Atmosphere Media Literacy
How do film/TV creators develop atmosphere? By carefully selecting: Music Dialogue Sound effects Lighting Setting Characters
Characters People (or anthropomorphic animals/objects) that star in a movie or show. Their personalities and physical appearances affect the mood. Are they funny, scary, happy, sad, dramatic, violent etc.
Dialogue Conversations characters have: Arguments long speeches (monologues) short conversations Shouting, whispering etc Is there a narrator or voice over, do people talk to themselves, internal thoughts?
Lighting Has a huge effect on mood: Bright lights vs dark lights Natural or artificial Moonlight or sunlight Neon lights, streetlamps, warm lamps or cold strip lighting. Neutral white or coloured lighting This changes the colours you see as well.
Setting Where and when the show or movie takes place. Which season? What time of day or night? Countryside or city? Inside or outdoors? The time period/era? A different planet?
Sound effects Any sound that isn’t dialogue. Includes music, and also effects of props being used or even weather. Watching a scary movie with the sound off takes a lot of the fear away!