Storytelling through lighting.

Lighting is an important aspect of computer cinematography, in which lights and shadows are used to convey mood and support storytelling. Although realism remains an important aspect of computer-generated imagery, lighting directors constantly cheat the physics of light to support the artistic depiction of animated movies. Performing these tricks on a real-world set is a daunting task that often requires hours of setup. Freed of the limitations of real physics, developers of computer cinematography have been devising lighting models that let artists illuminate scenes intuitively.

The following six lighting objectives are important fundamentals of good lighting design.

• Directing the viewer’s eye
• Enhancing mood, atmosphere and drama
• Creating depth
• Conveying time of day and season
• Revealing character personality and situation
• Complementing composition



[references]
http://www.ronenbarzel.org/papers/lighting.pdf
http://education.siggraph.org/resources/cgsource/instructional-materials/archives/courses/s96-c30/s96_course30.pdf