I am writing about Michael Jackson's music video to Smooth Criminal because I want to raise some points. I am going to talk about these screenshots below.
I assume from this scene in the music video that it was done with a fan and a smoke machine with Michael standing directly in front of the light and maybe a diffuser used to soften the silhouette shadow. However, it adds dramatic effect to the video because it is where Michael opens the door to the nightclub and this helps set the scene for what he is going to face in there.
If you watch the video more attentively, you will notice how lighting is used to set the different moods and highlight the action going on in certain scenes. Like the image above has Michael walking through a dark alley, the moonlight is enhanced to look blue so it works nicely.
Below is the screenshot of some characters from the nightclub and they are light more darkly, but not so dark that you only see their silhouettes but light enough that you can understand what they're trying to express. I would like to find out how this technique was done, though the blue background window could be the light source.
The two screenshots below I added because as I mentioned earlier, the blue background could be what lights the characters behind Michael. I am quite sure that Michael is lit with a spotlight directly above him but the light is probably not on flood setting so it does not light the characters behind but emphasises Michael being the main attention here.
Colin Chilvers was the man who was in charge of the special effects. Overall, I think this is a well-thought out video with scenes that keep your attention throughout. With the way it was edited, each scene is cut in a way that as it plays there is always action going on already in the following scene or characters walking into the scenes, this keeps the video active and interesting and helps carry the story along.
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