Continuing the noir-ish smoky-room effect, this time in the Prisoner of Zenda. I'm having fun with these.
But what do you think - is this an example of sfumato or chiaroscuro? Is an image rendered in black and white only defined as chiaroscuro? The definition of sfumato seems to fit here too. Can this embody both definitions? How would you categorize this style?
Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
directed by John Cromwell
cinematography by James Wong Howe
and Bert Glennon
art direction by Lyle Wheeler
4 comments:
That's a really good question. I don't know the answer, and I haven't seen this movie yet, but I've wondered about sfumato vs. chiaroscuro in other contexts. ponder ponder.
Ooh, this is a tough, TOUGH question. My gut is saying chiaroscuro, but the lighting also evokes the definition of sfumato. Can we just be plain and say James Wong Howe was a master and leave it at that??
Are the two considered incompatible? Looks to me like the foreground is c and the background is s.
Hi everybody! Sorry for not replying for so long.
Yes, they are mutually exclusive, but then again they are terms used to describe paintings. I guess film would have different standards?
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