Lighting in Film: Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire

In the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, originally written by JK Rowling, director Mike Newell's lighting choices are precisely brilliant throughout the entire movie. From the creatively lit banquet hall scenes, to the bright and beautiful ballroom, and all the way up until the dim and challenging final task, the entire movie had vivid lighting that gave viewers a great idea of what was going on without the need for sound. One scene in particular that I would like to point out is the one where Harry gets his name chosen from the Goblet of Fire, meaning he will soon have to to entire the Triwizard tournament - a competition that is supposed to be for wizards much older and more prepared than himself. 

In the beginning of the scene, we can see warm fires hanging on the wall lighting the character's heads in the background, with dumbledore being lit bright blue from the light the goblet gives off. Notice how either Fred or George Weasley seems to have a reddish lighting on the top of his head, and so does the girl next to him. 

When dumbledore dims the lights, the entire room becomes blue lit, until the fire burns red turning dumbledore a pinkish color.



An interesting time frame is when the triwizard cup has been revealed, illuminating Snape, Barty Crouch, and everyone else by it blue, but the Goblet of fire has turned red again, making the front half of the room (including dumbledore) pink. You can see the two halves of the room divided by two different colors.


The concept of two different, contrasting, colors of lighting shows again in the following scene where Harry is being interrogated about putting his name in the Goblet of Fire. The bonfire provides warm light in the back, which illuminates the faces of the characters who are speaking. The other light is a paler blue color that shines from the moon and from the moon's reflection on the silver trophies.



You can see above how half of Harry's face is lit from the warm bonfire, and the other half is lit from the darker and cooler moon. I can't help but figure that the lighting has a symbolic purpose, identifying Harry's confusion of not knowing what to do in this certain situation. He has also always had a light vs. Dark character choice going on inside of him as well.