Smith 1
Kimberly Smith
Dr. Baker Alkarimeh
MDIA 2023-10A
September 1, 2022
Lights and Shadows of the Black Box
This is the first line in the essay about the use of light and shadows in the film “Black Box.”
It was released in 2020. This film was directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour and starred Mamoudou Athie, Phylicia Rashad, and Amanda Christine. This movie is science fiction and is listed as a suspense and horror film.
Let me start by saying that this is a wonderful film. To give an appropriate detail of the representation of the light and shadows, I must provide a brief synopsis of the film. The film tells the story of a man who losses his wife and his memory in a car accident. He is trying to get back to a normal life with his daughter but doesn’t know who he is and has nightmares of something or someone trying to kill him. He visits a renowned neurologist, played by Rashad, who uses a neurological experimental treatment to bring back his memory.
In this scene, the main character Nolan is put under hypnosis and taken back to a time in his past. Each time the character is placed under hypnosis, the director uses darkness with flashes of light swiftly moving, to denote time and scenery change. The character arrives in a dark room with a small hint of light coming from two windows. This light, which may be a streetlight, is intense outside the window but doesn’t come through the window to lend a hint to what is in the room, only provides an outline of the window. It is totally dark inside the room. As the character opens his eyes and focuses on the room light gradually enters. A lamp by a side table is on but the room is still dim. It’s his daughter’s bedroom, where his mind takes him as a safe place. As the character moves through the room shocked by his own presence and his surroundings, the room gets brighter. String lights dangling above the bed assist in lighting the room. There are several light sources in this room in use, a bedside lamp, tree lights and a floor lamp. These lights are strategically placed to cast shadows in the room in certain areas, one area being the door which the character has been instructed not to go through. I also believe having the room in darkness initially and then coming slowly into full light, was the director using a type and shadow of the character’s mind coming out of the darkness into the light from a cognitive perspective.
Smith 2
The character then transports into a deeper part of his subconscious. For less than two seconds you see the character go from this brightly lit bedroom to darkness with flashes of moving light. The director uses the flashes of light to note the character is transporting to a different scene. He then appears as a groom in his wedding. There is the bluish overcast in the that gives a suspenseful feeling to the scene. Might I also add that every scene that the character appears in with the neurologist, a blue over-cast or filter is used. This blue overlay kind of changes the tone, and lets you know that something eerie is happening or about to happen. In this scene you can see that the lighting is a stark contrast to the event taking place. The room is dim with key lighting stemming from three stained glass windows from the left side of the church. The light doesn’t fall on the groom but partially on the guest on the right side, leaving the groom in the shadows. As the music plays the light from the stained-glass windows cast the bride in a silhouette as she walks down the aisle. The now standing guest are also cast in a silhouette. As the character lifts the brides veil, the bride’s face is blurred, and because room light is dim, the side light from the windows seems to come to the forefront, casting a shadow over the bride. The groom looks around the room and everyone’s face are blurred. Again, the only light used in this scene was from (or appeared) the light from the windows. The rays from the windows alone should have been enough to blanket the entire room with light, so I believe that the stained-glass windows on the opposite side of the church, which we do not see, are covered, making the room darker. There is also an exit sign and candles that do not add to the lighting but enhances the darkness of the room.
Smith 3
The next scene I want to discuss occurs near the film’s end. The character, Nolan is again under hypnosis and has realized that his memory is not his own, but the neurologist’s son Nolan who died years ago. Gary is now the main character and understands that the body he’s in is Nolan’s.’ The nightmare following him is Nolan attempting to get back into his body. In his subconscious, the doctor’s son, Gary attempts to kill Nolan but fails when he hears the voice of Ava, the daughter Nolan who has appeared at her father’s side while he is under hypnosis. Ava’s voice makes the doctor’s son surrender.
The significance of this scene occurs after Gary gives up. He accepts that he is dead and walks away. He goes to a door and opens it. The screen is pitch black except for small spotlight on the character. Gary is waiting in a vestibule with the fear of going forward into the unknown. As Nolan has reclaimed his body and no longer under hypnosis, the scene focuses on Gary in a small light. You can see the door in the background. Gary turns toward the light and it quickly disappears. Eliminating the backlight, makes the character seem smaller. He is now in the center of the pitch-black screen and the light is reduced down by ninety percent. The small amount of light is not above or on his sides, but seem to be emanating from the character, who may be holding the light. As Gary sits in the dark room, you see the contrast of the light touching a small part of his face and ear, darkness (fastfalloff) on the side of his face. This is the Rembrandt lighting discussed in the chapter. I believe that the purpose of this scene is to signify defeat. For the director, walking away may not have a big enough impact, but placing the character in darkness represents death from a spiritual perspective, since he is already dead physically speaking.