MovieChat Forums > Swimfan (2002) Discussion > Strange lighting effects throughout the ...

Strange lighting effects throughout the movie - purple lips?


There must've been a shortage of light bulbs in that town, because so many of the interior scenes seemed so dark, gloomy, and weirdly lighted. The high school pool area, for example, seemed to be constantly in a state of half-darkness. I'll buy that for the scenes late at night when Ben and Madison snuck into the pool, but in other scenes, like when the scouts come to check out the swimmers, or when they show the swim meet in the closing scenes, it's still very dimly lighted. Same with the hospital corridors, as well as some of the high school corridor scenes in the middle of the day.

I know it was all done for maximum 'suspense' effect, but it had the perhaps unintended side effect of making the characters' lips look a kind of bizarre lavender/purple color.


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"The scenes inside Madison's house are the only ones where a light blue tint was not added to the screen" - from the trivia section

probably some clever lighting attempt at making the entire movie look like its in a pool lol

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I noticed this as well. Every time Ben is shown driving, I always thought he should have his headlights on because it's getting dark out lol I think the comment about the lighting designed to give the illusion of everything being in a pool is spot on.

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The pool is so dark! There were no lights on at the swim meet, how could anyone see anything?

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Love means never having to say you're ugly. - The Abominable Dr. Phibes

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Aye. Very weird lighting throughout. Pool area is way too dark, as is the school, and the hospital. In NYC, in the final third, it almost goes grayscale. Notice at the end of the film, full color is restored.

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