Tuesday, December 22, 2009  Motivated Light  Lighting designers
say a light is motivated if the source is understood by the
viewer. In a film, comic book, or illustrated book, this can be
important in setting a mood and making the lighting look
convincing.  In this clip from Hiyao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away,
the girl enters a corridor where she sees multiple cast shadows
projected on a wall. The shadows flicker on and off for no
apparent reason. Up until this point the light is unmotivated.
With the lighting now fully motivated, the lighting designer has
some freedom for the remainder of the scene. The remaining shots
don’t have to make perfectly logical sense. Most of the later
shots have single shadows cast to the side or even nearly
straight downward.  What’s important in the later shots is
clarity of action and expression in the service of the story.
Showing those multiple flickering cast shadows again would not
only be unnecessary, it would be confusing.  An individual
painting can have motivated light as