Controlling The Eye By Relighting With Motivated Power Windows

Building on the concept of ‘Motivated Vignettes’

Cullen Kelly’s Insight about ‘Motivated Vignettes’ is a terrific exploration of creating naturalistic vignettes. As this topic usually does with professional colorists, that Insight also has a good discussion of Mixing Light members sharing their thoughts on the subject. In particular, this comment caught my attention:

“The first consideration, in my opinion, should be looking at where the light is entering the frame. I think with such a strong light on the cupboards and the counter in front of what looks like a window – that maybe that should be dealt with first to lessen the light ratio, then add the vignette to make the view look at the person.”

Jim Robinson

In my reading of this comment, Jim is talking about moving beyond the vignette – which is about ‘pushing back’ the edges of the screen – and moving into the realm of relighting a scene.

After mastering ‘motivated vignettes’, the next step is tackling ‘motivated Power Windows’