Fotografía cinematográfica como lenguaje visual en las producciones audiovisuales a través de sus encuadres e iluminación

Danilo Ovalle

doi:10.48204/societas.v28n2.10294

Submitted July 1, 2026

Published 2026-07-14

Artículos de Investigación

Vol. 28 No. 2 (2026): Societas

Cinematographic photography as a visual language in audiovisual productions through framing and lighting

Danilo Ovalle⁺⁻

DOI https://doi.org/10.48204/societas.v28n2.10294

PDF (Español (España))

References

DOI: 10.48204/societas.v28n2.10294

Published: 2026-07-14

How to Cite

Ovalle, D. (2026). Cinematographic photography as a visual language in audiovisual productions through framing and lighting. Societas, 28(2), 31–46. https://doi.org/10.48204/societas.v28n2.10294

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Cinematography represents a fundamental component of audiovisual language, as it plays a decisive role in shaping the aesthetic, narrative, and symbolic dimensions of audiovisual productions. This study aims to examine the function of cinematography as a visual language within contemporary audiovisual works, adopting a qualitative approach of a descriptive-interpretative nature. The analysis is based on a comparative examination of visual material from two contrasting films: Blade Runner 2049, characterized by low-key lighting, and The Revenant, which employs a more naturalistic and expressive lighting style. The visual analysis and observations derived from these works allowed for the identification and delimitation of the study’s main findings. The results reveal a marked contrast in the use of cinematographic resources such as lighting, color palette, framing, and camera angles, all of which generate clearly distinguishable narrative and communicative effects. While one film constructs a dystopian visual environment, the other emphasizes a desolate natural setting with a heightened sense of realism and environmental detail. It was contrasting how in both films the lighting, the colour palette, the framing, and angles used cause narrative and communication effects that are easy to interpret. One shows a dystopian future, and the other shows an area of desolation with more details. The findings reflect that film photography operates as a semiotic system that works to amplify the atmosphere, tone, and meaning in the story rather than a technical function. Through visual coherence and narrative intention, the articulation of photographic resources and narrative intention has a significant role in defining the visual coherence and expressive power of audiovisual productions, attesting to the great importance of the visual aspect of this field at university film educational levels.

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