Lighting

Lighting is an important factor in any movie as it creates the mood of the film. In the movie The Godfather there is a combination of lighting. Low-key lighting is used in most of the scenes in the movie. In some scenes there is use of natural lighting as well as three-point lighting.

The Godfather is a gangster film where there is a lot of violence, such as shooting and murders. It is a dark and sad film not a happy film. The use of low-key lighting in these scenes is what the audience expects. For example, the scene when the horses cut head was found in the bed, and the murders that took place towards the end of the movie, they display the use of low-key lighting. Sometimes murders do take place in broad daylight, but that does not give a film such as The Godfather the look or feel of the mafia life. If the entire movie was shot in high-key lighting, it would look like a romantic comedy or a news film.

Moreover, there is use of natural light, in particular the scenes such as the wedding and shooting of Sonny Corleone is in broad daylight. Also Carlo Rizzi’s murder was in day light. The day Don Corleone was shot it was an overcast gray day. In addition there is use of three-point lighting, especially rim light as there had to be close up focus on the actors in many scenes. One of the most dramatic scenes was the domestic violence scene which used fill and back lights to create the intensity of the scene.

Therefore the benefits of the lighting used made each scene look the way it was meant to be shown. The various lighting techniques used in The Godfather film made the theme of the movie realistic. If the film was shot using only high-key and natural lighting, it would not have depicted the real life of a gangster, which is not a happy life. Some people might find a mafia’s life as a happy life as they get what they want, but most people see a gangster’s life as a dim and drab sort of life, which does not have much happiness.