I put this movie on again and I'm reminded that the nighttime cruising scenes and at the school are shot so darkly and should have been better lit to actually see what's going on inside without brightening up the screen, Geno Christ..
I wonder if that aspect bothers George Lucas in retrospect. That's the only gripe I have with this movie. Love the drama contained within otherwise..
The lighting was perfect and authentic. Schools had horrible lighting the 90s, I imagine it was even worse in the 50s.
The play of darkness and electrical lighting also enhances the ambiance of the film which is like walking through someone’s memory of a flashback of a crazy but pivotal night in their youth. The last night before their life abruptly shifted to a new chapter.
The fact that the film starts with a sunset and ends with a sunrise is significant. You have to have the darkness in between to appreciate the dazzling glare and glamour of the cars and action on the strip. The blond in the white Tbird shines like the sun, until she elusively disappears down a dark side street. She symbolizes the fading hopes and dreams of youth.
At the school, Curt prefers to wander outside the hop, down dingy dimly lit school corridors. He tries to revisit his teen years only to find they’ve changed the lock. His past is fading away. We also see the dark hushed areas outside the school too, where kids make out in cars and a teacher and student try to conceal their affair. Contrast that with the brutally white bathroom lights that show harsh realities, like pimples and heartbreak. Finally, the center of the high school universe: the bouncing, colorful, low-budget party lights at the freshman hop. Until the music slows and the lights dim. The blue spotlight that shines on Lori and Steve while they dance is true poetry. While she reminds him of how they fell in love, the light shines on the tears welling up in her eyes and falling like shattered stars. Ok getting carried away here, but the point is the lighting was perfect.
The movie takes place in 1962. I was in public school in the U.S. from 1959 to 1972. We moved a lot because of my dad's profession, so I ended up attending ten schools. Every one of them had excellent lighting, including one that still had it's original light fixtures from 1930.
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To me the night photography capturing the reflective lights off of the various cars cruising the main fairway was brilliant and part of the movie's character.
Personally, I find modern digital photography mixed with CGI lighting elements far more inferior and cheap when trying to recreate natural daylight and nightlight.