Haze Research

So what is haze? Haze is that atmosphere you see in films, or in a dusty old room, which adds depth to scene. This is usually noticeable in a film when a protagonist is going through an abandoned building with a torch and you can see the light from the torch bouncing off all the dust in the air creating a golden beam of light.

So why the hell would I want this haze stuff in my opening title sequence? Well due to not much time being spent on the props for the van, as this idea was quite rushed, I thought it could be a easy cheat, due to it adding depth to a scene it makes, what is being seen on screen more interesting. As well what haze does is diffuse light, this would appear nicely within the van, as we can only have one light in the van, instead of it being a harsh light and making highlights over exposed, it would give a more gentle light.

Gentle? Yes, while it would give a gentle atmospheric feel, it would as well give a darker more gritty look. This would compliment our dramatic action packed sequence. Haze is very similar to fog, and what effect does fog bring… thats right… mystery. Not only does fog add depth and light dispersion but mystery as it hides a lot more, meaning not all is given away creating intrigue, therefore suspense, therefore we have a thriller element.

Haze would also be very interactive within the scene, due to it creating visible shafts of light. We could have the actors use flashlights to investigate the gunshot wound on the dying character, creating beams of light, this gives a selective view of what the audience can see, building that very important intrigue.

Right so wheres your haze machine thingy? Haha good question. Well I don’t have one of those things laying around, so my plan is to ask our theatre department at my school weather they have…. a fog machine. Yeah I bet you didn’t see that coming. However the problem with using a fog machine is that the fog can be too thick and therefore look like fog rather than haze, making it less atmospherical and more foggy. And it looks rubbish, because why would there be fog in van…. haze yes, fog no. But if you get the right consistency it can look like haze.

Written by Ashen Page