Superbowl lights out

An interesting thing happened when the lights went out during the Superbowl. People starting getting creative with their shots! For a sports game, omnidirectional lights are good for fans spread 360 degrees, however it is rather flat and uninspiring. A light source from one direction instantly can make images pop.

In contrast, here's what the same game looked like with lights from all angles. It's easy to see the subject, but there's no life to the lighting.

This directly correlates to the lighting I see in many CG films. It seems to be lit to work with multiple camera angles and look bright/comedic, but the lighting is certainly forgettable. For instance, here's some images from two films that I loved but were guilty of flat lighting. Looking at these images, my eye has no idea where to look. And that's the purpose of lighting for cinema, right? To direct focus.

In comparison, here's an example from Rango, which had quite good and well-thought out lighting. The character stands out instantly, and even if my eye goes to the bright spot first, they are directed by the light angle towards the character.

Here's an example from a bright desert daytime scene. How to get the character to pop? The dust in the background reduces the contrast of the background characters, and all colors of the supporting cast and the environment are less colorful than that of the main character.

The best way to work with lighting in a CG film or game, try planning lighting at the same time as previs. By putting the process at the end of the pipeline all meaning gets lost.