Zhang Yimou's shadow: the benefits of shooting, lighting and color design

The film "Shadow" is not a completely black-and-white image, but it was diluted later. All the costumes, props and scenes are as black and white as possible, and finally it feels like China ink painting.

Zhang Yimou is a director who is very good at using color to render the theme of movies. Different from the previous red and yellow colors, Zhang Yimou tried the advanced gray between black and white for the first time in this film.

Shadow is a small movie. The same is true of its composition. But it is this composition that can better show the theme of the film: a little person who has been secretly imprisoned since he was eight years old, unwilling to be regarded as a puppet, body double, went through hardships and tried hard to find his own free human story.

In photography, our composition should also conform to the theme. Some films that show noble atmosphere try to use the composition of large scenes, while films with dark and depressing styles use the composition of "small pattern".

Most of the film was shot in rainy days, so the light in the film is also dark, which is not contrary to the theme of the film. We photographers often choose to shoot in rainy days when shooting dark-style films, and the same is true.