By now, most of us heard about the disaster that Game of Thrones’ last season’s 3d episode, “The long night” was. Without even following the show, internet users have surely met with an abundance of memes and jokes the too darkly executed episode provoked. A similar problem could be a fatal blow for a 30 second long commercial instead of the cause of internet fame. When you have a limited window of time to both rely your message and affect emotions, smart execution of dark scenes can really help to make them work in favor of your ad, not against it.

Based on our experience here at Synetiq, the level of light in an ad can, and usually do have a negative affect on both the ability to involve viewers, and also the level of emotional resonance with the spot. But it doesn’t mean you have to completely eliminate this tool from your library either. What is the mechanism, and what waves does darkness ripple in brains?

The sharpest tools in the shed - non-visual tools

When darkness serves an emotional purpose - like invoking fear or excitement, or creating an intimate atmosphere - still be mindful about it. Darkness boosts negative emotions more successfully than positive ones, because of a basic human instinct that Game of Thrones successfully encapsulated in the well-known phrase “the night is dark and full of terrors”. In order to avoid confusion and steer audience into the desired state of mind, you can make use of the non-visual tools in your toolbox, like audio effects, music, rhythm, voiceover, expressions, etc. They can help give darkness the intended connotations, aiding both understanding of the situation, and eliciting the intended emotional changes. Even if you aim to leverage the negative boost, make sure you include an emotional counterpoint to it somewhere in your ad to avoid unpleasant associations with your brand or product.

Comfort of familiarity

A dark scene requires more effort from viewers than a well-lit scenario, because they have to work on making out the details, meaning that darker scenes are harder to understand. This extra effort does not have to come with boredom though. When the ad’s logical or emotional arch makes it necessary to use dark scenes - for example showing clubbing -, viewers usually follow without any problems. Generally speaking, using darkness in scenes that are typically dark in real life too, leverages the power of familiarity in aiding understanding.

“Facing” the dark

Darkness in most ads fragments the focus of the audience, so they have to scan the screen to find characters or objects of interest. While doing that, viewers are left without anything or anyone to emotionally connect to, resulting in less intense emotions through these scenes. Keep in mind that people are wired to find faces and eyes, because they provide the best cues for assessing a situation as frightening or friendly. This means that faces and eyes are usually easier to find even in darker settings, giving viewers the opportunity for emotional connection. If you have a protagonist, even better - they can be easier to follow, boosting emotional resonance.

Power of position(ing)

Positioning the most important elements in a way that makes it easy to find and see them can provide a huge boost to understanding. It can also be key for controlling darkness’ negative effect on the intensity of emotions. Good positioning helps by reducing the time spent with scanning the screen for cues, thus lessening cognitive load and leaving more time to form emotional connections. Lead the eyes by placing branded or important elements to focal points from previous scenes consistently, or by centering them. The dark backdrop can also provide a way to emphasize your main message with light, which immediately draws focus.

All in all, don’t not be afraid to use darker scenes when logic dictates so, just be clear about what you want to achieve and deploy the right tools to aid that effect. Smart execution is what separates an audience sitting on the edge of their seats and one that lost all interest in a mentally taxing scene.

Written by Szimonetta Ézsiás-Nagy