Ripley - Eye Lights - Cinematography Breakdown

Netflix's new adaptation has some very bold cinematography. Exclusively Black and White with lingering shots there is a lot to talk about.
The use of Eye Lights is constant over the course of the series and they can be very pronounced!
Putting a catch light into your talents eye is a good way of keeping their attention on the actor and also helping to guide them to where they need to be looking in scenes where there is more shadowing across the actors face.
From a character point of view an catch light in the eye can convey simple information - a character is alive or dead, good or bad etc. By no means is this the only way you know these things but it is the last 10% that can really pull a theme like that together.

[@mattozrelic927]

Thanks for making this analysis. Ripley is so well lit and photographed, I was hoping someone would examine it.

[@Dale_Campbell]

Glad you liked it! I’m working on a couple more breakdowns for ripley looking at different aspects of the series 🙌

[@bethmontiel]

I would love an analysis of Caravaggio's influences on the series, I find it fascinating how everything related to his person, his art and his painting and composition techniques are influenced in the series, an analysis like this would be a bomb, greetings from Paraguay

[@Dale_Campbell]

I was planning one more on black and white cinematography, but a Caravaggio analysis is a great idea 🤔

[@ramonbmovies]

@11:00, do you think they relied heavily on actual sunlight, or did they use an extra light to shine through the window? @15:45, If you looked at that scene w/ a scope in a video editor, would that hot light be above the 100% limit? @26:15 - Beautiful bokeh! @34:35, By putting a brighter light near the inspector, in real life that might have further blinded him from seeing crucial details on Ripley's face!

[@EveElse-qv8yl]

I'm thoroughly enjoying these analyses of Ripley!

[@Dale_Campbell]

Thanks 🙌 got another one ready to go live 😁

[@EveElse-qv8yl]

@@Dale_Campbell lovely!

[@EveElse-qv8yl]

Looking forward to the Caravaggio analysis, which would be extremely interesting for me as an art historian!

[@miguelmonforte]

As solo filmmakers we could take some shots to recreate Ripleys style (with budget gear). We need stylish actors and good location, after knowing the secrets of lighting😊

[@williamleematis797]

Why did you skip the most pronounced use of the catchlight wherein the scene that Ripley is watching Mina sing "Il cielo in una stanza"?

[@Dale_Campbell]

Fair! When I first started doing the analysis I was only using shots from the trailer to avoid spoilers etc. I did expand that out but didn’t go looking comprehensively on this topic as I’d already recorded this episode.