distinctly different lighting styles of three Directors of Photography. These Directors of Photography are Conrad Hall, Gregg Toland, and Zhao Fei. Digital lighting studies representative of the work of each Director of Photography were created. In these studies, the lighting in scenes done by each Director of Photography was digitally mimicked. As a result, the lighting studies provided valuable insight into the approaches of these masters of light. An animation was created to display a scene lit in the three lighting styles of each Director of Photography. The process, learned from the lighting studies, of creating three different lighting styles representative of each Director of Photography was applied to the final animation. The analysis and lighting studies of each Directors' of Photography style expedited the process of lighting the final animation in each different style. As a result, a more complex environment was effectively lit in three different cinematic styles with animated light.