Practical Task: Cut Out Lighting

For my practical task I investigated the use of cut outs and lighting. Often in film noir, cut outs are used to pool light on to a character's face or certain parts of it. This makes it more dramatic. It is an easy lighting technique that greatly increases the visual interest of a shot and creates more intense shadows. Here is an example.

I tried my best to recreate the effect with some paper, cardboard, and a lamp.

The first image is just a desk lamp aimed at this stuffed toy. The second is the same desk lamp shone through a thin paper cut out, and the third is shone through a cardboard cutout.

In the last two, the light pools on the head, as one would expect, however they are quite different. In the third one, more of the light is blocked out, creating a more dramatic effect. However, in the example, the use of this technique is very subtle, and I think the subtlety of the second one might work better, as unlike using a cut out to create the shadows of Venetian blinds the point of this is not to have crisp shadows, but to draw attention to a specific point on a character.