Lighting performs essential functions in Hollywood films, enhancing the glamour, clarifying the action, and intensifying the mood. Examining every facet of this understated art form, from the glowing backlights of the silent period to the shaded alleys of film noir, Patrick Keating affirms the role of Hollywood lighting as a distinct, compositional force. Closely analyzing Girl Shy (1924), Anna Karenina (1935), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), and T-Men (1947), along with other brilliant classics, Keating describes the unique problems posed by these films and the innovative ways cinematographers handled the challenge. Once dismissed as crank-turning laborers, these early cinematographers became skillful professional artists by carefully balancing the competing demands of story, studio, and star. Enhanced by more than one hundred illustrations, this volume counters the notion that style took a backseat to storytelling in Hollywood film, proving that the lighting practices of the studio era were anything but neutral, uniform, and invisible. Cinematographers were masters of multifunctionality and negotiation, honing their craft to achieve not only realistic fantasy but also pictorial artistry.

Based on original research, this book forms an intelligent and perceptive study of a largely neglected but crucial aspect of Hollywood style. Knowledgeable about commentary on lighting across different genres and forms, Patrick Keating develops an analytical template for examining cinematographic practices that is logical, subtle, and powerful. -- Charles Wolfe, University of California, Santa Barbara There is no book like Patrick Keating's that gives the uninitiated viewer a clear, systematic, formally rigorous, and historical understanding of light and shadow in studio movies. -- James O. Naremore, Indiana University

About the Author
Patrick Keating is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Trinity University, where he teaches courses in film and media studies.

Reviews
Hollywood Lighting from the Silent Era to Film Noir should be considered essential reading by all film students and aspiring directors. Midwest Book Review This readable book provides welcome profiles of eminent cinematographers... and valuable research on the American Society of Cinematographers... Highly recommended. Choice This book taught my students and me to watch films in a new way. -- Karla Oeler Film Quarterly


Awards
Winner of Best First Book 2011.



Book Information
ISBN 9780231149037
Author Patrick Keating
Format Paperback
Page Count 312
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press