UNDERLIGHT

Underlighting is an interesting effect. It emphasizes completely different details than top lighting. Look at the examples above . The two pictures are of the same person, only the light is different. The difference is amazing! The bottom-lit picture is robust and menacing. You can see every pore in the skin. The top-lit one is ethereal and unworldly. The eye sockets are huge and sunken and the details in the skin have disappeared.

The top-lit guy (bottom most, above) seems too thin to be completely menacing. He's spooky but he look like he's about to keel over from malnutrition. A lot of department stores use overlight in their dressing rooms. It's the easiest light to do and it makes people look thinner.

Underlight looks simple to shoot but you still have to pay attention to the overall effect. Here (above) a light was necessary to separate the back of the head from the background and a dark shirt was worn to eliminate the distracting body and keep the focus on the face.

This still (above) seems too good to be true. Were the eyes and mouth really that black in the original photo?



Girls playing victims look great underlit. It's such an unflattering light for them that seeing it there makes the girl seem completely out of her element and at the mercy of the killer.



You only realize how extreme and exaggerated Frankenstein's lighting was when you see other actors (above) underlit. Here's Peter Lorre with a more subdued underlight. .

Here (above) it looks like Frankenstein was hit by a top light as well as a bottom light.

An interesting interpretation (above) of Frankenstein's head, emphasizing the lower face and blacking out the forehead and hair.

Underlighting didn't seem to do much for this actor (above).

A classic example (above) of underlighting: The eyes are highlighted, the nose is a tall, dark cone, the upper lip is white with a dark moustache of shadow right above it to make the mouth seem bigger and wider.

I haven't seen "Frankenstein" lately but my guess is that a number of his scenes were top lit like the one above. It's a great effect. The toplight makes him seem intellectual and supernatural. The bottomlight makes him seem like the embodiment of fate-ordained death.

The browridge is still very prominent here and it marks the dividing line where the bottom of the face turns gray. Is that just lighting or did they help the light along with darker and lighter make-up in some scenes? How do you like the eyes and sides of the mouth?

JOSH HEISIE'S "SECRET STORM" PART 2

Wow! Theory Corner reader Josh Heisie supplied a terrific sequel to Secret Storm Part 1! Now we get to see who was behind the door and why Juanita and Rodrigo were so frightened! Here's (above and below) an excerpt!

"No, Rodrigo! Don't do it! You have your whole life ahead of you! Don't throw it away by..." Well, I'll let you read it for yourself. The whole episode can be found at:

http://www.mindblowingthrills.blogspot.com/

Many thanks and a tip of the Theory Corner hat to Josh Heisie!

HOW ABOUT A SOAP OPERA!?

OUR PLAYERS: Juanita, the most beautiful girl in the village....

...and Roderigo, the brave bullfighter!

Announcer: "In our last episode, Roderigo shocked everybody by announcing that that he was canceling the marriage between himself and the beautiful Juanita! It seems that Roderigo got wind of a rumor spreading around the village to the effect that Juanita previously had a secret baby by the wealthy playboy and cad, Frenando Lopez.

Announcer (CONT): "Lopez can't be found and for some mysterious reason Juanita refuses to answer direct questions on the subject."

Announcer (Cont): "Roderigo, in an effort to forget Juanita, fled into the arms of the sultry village vamp, Carlita, and led a life of dissipation! In our last episode Juanita met Roderigo in the local cheese shop and begged him to take her back."

Juanita: "Why Roderigo? Why!? Everything was going so well! I'm still the same person you loved only weeks ago!"

Roderigo: "Hah! Love? You talk to me of love? What does a woman like you know of love!? And what do you know of honor?"

Juanita: "What do I know? I'll tell you what I know! I know the pure love of a woman when she loves from the depth of her soul! And honor? There is nothing more sacred to me than honor!"

Roderigo: "Well, in that case you'll be interested to know that I've decided to fight 'El Tigre', the greatest bull ever to set foot in the arena!"

Juanita: (Gasp!) "El Tigre!??? The mad killer!? The bull that's put two matadors under the ground!?!??"

Roderigo: "The very same!"

Juanita (CONT): "Roderigo, that's insane! With your gimp leg...the one you got rescuing that old lady...you wouldn't stand a chance! Fighting that bull would be suicide!"

Roderigo: "Perhaps so. What do you care?"



Juanita: "Then it is I who will leave this life first! If I'm the cause of your misery then I don't want to live!"

Roderigo (shocked): Juanita, wait! For God's sake, throw that devil blade to the ground! If anything were to happen to you, I couldn't bear it!

Roderigo (CONT): "Come to me little one! Let us put aside this rancor! Let us forget the past! We each know the worst about the other. Surely there is nothing new! This nearly broke us, but... "

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Roderigo: "Huh?"

Juanita: "Wha...?"



KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!!!!



Announcer: "A simple knock at the door and everything is disturbed. Why? What are Juanita and Roderigo afraid of?

Announcer (CONT); "Does it have anything to do with an alleged baby? Or is something even darker and more disturbing about to enter their lives?

Join us next week for the next thrilling episode of...."THE SECRET STORM!"


Hey, do you have a digital camera? Then why not take a crack at doing the next episode of "Secret Storm" yourself? Post it on your site and I'll link to it! I may even swipe it and put it up here...with attribution, of course!

HIGH MAINTENANCE WOMEN

Here's (above) my all-time favorite Bette Davis scene, from "Of Human Bondage." I just saw it at Mike's house. She's a wonderful over-the-top actor but when I see scenes like this I can't help asking myself what it would be like to live with someone like that. It would be a rollercoaster ride, no doubt about it.


Women like to think that men prefer stupid women, but if they do they never told me about it. The men I talked to overwhelmingly prefer smart women. The problem is that smart women are sometimes very high strung. If you're married to someone like this you better expect strong and frequent arguments over small things, and major crises on a frequent basis.





The complicating factor is that some high-strung, high-maintenance women are worth it, at least their men think so. Some guys crave the stimulation. Well, each to his own.

BTW, none, absolutely NONE of this, refers to people I know!

THE BEST WAY TO DIE

On Thanksgiving night, after our friends left and my family was asleep, I watched again the recent film about Edith Piaf called "La Vie En Rose." It's an interesting film. It gives her an horrific childhood, fame in mid-life, and loneliness and isolation in old age. The old Piaf would lay flat on her back in bed with the covers pulled way up to her eyes, shivering with fear in the dark. Maybe she was afraid she'd go to hell. Maybe she was just terrified to be at the brink of death.


Watching this I wondered if hers was the wrong way to die. I always imagined myself dying the philosophers death where I calmly said goodbye to family and friends, and maybe even joked a little. That's not what Piaf did. She was terrified and tortured. I wondered who had the better plan.





Maybe Piaf did. I remember what Homer said about what we would call tragic heroes. The hero finds what he's good at and enters into a mystical relationship with it. He sacrifices everything to be the best at it. He may be a lousy father and husband, he may have bad table manners, but he's the best at something and that's no small thing. When the end comes, such a hero dies badly. There was never any attempt at balance in his life. He lived to experience life at its fullest through his skill, and nothing in his experience prepares him for death. He dies crying and digging his fingers into the ground. And Homer says it's a good death.

Maybe the kind of person who lives life well is incapable of dying well. Maybe living life well requires us to love life too much to casually put it aside.

Or...maybe Piaf was neurotic and her extreme attachment to her lovers was a sign that her life was lived badly. What do you think?

THANKSGIVING 2007

I was dying to post some some Wally Wood and Don Martin parodies of Thanksgiving but alas, they weren't available to scan. Maybe it's just as well because looking for them led me to discover this magnificent photo (above) of Canadian troops observing a thanksgiving service in WWI. The small version of this picture doesn't convey a shred of the grandeur of the occassion. On pain of death, be sure to click to enlarge.

I wonder what they were praying for? Maybe it was to give thanks for a recently won victory. I like to think that they were giving thanks for the wonders they'd seen in their lifetimes. It would be very touching if soldiers, who must lead a miserable life during wartime, could stop to be grateful for the gift of life...not just for survival, but for the sheer wonder of it all.



Here's (above) a mid-Civil War picture. The emotions here certainly seem heart-felt. Click to enlarge.

Here's a Victorian family (above) enjoying after-dinner coffee together. Of course the baby participates. Didn't they give gin to babies in those days?

Here's the classic Norman Rockwell picture, with ice cream substituted for Turkey.

And a Wally Wood varient.

Here's (above) a terrific picture of a family celebrating the holiday together. It's meant to be seen large so be sure to click on it.

I was tempted to run several pictures like this. I find happy famiies to be endlessly fascinating.

YMA SUMAC

The queen of exotic records in the 50s was Yma Sumac. I'm guessing she was Peruvian. She took exotic elements from all over the world, including Polynesia, and blended them with her own native Peruvian music to make a mix that was full of mystery and the promise of adventure.

Sumac had a unique voice that could sing comfortably in five octaves. People were always asking, "Who's the guy she sings with?" Well, the guy was Yma sumac. She was a whole ensemble, all by herself .

Here she is (above) in the Andes.

Here she is in Mike F's harem (above). How did she get in there? Man, Mike is gonna be mad when he finds out!

GREETINGTH, POETRY LOVERTH!

This poem of Longfellow's is one of the funniest I know, rivaling even "Jabberwocky." One of these days I hope I'll get a chance to animate it.

It was taken very seriously in it's day. Towns were named for it as were high schools, an aircraft carrier, a TV space ship, a corporation, a bath mat, and shipping fodder. There's even a book called "Excelsior, You Fathead," which is my very favorite name for a book. If you're not familiar with this poem , then read on. Excelsior!