Lighting Assignment

Film: Law Abiding Citizen

Director: F. Gary Gray

Cinematographer: Jonathan Sela

Logline: A man whose family was killed exacts revenge on their murderer. He then admits to this and gives his prosecutor an ultimatum to fix the corrupt system or face his wrath.

In this scene, Clyde Shelton is being questioned for the murder of Clarence Darby. Clyde is currently in a cage in cuffs. The fact that he is cuffed and not free is emphasized by the light that can be shown beaming through the windows at the start of the scene. You can also see Sela make use of lighting by Clyde’s face being lit while having a dark unfocused background, as opposed to his prosecutor Nick who has multiple objects lit up behind him taking the focus away.