The Cannonball Run is a zany comedy about a group of auto racers competing in a cross country trek from Connecticut to Los Angeles. In addition to Burt Reynolds (who stars as J.J. McClure), Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett and Dom DeLuise, it features an all-star cast of wacky characters played by the likes of Adrienne Barbeau, Bert Convy, Jamie Farr, Jackie Chan, Mel Tillis, Terry Bradshaw and others. The film is directed by former stuntman Hal Needham, who was known for testosterone-fueled action-comedies like Smokey and the Bandit and was by no means a master of film photography. Nevertheless, as unlikely as it seems and in spite of the genre and subject matter, in Cannonball Run, Needham and cinematographer Michael C. Butler teamed to shoot a handful of gorgeously lit rom/com-like scenes that made the already stunning Farrah Fawcett look positively ethereal.
One of the methods employed was halo lighting, which uses bright, focused backlighting. This technique makes the subject stand out from the background and creates a glowing, halo effect around it. In Cannonball Run, early scenes introducing Farrah's character Pamela Glover use halo lighting to help establish her as the exquisite, almost otherworldly object of J.J.'s desire. Notice how the backlighting helps carve Pamela from the background and draws you in -- much like J.J. is drawn in when he first spots her in a crowded bar.
Later in the film, J.J. and Pamela share a quiet moment in the back of an ambulance and the two become closer. Needham and Butler employ the same sort of halo lighting to create a romantic glow around Farrah. The technique is especially effective with Farrah because it further accentuates one of her best features -- that golden mane of hair for which she's well known.
The soft, warm light creates a form of halation and gives her character an almost angelic quality. A similar result can be seen in the below shot from 1984's The Natural, where halo lighting is used to both set Glenn Close's character apart in the crowded stands of a baseball stadium and also symbolize the sense of goodness and purity her character possesses.
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