The Cinematic Lighting Design of Home with Weichao Zhao

An enthusiastic audience at the Cal Film Festival proclaimed their love of the film Home by director/writer Kanya Iwana this year, bestowing multiple nominations as well as the Outstanding Achievement Award. The embrace of Home testifies to the notion that change is initiated by those who take risks. This film is unique and profound in its emotional intense exploration of the self by one young woman. Starring Arawinda Kirana, Lauren Hayes, and Joy Marie Thomas (of the HBO Primetime Emmy Award Nominated Series Ballers), the introspective tone and style of this film is heavily dependent on the non-verbal moments, resting more prominently than usual on the cinematography and lighting. Weichao Zhao served as the lighting designer for Home and stresses, “Every film is a group effort between on-camera and off-camera talent. I’m incredibly proud that the actors on screen as well as my fellow professionals who worked behind-the-scenes to make Kanya’s vision become realized have been so recognized for their work. I do believe that we had a sense that we were creating something special with this film but this doesn’t always translate into accolades, so I’m appreciative in addition to feeling justified by the response we’ve gotten.”

  Home distinctively communicates the perspective of a woman living in a foreign country, separated from her family and the culture which has been so familiar to her. Arawinda Kirana gives a moving performance as Lana Kirana, an Indonesian actress in America whose preparation for a role is the impetus for a transitional introspective experience which shakes her to the core. The demands of the production team were to assist in taking the audience into that internal space with Lana and create the conduit to feel her anxiety. Repeatedly in scenes where Lana enters that introspective space, the lighting is the emotional cue that enables this emotional transference and empowers the viewer to feel the same as Lana. Weichao notes the required subtly stating, “For a story like this, it’s important that you don’t notice the lighting too much. It’s not going to be dramatic because Lana is exploring her own feelings and state of mind. Those experiences are seldom shocking and abrupt but rather typically a gradual process in which ideas tend to expand as they are investigated. I took this approach with the lighting to mirror this. There are scenes where the lighting transitions gradually from a dimly lit space to a fiery red glow. We even incorporated low- frequency fire effects in one scene to express her inner turmoil and agitation.” In the same manner as sound design, when the lighting is done at the highest level, it becomes felt more than it is noticeably seen. This is the case throughout Home with an ideal collaboration between sights, sounds, and the performance of the actors on-camera. 

  Though he’s never stepped foot in front of the camera, Weicaho Zhao proclaims that he feels a deep commitment to the authenticity of the characters in films he works on. This concept might be difficult for those not involved in the industry to perceive. Weichao communicates, “I think every actor finds a way to discover a piece of themselves in the role to allow the audience to recognize a connection with the character. That’s how a performance is effective; by allowing us to see something familiar. The same concept applies in a position like mine. I need to understand the character and the emotions. My job is to then tell that story through the lighting. Every moment of character transformation, every important story node, has become the focus of my attention, and a slight change in tone in the lighting can unconsciously change the audience’s emotion. It’s exciting for me to think about how I can communicate the feelings and thoughts through lighting. Home is a story that resonates with me as someone involved in the film industry who lives away from my family in China. Being a part of this film was enlightening and cathartic for me.”

Writer : Winston Scott