Short term 12: lighting

Destin Daniel Cretin's film Short term 12 deals with life in a home for troubled youth ,ith troubled meaning abandoned, abused or just lost. Given such dark subject matter it figures that the majority of the film should have rather dark, muted lighting to match the tone and situations presented within the film. The use of lighting in a film is essential to establish mood and atmosphere. The film reaches its darkest when we delve into the personal struggles of both Marcus and Jayden. This is especially true of the scene where Jayden shares the story of her abusive father as told by the "octopus" story. and later at Jayden's dad's house. This darkness of course represents the mood and the feeling of being lost and neglected commonly found in group home kids but is also a great demonstration of trends in contemprary dramas, as new tech has allowed for more atmospheric shots and lighting. needless to say there was points in the film where the lighting was weak as it was often overused and made more positive moments feel somber. The use of lighting in this film is strangely similar to Christopher Nolan's memento, a thriller. I say this because Memento is largely dark as well and is very atmospheric, with several Noire elements, which also represents the trends in contemparay film.