Thousands of feature films have been shot entirely using natural or available light, including the 21 iconic films highlighted in this article. In many cases, naturally lit movies can achieve stunning visual effects that far exceed what can be achieved with traditional lighting setups.
Directors from every era in film history have embraced natural light. From Jean-Luc Godard during the French New Wave, to Michael Mann in the 1990s, to Robert Eggers today.
Still, films shot entirely using natural light are relatively rare. While we’ll get to those examples shortly, the vast majority of filmmakers simply don’t consider this an option.
Conventional wisdom would tell you that using a more standard cinematic lighting setup will produce excellent results. It gives you greater control over your color palette, opening up greater creative possibilities.
But later there were similar movies tree of life This makes people think that no light is better than natural light. But in reality, there are no right or wrong choices, just different creative paths.
Choose natural light
Apparently there are a lot of feature films that shouldn’t be shot with natural light. Action spectacles, superhero movies, stylized sci-fi epics, and VFX-heavy feature films are just a few broad examples.
In many of the above situations, the highest degree of control over color temperature and lighting ratio is crucial in order to do the story justice.
I would never object to traditional film lighting on a project like this.
But many independent (and even studio) films in other genres thrive on a more organic aesthetic, and using natural/available light is one of the best ways to achieve this. It is both stylistically superior and functional.
The Problem with Micro-Budget Film Lighting
In every way, the success or failure of a microbudget feature film depends on how well it is made. Accept their limitations.
Nearly all failed micro-budget features have the same Achilles heel: they try to replicate Hollywood-style productions on a smaller scale.
Their goal was to create a $20,000 Blockbuster spectacle. Or they’ve chosen a genre or scope that’s way beyond what’s truly optimal for micro-budget filmmaking.
Starting from the screenwriting stage, this problem is reflected in all aspects. But most obvious is the camera and lighting department, with excessive use of equipment and scenes being overlit.
No matter how far lighting and camera technology advances, a bigger budget will always produce better results…at least for traditional lighting setups.
Trying to compete with less gear and resources is a dead end.
Natural light and production value
For filmmakers with a really limited budget, there’s perhaps no better way to increase production value than shooting with natural light.
The sun is always the ultimate light source, and most Hollywood movies spend millions of dollars trying to replicate its look within the confines of a studio environment.
Luckily for us, we don’t have to spend a dollar or even use additional kit to get similar results. It just takes a different approach.
However, I certainly don’t want to make shooting with natural light sound easy.
Any time and energy you save on set will need to be made up for (and then some) during prep. For shooting natural light When it works, it looks simple and effortless, but that’s only because it took a lot of planning.
You need to know exactly where the sun is at any time of day and how to improvise in various overcast conditions. You also need to be able to work faster to ensure that all given shots in a scene or sequence match up. Waiting too long and letting the sun change direction is a recipe for disaster.
But assuming you’ve done your homework and are prepared to thrive in natural light conditions, the results can be stunning.
Natural light and natural light available light
Natural light usually refers to sunlight captured directly outdoors, or indirectly captured indoors, such as through a window.
Available light is all other types of light sources except dedicated cinema lights.
A practical lamp, such as a table lamp, can be one of the available light sources. Another possibility is the glow of a streetlight or car headlight, or even a cell phone. Virtually anything can be a light source.
Kubrick’s film is one of the best examples of utilizing available light Barry Lyndon –
However, unlike using natural light, there are some additional challenges when working with available light.
You may experience flicker issues, strange color temperatures, and challenging exposure levels. Not to mention, available light often requires more tweaking (either in camera or through occlusion) to work with, and isn’t as intuitive as true natural light.
However, the benefits of using available light are still clear.
If planned strategically, it can speed up your process on set and create a unique, authentic film atmosphere.
Major feature films shot in natural light
Here are a few of the thousands of films shot using natural and available light.
For the most part, these films were shot entirely in natural light, although in a few instances some very minor additional lighting was used. Even under these circumstances, probably over 95% of the shots in the movie are natural light.
Here are the movies in alphabetical order, with directors listed:
- Amadeus, Milos Forman
- Barry LyndonStanley Kubrick
- bloody sunday, Paul Greengrass
- Out of breath, Jean Luc Godard
- sons of menAlfonso Cuaron
- days in heaven, Terrence Malick
- saveJohn Paulman
- festival, Thomas Vinterberg
- Gerry, Gus Van Sant
- idiots Lars von Trier
- intersection guard, Sean Penn
- French connection, William Friedkin
- girlfriend experienceSteven Soderbergh
- The last of the Mohicans, McMahon
- long farewell, Robert Altman
- The Revenant, Alejandro Iñárritu
- tree of life, Terrence Malick
- witch, Robert Eggers
- tom jones, Tony Richardson
- walk, Nicolas Roeg
- wilderness, Jean-Marc Vallee
final thoughts
Natural light is definitely not the right approach for every project, but for those working on independent, low-budget productions, the benefits cannot be ignored. There are enough examples in film history to prove that natural light is a powerful creative tool.
Many of the examples listed above were films shot on real film stock, in an era when traditional film lighting was even more necessary than it is today.
Able to produce outstanding results at very high ISO with a film-like look thanks to modern digital sensors dynamic range To match, embracing natural light has never been easier.
If you’re planning on going this route yourself, you might want to check out My article on shooting in natural light is here .
Otherwise, be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think of this style of shooting!
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