A while ago I was lurking on Twitter and saw some film critics having a conversation about the eye lighting in giallo films (which are basically Italian horror and noir films from the ‘60s and ‘70s). Someone pointed out it was the same weird eye lighting they have in TOS. They speculated that it may have come from American noir but no one seemed to know for sure.
I did some research of my own and found out that:
a) It was probably made popular by the 1931 Dracula
b) It is now commonly known as a “Shatner light”
c) A lot of people also associate it with Morticia Addams
For me the real question is: Why on Earh was TOS using the same lighting techniques as horror and noir films?
for the Drama™
me and my man were just talking about this the day before, i brought up Dracula as well (it’s one of my faves). i always thought it was a great effect. dated, sure, but that’s part of the appeal.
Mooncustafer 