The Piano - Lighting

The lighting used in this scene is dark shades of blue, grey, brown, and green. By using these tones, Campion has made the scene feel gloomy and dark. While in other parts of the film, the lighting is brighter and warmer, in this scene, Campion has chosen to use dreary and cold colours. The contrast between the warmer lighting and the cold lighting is shown in this scene (at 1:32:31) where Ada is reading her book peacefully and Alisdair barges in with an axe and axes her book. In the room, the lighting is light and warm and Campion has used white, brown and dark green tones which make the room look warm and inviting. The audience notices the major transition in the lighting when Ada is dragged out into the forest - the lighting becomes ominous and scarier, intensifying the mood of the scene. The dark colours symbolise the sorrow and gloom in the characters, the environment around them and the film itself. The dark colours also link to the darker themes that are in this film; domestic violence, gender roles, infidelity and women's rights. Flora is also in dark, gloomy shadows and Campion has chosen this lighting to show the emotion and pain Flora is experiencing for her mother at 1:33:46. The light highlights Flora's face, emphasizing to the audience the shock and horror Flora is feeling. This shows the loss of innocence that Flora is experiencing, being thrown into this horrible, scary moment. Because the audience can see Flora's teary eyes and her facial expression of fright and horror, this makes the audience sympathise with Flora more and helps the audience to see the true intensity of this scene.