I See The Light

From Iskomunidad

I See The Light: Understanding Lighting in the Philippine Television Fiction "Juan dela Cruz"


Lighting is storytelling. There is story in meaning, there is meaning in lighting. The author of light does the storytelling.


With these assertions, this study seeks to understand lighting in the Philippine television fiction Juan dela Cruz - the most funded prime time television fiction program aired on ABS-CBN at present.


Describing how light is authored and identifying the authors of light on the set of Juan dela Cruz, this ethnographic study utilizes ideas from encoding and decoding, semiotics, shared authorship and grounded theory approach. This research narrows down lighting's role into the provision of context (time and atmosphere), clarification of the lighting motivation, execution of a transition, reinforcement of cultural values and evocation of emotions by analyzing types of light, instruments, lighting setups, styles and motivations.In exploring the patriarchal, feudal and economic relations on the set of Juan dela Cruz, an in-depth immersion in the production set's lighting department was done along with conducted interviews among members of the crew, lighting director, and director.


Saquido, R.G. (2013), I See The Light: Understanding Lighting in the Philippine Television Fiction "Juan dela Cruz". Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.


Keywords: lighting, ethnography, meaning, authorship, Juan dela Cruz

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