K

Great series as usual!

[...] The Wall-E Wrap-Up [...]

@ cheeks – You’re very welcome! I’m glad these posts have helped you out.

@ Level-Head – Frankly, when I storyboard (for TV) I don’t pay *that* much attention to lighting unless it’s something very specific that I want.

I would assume that you’re right in this instance and the light and shadow for that scene was all planned in the storyboarding stage.

You are the observant one!

And this kind of play with light and shadow definitely affect the mood and feel of the story. It can play a big part in visual storytelling. Though this scene is more subtle and could very well be missed the first time around. I doubt I noticed it at first because I tend to focus on action and acting while I watch.

But I think that’s how it should be. The first time you see a movie, you shouldn’t be ‘noticing the lighting’. It should just be part of the mood and helping to tell the story.
K

The ending if the story uses a visual metaphor of darkness and light that was, in my opinion, inspired. I don’t know if it originated in the storyboards; I’d think it likely did.

It’s a part of storytelling that rises above merely drawing shapes on paper — and it’s the sort of crucial thinking, in literally framing the story, that would let those who can do this rise above the ordinary.

Here’s what I’m talking about: It is the metaphor of shadow and light, representing forms of loss and recovery. Let me describe this aspect of the scene near the ending:

The rebuilt Wall•E rolls out of the truck, and the distraught Eve watches for a moment and flies to him.

Wall•E has stopped in the shadow of a vehicle. Eve, near him, is in full sunlight. In fact, she turns him sideways slightly to get his attention; this move keeps her in the light whereas the space in front of him before was partially shaded.

She tries desperately to bring him back, to no avail. He is still, very much, lost in the dark. She lifts his head up, tenderly, and for a moment Wall•E’s head is in the sunlight — but it is only temporary. As soon as she lets him go, his head drops back into shadow. We see them from a distance, momentarily — she glistening white, Wall•E so dark that he is merely silhouetted.

The shadow line falls exactly between them, even on the extreme closeups.

After her kiss goodbye, when Wall•E’s stored memory and personality returns and he is back to himself, his head lifts into the light, this time for real. A moment later, he rolls forward out of the shadow he’d been in, and is fully in sunlight for the first time in this scene.

The light and shadow aspects, once noticed, become obvious, and I thought it helped evoke the intense feelings of this moment in a very clever and subtle way. I think that even if you’re not consciously aware of it, the lighting will still affect your perceptions of the scene.

From a storyboarding aspect, this is brilliance, it seems to me. I’d enjoy seeing your treatment of it.

What do you think?

===|==============/ Level Head