Are dimmed lights a potent VFX tool?

Why do VFX artists prefer dim illumination? The short answer is creativity thrives better in dimmed ambience. If you’re wondering why, read on.

VFX artists depend on out-of-the-box thinking to create realistic visual effects. They bring their best side while in a dim working environment. Let's get farther into this dimly-lit road! Hope you watched Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock series. In one of the gripping mysteries, he turns ambient-lights off to crack a complex puzzle. A real life example – take your introvert friend to a dimly-lit bar. Do you find her becoming expressive, displaying latent streaks of extroversion? That's dimness doing the trick, right there! Is there an apparent link between dimness and creative energies? Journal of Environmental Psychology says yes. There is enough proof to show dimness and creativity are Siamese twins. Why? Creative folks say it frees from their constraints. Writers, artists, and inventors alike – all through history – have hit their creative highs well past midnight. Creative juices seem to flow freely as it gets less bright outside. Toni Morrison – the Pulitzer Prize-winning author too vouches for the dimmed ambience. She says "It's got to be dark—- not being in the light, it's being there before it arrives. It enables me, in some sense. Dimness and creativity are siamese twins.'' Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Our psyche keeps the creative-side up at night. With fewer distractions and the quieter it gets, this creative-side gets higher. Also, our brain – especially, its right side – is wired to get more active at night. A substance called prolactin gets secreted out when we stay peaceful and calm. A calm mind tends to be more creative. So, one might wonder what happens when there's light all around us? Say, if it's daytime. Sunlight limits prolactin and other creative hormones. Now, try switching off the lights; there's a gush of hormones / enzymes, ready to take us onto an imaginative best. Summing up, less light = fewer distractions. Dimmed environment helps to unleash creative forces within. So, the next time you pass through a production floor of a VFX studio and see a light bulb glowing, you know what needs to be done. Dim it a bit, please 😉

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