How does Tone work in Film?

Tone
Tone in films, is also referred to as brightness. The three main elements of tone include lighting, exposure, and art direction. Lighting referring to the areas in which are lighted in a scene, e.g frontal or back lighting, exposure referring to how much light is in the scene, and art direction referring to the colours and shades of set, props, and costumes in a scene, which add to the affect caused by exposure and lighting.

In the classic movie 'The Godfather', tone is used perfectly. In the very first scene of the movie, Don Vito Corleone, head of a Mafia family, is underexposed and barely a silhouette. As the scene continues on and the camera moves to a position where Vito's face is visible, brightness increases, but only by a small amount. The darkness and lack of exposure in this scene fits with the darkness of the scene. This scene is discussing how the God Father deals in violence in death, the room is dark and underexposed. However through the slits in the windows, light is blown out. Outside, the rest of his family is celebrating his daughter's wedding. Its a sunny day, the scene is bright. The contrast between these two scenes shows how the Corleone family are a traditional family out in the public (in the light), however behind the scenes, they are much darker.

Directors can control the emotion conveyed in a scene by using all these individual aspects which contribute to tone. Changing the exposure in a scene can change the atmosphere, making a scene darker in a metaphorical sense as well as a literal sense or vice versa. Using art direction helps to make a scene more believable and convincing, and lighting is used to change the intensity of a scene.