In motion pictures, the use of light and color can have a huge impact on the mood, feel, and message of a movie. Thor: Love and Thunder, released in 2022, directed by Taika Waititi and starring Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, and Natalie Portman, takes these technical aspects to a whole new level. The way color and light were used in the fourth installment of the Thor franchise, during the final fight scene is nothing short of extraordinary. With in introduction of Gorr and his monochromatic world, the lighting and effects used by the director and his visualization team, and the vivid color that Thor’s character brings to the scene, although muted during this scene, this motion picture draws a clear divide between a hero and a villain.
It wouldn’t be a Thor film without the bold, vivid, and vast spectrum of beautiful colors; like when Thor’s weapon, Stormbreaker, produces a Bifrost that is a shimmering rainbow path to teleport from world to world, or the colors of the costumes that are deeply saturated reds, golds, and silvers. The real visual imagery of color in the entire movie was Thor and Gorr’s fight scene in Shadow realm. The Shadow Realm is a world that lacks color. Every hue is sucked out of the surface, leaving behind a dark monochrome pallet with a cool tone and shadows that haunt children’s dreams. The world of Shadow Realm is tied to Gorr the Butcher’s powers, which symbolize grief, loss, and the lack of love, explaining the suffocating nature and void of the planet. The effect the shades of gray have on the superheroes’ suits produces a very desaturated red. However, it does not affect the bright bolts of intense red and blue lightning that shoot out as their weapons collide with Gorr’s or the color of the power in their eyes. Seeing these colors flash across the picture makes this scene enamoring to the human eye. The striking contrast of the entire black and white scene, along with the use of color being extremely sparse and muted, was able to convey a vast array of emotions and power.
Of course, the final fight scene on Shadowland wouldn’t have been completed without the amazing chiaroscuro lighting. The only light on the surface of the planet is from the reflection of light that is cast down from the moon. This was simulated by using studio lights that shine from above with a filter that reflects the light evenly and softly as if it were to come from the moon. Because the light is a reflection from the moon, it produces a cool tone over the black and white scene when the characters are more exposed and out of the shadows. This type of directional light produced shadows on the sides of the characters’ faces when they were turned away from the direct lighting source, providing a low-key, dark, and mysterious scene. Another way lighting was used during this scene is frontal lighting. When the superheroes’ weapons collided, the lightning bolts of red and/or blue would brighten up the characters’ faces that were close to the impact for a split second, which produced more shadows behind the characters. This was a great use of light to show the forces between dark and light. The entire scene of the movie uses light, or a lack thereof, to help drive the dark cast of loneliness and the lack of love and life on the planet to communicate not only the message of the planet, but also the forces between good and evil.
Although the vivid use of light and color in other scenes of the film was amazing and eye-catching, the final fight scene with Gorr is like nothing seen before in the Marvel franchise. The use of Chiaroscuro lighting and a monochromatic palette created dark shadows that made the world feel more isolated and intense. Then, the burst of colors during impacts and the desaturated colors of the costumes created a gratifying visualization. The creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, and pure magical mind of the director, Taika Waititi, and his entire team were able to produce a chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that will be hard to beat.