Recently, Ponysmasher, or David F. Sandberg, uploaded a video called The Troubles With Darkness in Horror. While Radio Underground isn't a horror film, I do want the scenes outside of the bunker, and particularly inside the flat, to be unsettling. A summary of Sandberg's points is as follows:
-Darkness is horror's best friend. You never know what is lurking in the shadows. Your imagination begins to conjure up all kinds of horrors. However, for that to work, you need real darkness, not fake darkness.
He compares two films released in the same year set in caves; The Descent and The Cave. In the Descent, we have proper darkness. It almost looks like it has been lit by the character's actual torches. Most of the image is pure black and you only catch glimpses of what is going on.
However, in The Cave, it is really well lit. Sure it looks nice, but you can see everything in the frame. Why do the characters even need torches?
Sandberg points out how much creepier the former is. However what if you want to see your character's face? With only a torch, you won't get this. He suggests one possible method being to hide a bounce-board behind the camera so that when the actor points the torch at it, he is illuminated.
Sandberg goes into a lot more detail. I'd highly recommend his essay. Here is a link:
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