Does Luminosity in Film Change Our Perspective of African American Characters?
Samantha L. Burfiend
Southern Utah University
Introduction
Cinema has been dominated by the United States for over a century. With the blend of cultures comes film about varying categories of race, religion, wealth, and more; but when it comes to lighting and design on sets, cinema has catered to white skin since the era of black and white film. According to Isaac Julien, director of “Looking for Langston” and “Frantz Fanon” “the politics of lighting are summed up in that all technologies that are produced are non-neutral”. According to National Public Radio’s Barco, “For many years, this "Shirley" card — named for the original model, who was an employee of Kodak — was used by photo labs to calibrate skin tones, shadows, and light during the printing process.” The cards predominately showcased white women with porcelain skin. The change of “Shirley” cards became present with complaints from photographers trying to advertise wood furniture. In today’s media, more and more cinematographers believe lighting should be used to sculpt, rather than lighten or make an actor’s skin more white. This technique was created for night-time exterior shots by Charles Mills in the drama crime film, “Boyz N the Hood.” According to Nadia Latif from the Guardian, “the color palette is key, whether in the production design or the post-production grade – drawing a rainbow of colors from the actors’ skin itself to create something more vibrant and less concerned with being “real.” — After all, the original title for Moonlight was In Moonlight Black Boys Appear Blue.”
Currently, little-to-no-research has directly demonstrated how black characters are depicted in films, though some research has been created on the lighting of Asian characters in both America and Asian films. This is specifically discussed in how white skin is considered an important element in constructing female beauty in Asian cultures. Other research on skin color includes the reaction of detection devices based on skin color and concepts of lighting in art book techniques. The researcher can indicate little overall media conversation on movie and television luminosity of skin for all races, thus, creating a bias toward one general skin hue.
The research below looks through the lens of the social responsibility theory and asks how the luminosity and lighting of African American film characters change the viewer’s perspective on said characters. The research looks at four characters from four shows: Josie McCoy from “Riverdale,” Issa from “Insecure,” Alfred Miles from “Atlanta,” and Zuri Ross from Disney’s “Bunk’d.” Social responsibility original states that it allows free press without any censorship but at the same time the content of the press should be discussed in public panel and media should accept any obligation from public interference or professional self-regulation or both. This research will take said theory to address if there is a need for social change in the media’s approach to lighting darker-skinned characters on television.
Literature review
Though research on the luminosity of African Americans in a film is sparse, the literature reviewed here is to enhance the foundation for my study, which seeks to extend research on both modern-day film and representation of minority races in media. The topics lighting in film,, African Americans in film history, and the social responsibility theory will be discussed within this discussion. This research will take the ideals of the social responsibility theory and address if there is a need for social change in the media’s approach to lighting darker-skinned characters on television.
Social Responsibility Theory
According to Yun (2008), the social responsibility theory (SRT) suggests that the press has a responsibility to the public. “This theoretical approach is a result of broadcasting and media ethics. Early communication administrators such as Robert Hutchins (head of the Commission on Freedom of the Press) expressed concern over communication ethics in libertarian media cultures. Early followers of the theory believed that mass media should contribute to societal improvement. SRT has been widely recognized by media practitioners and scholars since the Commission on Freedom of the Press in 1947” (p. 744-749). For this research, the idea of social responsibility will be extracted from the thoughts journalism to all media, especially in the concepts of film.
When it comes to business practices, Friedman (2007) argued, “When I hear businessmen speak eloquently about the “social responsibilities of business in a free-enterprise system”, I am reminded of the wonderful line about the Frenchman who discovered at the age of 70 that he had been speaking prose all his life.” According to Friedman, the businessmen believe that they are defending free enterprise when they declaim that business is not concerned “merely” with profit but also with promoting desirable “social” ends. This creates a social conscience within that business. According to Friedman, a business with social ideals “… takes seriously its responsibilities for providing employment, eliminating discrimination, avoiding pollution and whatever else may be the catchwords of the contemporary crop of reformers. In fact, they are — or would be if they or anyone else took them seriously -preaching pure and unadulterated socialism.” In another engagement of corporate social responsibility, according to Gongora & Claudia (2013), some critics the concept distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses; others argue that it is nothing more than superficial window-dressing, or "greenwashing"; according to Carpenter, Bauer, & Eiderdown (2010), others argue that “it is an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful corporations though there is no systematic evidence to support these criticisms.” Carpenter Bauer, & Eiderdown argue that there is little significant data have shown no negative influence on shareholder results from corporate social responsibility but rather a slightly negative outcome shareholder returns.
Lighting in Film
In television, film, stage, or photographic lighting, a fill light (often simply fill) may be used to reduce the contrast of a scene to match the dynamic range of the recording media and record the same amount of detail typically seen by eye in average lighting and considered normal. From that baseline of normality using more or less fill will make shadows seem lighter or darker than normal which will cause the viewer to react differently, by inferring both environmental and mood clues from the tone of the shadows.
Arias (n.d.) Shoot Thru Umbrella (Shoot-Through) is where light passes through an umbrella as opposed to being reflected by it. The umbrella acts as a light diffuser, softening the light and allowing it to spread over the subject evenly.
Races in Film / Black Actors in Old Hollywood
Stepping into the concepts of black actors in Hollywood of yester-years, according to Guerrero’s Framing Blackness: The African American Image in Film (1993) Hollywood tended to avoid using African-American actors/actress during the 19th and 20th centuries. “In the 19th century, Blackface became a popular form of entertainment. Blackface lets Hollywood use different characters without actually having to employ anyone with a darker skin tone. Actor Al Jolson made blackface popular with characters such as Amos 'n' Andy and Jakie Rabinowitz.” The literature explains that by the 1930s, the craze of blackface died out. In 1951 when Amos 'n' Andy was brought to television, Clarence Muse championed the popular comedy. According to Stevens (2005) “He then "self-published a pamphlet entitled 'The Dilemma of the Negro Actor.' In it, he made the incisive observation that African-American performers were caught in a trap. 'There are two audiences in America to confront,' he wrote, 'the white audience with a definite desire for buffoonery and song, and the Negro audience with a desire to see the real elements of Negro life portrayed.'" "Despite its demeaning caricatures, he argued, the program at least moved African-American performers to the center stage.'"
Hollywood now has more commonly created a space for African-American actors and actresses. University of Southern California (USC) researchers studied the 700 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2014 (excluding 2011) and analyzed the race and ethnicity of more than 30,000 characters to reveal diversity in film. According to the USC Annenberg (2017), “the findings showed that for nearly a decade, filmmakers have made virtually no progress in portraying more characters from non-white racial and ethnic identities.” The research showed that of the top 100 films of 2014, nearly three-quarters of all characters were white. “Only 17 of the top movies that year featured non-white lead or co-lead actors.” The researcher also found that “a substantially higher percentage of Black characters was found on screen in movies with a Black director (52.4% of speaking characters were Black) than when a non-Black director was attached (10.6% of speaking characters were Black).” Prosper’s "How racially skewed are the Oscars?" (2016) found that as far as actors are concerned, "…the number of black actors winning Oscars in this century has been pretty much in line with the size of America's overall black population. But this does not mean Hollywood has no problems of prejudice. As the data show, it clearly does." The article points to low African American membership numbers in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and underrepresentation at lower levels: "the whitewashing occurs not behind the closed doors of the Academy, but in drama schools (shown in the SAG membership) and casting offices". According to Prospero (2016), while black actors may be doing well in the Oscars department as of the 2000s, other minorities are underrepresented.
Eye-tracker
Research Gap and Method
The research above shows that although there are understanding of racial discrimination in film and a necessity of social responsibility within corporations in America, little-to-no research has specifically highlighted what effects lighting has on views of varying races, specifically African American. In order to address if there is a need for social change in the media’s approach to lighting darker-skinned characters on television the research below looks through the lens of the social responsibility theory and asks how the luminosity and lighting of African American film characters change the viewer’s perspective on said characters. The research looks at four characters from four shows: Josie McCoy from “Riverdale,” Issa from “Insecure,” Alfred Miles from “Atlanta,” and Zuri Ross from Disney’s “Bunk’d.” This is done by taking an original still from each show and placing them next to an altered still that has not been changed by anything other than the luminosity of the character. According to Salvucci & Goldberg (2000, the use of eye-tracking “involves measuring either where the eye is focused or the motion of the eye as an individual views a web page.” The research belows shows the results of an eye-tracker test and survey asking 50 participants a range of questions in regards to attractiveness, wealth, recall of character, and more (define this before final assignment due).
Citation
Arias, Zach. "Shoot Through Umbrella vs. Softbox". zarias.com.
Barco, M. D. (2014, November 13). How Kodak's Shirley Cards Set Photography's Skin-Tone Standard. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2014/11/13/363517842/for-decades-kodak-s-shirley-cards-set-photography-s-skin-tone-standard
Carpenter, M., Bauer, T. & Eiderdown, B. (2010) Principles of Management v1.1. Arlington, NYL Flat World Knowledge, p 3.
Eric P.H. Li, Hyun Jeong Min, Russell W. Belk, and Junko Kimura, Shalini Bahl (2008),"Skin Lightening and Beauty in Four Asian Cultures", in NA – Advances in Consumer Research Volume 35, eds. Angela Y. Lee and Dilip Soman, Duluth, MN: Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 444-449.
Friedman M. (2007) The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits. In: Zimmerli W.C., Holzinger M., Richter K. (eds) Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Góngora, A., Claudia, L. (2013). "Greenwashing: Only the Appearance of Sustainability". IESE.
Guerrero, Ed (2012). Framing Blackness: The African American Image. ISBN 9781439904138.
Hollywood sticks to the script: Films aren't more inclusive, despite a decade of advocacy. (2017, July 30). Retrieved from https://annenberg.usc.edu/research/mdsci/hollywood-sticks-script-films-arent-more-inclusive-despite-decade-advocacy
Latif, N. (2017). It's lit! How the film finally learned to the light black skin. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/21/its-lit-how-film-finally-learned-how-to-light-black-skin
Prospero (2016). “How racially skewed are the Oscars?”. The Economist.
Salvucci, D. D., & Goldberg, J. H. (2000). Identifying fixations and saccades in eye-tracking protocols. In Proceedings of the Eye Tracking Research and Applications Symposium (pp. 71-78). New York: ACM Press. Identifying Fixations and Saccades in Eye-Tracking Protocols
Stevens, Dana (2005). "Caricature Acting". The New York Times.
Yun, H. (2008). Social responsibility theory. In L. L. Kaid & C. Holtz-Bacha (Eds.), Encyclopedia of political communication (Vol. 1, pp. 749-749). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412953993.n630