Gregory Crewdson - COLOUR AND LIGHTING

Born Brooklyn, New York, 1962

'I have always been fascinated by the poetic condition of twilight. By its transformative quality. Its power of turning the ordinary into something magical and otherworldly. My wish is for the narrative in the pictures to work within that circumstance. It is that sense of in-between-ness that interests me.'
Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson reworks the American suburb into a stage-set for the inexplicable, often disturbing, events that take place at twilight. In creating what he calls 'frozen moments', he has developed a process akin to the making of a feature film. Operating on an epic scale, he uses a large crew to shoot and then develop the images during post-production.

Every detail of these images is meticulously planned and staged, in particular the lighting. In some instances, extra lighting and special effects such as artificial rain or dry ice are used to enhance a natural moment of twilight. In others, the effect of twilight is entirely artificially created.

All the images propose twilight as a poetic condition. It is a metaphor for, and backdrop to, uncanny events that momentarily transport actors from the homeliness and security of their suburban context.

From looking at Crewdson's work I can get a real feel for the mood being set. Through simple lighting changes the mood can instantly be changed from one moment to the next.

In the image above the high intensity blue sets a real, fresh yet somewhat cold and lonely feeling - hence the sense of 'aftermath' being felt.


In the middle screenshot the bright, white light is instantly recognisable of daylight (or could it be something else say an extra terrestrial light source??) Well anyway, the high intensity of the ray, brightens the whole scene. This light in my eyes enhances the beautiful colours seen in the flowers in the foreground - making them the focus. Behind is what looks to be a dowdy looking apartment, but the light source deters myself as an audience member away from the not so appealing background so the feeling is (if I can find the right word to describe this) uplifted.


Lastly I would like the comment on the colour palette used in this setting. the forest floor is wonderfully portrayed by these green and brown hues. When thinking of the colour green and brown in this context they can seem dull and unappealing in one's mind. What Crewdson has done here is deliver this restricted colour palette with a greater intensity than what the 'traditional' pigment of this colour would seem to have. By increasing the colour intensity and enhancing that with richer colours (such as the blue and yellow back and spot light) the mood is more appealing to me as the viewer and draws me in visually. And to support Crewdson's statement in the beginning I can see that he does actually somewhat transform the ordinary into something magical.