Okay, well after a few days research into the area I seem to have collated quite bit of information on setting a mood through the use of lighting and camera. As here follows
Actual scene appearance
The first thing which should be considered in setting the mood for a scene is the actual scene itself. The props and furniture will be the first thing that the player notices about the scene.
The age if the items within the scene is of great importance, firstly if the furniture and such is old and decaying, covered in dirt and broken, this will automatically make the player feel they are somewhere they should not be, adversely having everything to clean and precise may also have this effect by bringing to mind the sterile environment of a hospital or asylum of some sort. When putting a player at ease somewhere in the middle ground is advisable, lots of soft furnishings in a well kept state with some small signs of life scattered here and there (such as an open book or a children’s toy or whatnot) will automatically make a scene feel more homely than either a spotless sterile one or one in complete disarray.
Another thing which can affect the player’s perception of the set is the colour and saturation. Dull dark colours with little saturation are very depressing to the viewer whereas very bright saturated ones are energetic but perhaps a little overbearing. Pastels will automatically be soothing, warm reds and yellows either inviting if used sparingly or warning of danger whereas blues and other cool colours are emotive of sadness or when used as an accent with an overall white theme creates a soothing theme.
(Image from www.mts.net/~william5/sld/sld-100.htm )
Mood Lighting
One of the most important factors in creating an effective mood in a scene, other than the environment structure and content itself is the use of lighting.
Effective lighting can lead a player, or repel them, set them on edge or at ease and provoke a wide range of emotions in between.
The main points to take into account when lighting a scene for a video game are.
v Visibility - Which parts of the scene you want to highlight or lead the player to, and aversely what you wish to hide.
v Naturalism – the setting, i.e. time and place. Is there a specific time of day that affects the lighting? Is it indoors? Outdoors? Or something else entirely?
v Mood - What emotion you wish to trigger in the player.
v Composition – What is the overall shape and form of the scene that is needed to be shown and how the lighting will affect the characters and objects within the environment?
Direction
Light direction can have a great deal of impact on how a player perceives an environment, character or object. Lighting form different directions can bring out highlights and shadows in different places upon an object highlighting or hiding them and causing them to stand out as important features for the player, either because they can see them, or adversely because they cannot. The main examples of lighting direction are:
v Top down – When Lighting a character this can be quite a frightening thing as it casts the characters eyes into shadow. However sometimes top down lighting is a nice way to highlight paintings on a wall if used sparingly with another main lighting system.
v Contre Jour – Contre Jour, also known as backlighting, is also a frightening way of lighting both a character and a set as it not only blurs the edge of the character but also harshly obscures their features in shadow too. This loss of expression (or detail in the case of an object) can be rather jarring for the player and tends to add a sense of mystery.
v Frontal – Regular frontal lighting is a good way to create a simple and fun atmosphere. The player can easily make out everything they need to see and there is no sense of unease.
v Low lighting – The use of dimmed lighting from multiple sources creates a soft, relaxing and more intimate atmosphere. It is neither too hard on the eyes like a bright light, nor is it dark enough to obscure anything from the player’s view and it does not create harsh silhouettes.
v Underlighting – Underlighting is once again another way to create a good creepy frightening atmosphere by throwing the subject’s features into sharp contrast. It also has the added effect of creating looming shadows behind objects and characters.
v Edge – Lighting from the edge is quite mysterious in a non-threatening manner, it highlights the most important features of the subject but because of it being to the side the rest of the subject is also lit quite softly in the process.
v Spot – Spot lighting of course is a good way to lead the player’s eye by highlighting something of importance.
v Reflected – depending on the colouring of the reflective object reflective lighting can either be soft (as it lights both sides of the subject quite well) or very creepy if the lighting is dim with an unusual colour. It’s a good method for picking out detail whilst highlighting different areas in different colours to perhaps show a different mood either side.
(Image from www.mts.net/~william5/sld/sld-100.htm )
Colour and intensity
Lighting colour is probably one of the less documented aspects of stage lighting and yet it is nonetheless of vital importance as it affects the mood greatly.
Remembering the light colour wheel, and that mixing coloured lights is additive creating white rather than black as with paint, coloured lights can be very usefully used to bring out the correct colours on important focal points of a scene to its utmost effectiveness as well as setting the overall tone.
v Blues – Used with soft lighting from above and perhaps a leafy patterned filter or cut-out (known as a ‘Gobo’ in the theatre) between the light and scene can create an effective night time mood. It can also be used to create a sad overall mood.
v Reds – Red, the colour of passion, is generally used to evoke danger anger or lustful feelings in the viewer depending of course on the setting, brighter overall uses of red, or small areas of bright red generally represent danger or anger whereas an overall dim use of red provides a more sultry mood.
v Yellows – As a general rule yellow is a colour that immediately feels very energetic when used brightly, and a welcoming colour when used softly, however if used too dimly it gives the feeling of old broken electric lights, if used with a flickering effect this could be quite a scary effect.
v Purples – Purple as a general rule is seen as quite a rich and mysterious colour, having been made up of both the sultry red tone and the cool blue it can also often be effectively used to complement both reds and blues and to suggest a dusky feeling.
v Greens – Generally green is a rather soothing calm colour, when a bright warm yellowish green is used it is reminiscent of an outdoors scene on a sunny day, however when a bluer green is used softly with a general dark atmosphere it creates an eerie and dank feeling of perhaps a swamp or dank forest at night-time.
v Oranges – As a general rule orange is a warm and welcoming colour of perhaps an oil lamp or fireside glow.
v White – The most common lighting colour of course is a simple white one, this is a very clean and neutral way to light something and doesn’t really affect the mood too greatly either way alone.
v Intensity – Light intensity plays a great importance in lighting a scene. As a general rule the brighter and harsher the lighting the more intense feeling it gives, whether it be a hostile one or a playful one. While a bright light overall does enable the viewer to see everything clearly, having it too bright can be overbearing. Using small areas of bright light however does effectively draw the viewer’s eyes to things of importance.
Using soft lighting tends to give a mellower and gentle feeling and can also give nagging feeling of danger, either way it is a much more subtle feeling.
And of course lastly sections of darkness, as a general rule these are areas the viewer will generally either ignore or instinctively stay away from.
(Image from www.mts.net/~william5/sld/sld-100.htm )
Camera angle
Camera is another very important factor when it comes to setting a scene properly as well as capturing action. The framing, angle and movement of the camera are pivotal when it comes to setting the mood and correctly portraying action to the viewer effectively.
Framing
v Extreme Long Shot – An extreme long shot, it taken from far away and generally used for setting a scene to establish location.
v Long shot – A shot taken from a distance so that the subject is the full height of the screen. This shot is good for getting in action and the full body of the subject.
v Medium shot – Slightly closer than the long shot, this is used during conversation between characters and such as a general rule. If concentrating on people it could be referred to as a ‘waist-up’ shot.
v Close up – A close up of in item of interest or a person’s face, this can be a quite intimate and emotional way of framing a shot.
v Extreme Close up – Not often used this extreme version of the close up shot is used for looking at something in great detail such as a subject’s eyes or mouth or writing on paper for example. It’s generally used for dramatic effect or to highlight one particularly important factor.
Angle
v Birds eye – An extreme view from high up and directly above. Little can be seen in terms of detail but it gives a good general impression of a large scene.
v High – A top down view on the action lends a feeling of power to the viewer being in a position above the subject, and therefore makes the subject seem smaller and more insignificant. However it may be hard to make out expressions and such making it more suited to action scenes than emotional ones.
v Eye Level – Good for emotional or intimate scenes it is shot at the viewer’s/subject’s eye level and therefore is a good ‘all round’ type of shot.
v Low – A shot from below the subject’s eye level, sometimes even as low as the ground, this shot tends to make the subject look bigger than they are, instilling a sense of power to them whilst simultaneously giving the player a sense oh helplessness.
And so, after doing this research I have begun work on a very very simple little piece of set in which to try out these different effects and gather people’s opinions on them before using the chosen best effects in my final piece which will hopefully be a short battle cutscene if all goes well.
Here are some images of the set so far, it's been modelled in Maya, 2096 tris, and hasnt any texture applied yet (obviously). I've never been the best at modelling but I'm rather happy with the progress I'm making.
