Lights out

The elevator scene in Drive (2011) features a surreal light change, dimming as the driver romantically embraces the woman he his trying to protect, which is then juxtaposed with the violent displacement of the hit-man's face under persistent stomping. Director Nicholas Winding Refn has likened the characters to archetypes found in a Grimm fairy tale, and indeed the film does have a dreamlike quality about it, especially with every aspect of the production design and soundtrack reinforcing the notion that it is set in the 80's despite the use of present day technology, and so this ambient moment does not feel at all out of place.

The contents of the suitcase in Pulp Fiction (1993) have been the source of much speculation, with theories ranging from simple gold to the soul of Marsellus Wallace. Tarantino apparently just wrote it as an intriguing McGuffin however, and with the way it glows when opened its fair to say it had the desired affect.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) frequently reinforces Gandalf's new reincarnation as the 'white wizard' by dazzling the camera with bright over-exposure several times throughout the film.

His first introduction can be justified as he is presumed to be Saruman (to everyone who didn't see the trailer/read the book at least), and the light he emanates continues to mask his identity whilst Ian Mckellen and Christopher Lee's voices are merged causing some brief dramatic bewilderment before he reveals his true identity. As the lighting of the rest of the scene remains the same bar the obscuring of his face this is more of an effect that a lighting change, however in the second instance when he exorcises the evil spell over Theoden after being mockingly called by his previous moniker of 'Gandalf the Grey' the scene is noticeably illuminated by the unveiling of his sparkly new garments. In a third unsubtle instance he again uses his magical lighting change to blindingly overcome the forces of evil in a gallant charge to save the day. Whilst an effective way to convey his powers/status as the white wizard, it was only when researching for this post that i realised how much Peter Jackson milked a lighting change to represent this.