Lighting Assignment - Crotwell Kyle

Film Title: PACIFIC RIM
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cinematographer: Guillermo Navarro

Logline: Those that are mentally compatible suit up and pilot giant mechs called  Jaegers in which they fight against monsters known as Kaiju that are rampaging across the earth, destroying anything or anyone one in their way. 

Lights in general play a big role in this production in particular when the mechs are powering up. Many different lights illuminate pitch dark rooms as the massive machines begin to turn on. The amount of lights switched on and the space that they fill give help apply the feel of these machines and how big they are. There is a lot of panning shots that help utilize the light to its maximum potential. The key light in reference to the actor is often postioned just above them with a sight angle down to help display the emotions of their faces and show all the angles of the many different points on the face while the secondary light mainly comes from the different parts of the mech. The lights often change colors in the mech to help show the current mood or intensity of the scene or what kind of danger the pilots are in. The sheer amount of lighting effects is impressive and also absolutely essential in a movie such as this. After all a robot that doesn't have any lights doesn't look powered up and these mechs are no exception. Even without the sound you can tell what is happening in this scene mainly from the suiting up of the actors and all the lights switching on as the scene progresses and the Jaeger goes through its various stages of setup. The lighting for the actors is soft displaying their face in attractive angles and allowing us to see their full range of motion and feeling, even while restricted inside the mech. Outside of the mech the lights power on one by one to help direct your eyes to each part of the mech before just giving it to the viewer in a full view unrestricted which helps perceive the detail and size of the machine.