Institutionalised racism in even the very technology of film – and techniques for countering it.

Estelle Caswell looks back at the original benchmark for early colour photography, and reveals the ways in which “the default towards lighter skin in technology still lingers” (via Vox):

Insecure (2016-2021) director of photography Ava Berkofsky offers insights and tips about how to light darker skin tones (via Mic):

Why aren't more filmmakers good at lighting black skin? You'd be surprised — pic.twitter.com/aB6GaHpkX6

— Mic (@mic) July 14, 2018

Moonlight (2016) cinematographer James Laxton and colorist Alex Bickel talk through, in wonderful detail, how they created the film’s striking look (via IndieWire).

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Speaking of Moonlight, director Barry Jenkins has spoken at length about this, saying (assuming “emotion” is a mis-transcription of “emulsion”), “The history of camera [emulsion], 35mm [emulsion], is racist. It just is” (taken from this interview at Believer):

barry jenkins talking about 35mm emulsion and the issues it has on darker skin.
as someone who only uses film, i still do not know why there hasn't been a change for this problem that has been present for all its history. pic.twitter.com/d3SoCOgEpE

— catarina camargo (@cacmrg) July 16, 2022

Do The Right Thing (1989) cinematographer Ernest R. Dickerson echoes Barry Jenkins’ “no powder” approach to Lighting Darker Skin Tones, and suggests using moisturiser to increase, rather than foundation to decrease, reflections (via AFI):

Director Ava Duvernay speaks to Q-Tip about her work with cinematographer Bradford Young – specifically, lighting the black body, and how black characters look in dark rooms (via Tribeca):

If Beyoncé says so, who are we to argue?

Try It Yourself

From exposure and softening, to mixing and “hollywooding”, Nerris offers seven techniques for lighting darker skin tones (via Aputure):

Check the comments under that video for even more tips, like these:

During production, videographer Kofi Yeboah shares techniques for lighting and exposing for Darker Skin Tones (specifically in Sony S-Log):

And then in post-production, Dr Nkeng Stephens offers this tutorial for grading darker skin tones (specifically in DaVinci Resolve):

DP Valentina Vee offers tips on TV studio lighting for darker skin tones in her threads on flattering talk show lighting:

Specular highlights happen in the areas where the light pools and reflects most. These are normally tip of the nose, cheeks, and forehead. Darker skin absorbs more light, so the falloff (rate at which the highlights fade away from the center) is fast. Creating dimensionality. pic.twitter.com/EgYfafXhhQ

— Valentina Vee (@valentinavee) September 6, 2024

Content creator KyleKallgrenBHH discusses considerations when bi-colour lighting for digital video:

Further Viewing

A collection of short videos on Hollywood’s shameful – and ongoing – history with race:

Film School: Whitewashing in Hollywood