The lighting used in our soap opera is an important factor of setting a certain atmosphere.

For example, low key lighting can set a very dark, evil mood, and tells the audience that something sinister or bad is about to happen. Natural lighting sets a very calm and neutral mood, and lets the viewer know that everything is normal. On the other hand, high key lighting can be used for several different situations. Its often used during celebrations or happy occasions, such as parties, weddings and gatherings at the pub. It can also be used in a romantic situation to lift the mood and create a cheerful atmosphere. Soap operas conventionally use natural lighting as it creates a sense of verisimilitude in comparison to artificial lighting. Natural lighting is used the majority of the time, but when trying to create a certain atmosphere, high key lighting and low key lighting are also used. For example, when Peggy Mitchells Queen Vic was burning down in Eastenders, the lighting was low key to reflect Peggys distress. An example for the use of high key lighting was Bradley and Staceys wedding in Eastenders, when the light atmosphere and white wedding dress held connotations for the couples happiness. In our own soap opera trailer, we will also use lighting to create a certain atmosphere. Based on the ideas from our storyboard, low key lighting will most likely be used in the presence of our character Rachel Mannings. The majority of the lighting will be natural in order to create a sense of verisimilitude and keep to generic conventions. These techniques will mainly be used in our trailer and poster, but not so strongly in our magazine cover. This is because TV listings magazine covers generally use bright colours by default, and dont allow much flexibility in lighting if we want to create a realistic magazine display. Lighting in Our Soap All exterior scenes will use completely natural lighting. Examples of outdoor scenes are the establishing shot of Broomfield Mill, the mechanic repairing a car by the roadside and the elderly woman and the vicar chatting over a garden wall. The reason we chose to depend on natural lighting is because it gives us the opportunity to use sun light, which creates a cheerful atmosphere for the characters. The scenes filmed from within Rachel Mannings car are low key. Although natural lighting filters in through the windows and windscreen, the inside of the car is not lit and the majority of the frame is dark. We chose low key lighting for these scenes as it sets a very dark and ominous mood in the car, and sends the audience the message that this character is disruptive. In the Kings Arms pub, the lighting is artificial but low key. Because this scene is interior, it is more

difficult to achieve natural lighting. For this reason, the pub will be artificially lit, but very dimly. The low key lighting is used in this case to reflect the conflict between the characters in the scene (e.g. Barry and Marcus Brooker, Rachel Mannings and the locals).