From the course: Creating a Short Film: 07 Cinematography

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Using eye lights

Using eye lights

From the course: Creating a Short Film: 07 Cinematography

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Using eye lights

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- Earlier we talked about the hierarchy of importance with the most important thing usually being the eyes of the characters. To make those eyes pop a little more, we make sure that they are reflecting a light source. This creates little tiny pinpoint lights which are called eyelights. Eyelights make a character feel alive. I don't know that I understand why this is because in real life this isn't something that I ever notice or care about. But in cinematography, it's an undeniable effect. Even in cartoons when we want to empathize with the character more, we just add more eyelights as in this case with SpongeBob SquarePants. The eyelight suggests that his eyes are watering. This is also used in anime and other cartoons to make a character more lively or adorable. Here's our model Bitsy without an eyelight and also with an eyelight. You can really see what a difference this makes and how much life and energy she has in the eyes. Or in this close-up of our other model Lucy. Notice how…

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