Black and White Presets

[Lucinda Luvaas]

Hi Again,

I know I can experiment with this issue, but I wanted some imput anyway. I just watched a really fine documentary called: Dark Days. I highly recommend it. It was shot in black and white on film. It was shot under ground in NYC where homeless people lived and built shelters. It was very dark down there as you can well imagine, and they put up lights, hooked them up on strings or something like that. The film was somewhat grainy in appearance and had strong contrast, reminding one of Goya's dark paintings as well as having a gothic quality, definitely medieval in tone.

I have a film I'm going to produce starting in the Fall and I'm contemplating whether to go with black and white or color, with my XL2 of course....it is a creepy story, and I want to really play around with getting a dark mood, dark, mysterious mood.

Has anyone played with black and white presets?.... I have a # of color presets I'm trying, but any suggestions in terms of creating strong contrasts, and a moody, grainy quality with the XL2?

Thanks for your imput!

Lucinda

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Hi Lucinda,

I little year ago I began filming a feature (didn't finished it, but anyhow) and I wanted it to shoot in black and white also, and I was filming with the XL1s.
And everybody here gave me the advice to shoot in colour and do the black and white effect in post.
You get the same results, but more options, because you can maybe first alter a colour, and THEN put it in black and white, or for blue screen work.

Thing is, with film stock, you have that difference, but with video, you can't actually 'shoot' in black and white, they just get the colour signals (or something) out of your image, but that's the same thing you do in post.
So it really is better in post.

I'll give you the link to the thread I started when I asked this question on these boards, maybe it's helpfull for you:
(btw: I wanted a very high contrast, like a film noir)

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...ht=black+white

Good luck!

If you on the set want to see the image in black and white you can bring a monitor and reduce the colour.

EDIT: I found this to, somebody who shot a music documentary with the XL1s, and found such a black and white grainy picture. It's kind of recently posted, and I reacted on it too, I think the settings are given in his post, but you can always ask him. In his post there are links to pictures, some are black and white, some aren't.
Maybe you find this useful too:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=47370

[Lucinda Luvaas]

Thanks Mathieu,

It's funny you mentioned what you did, because I'm capturing footage right now that I'm saving in two different timelines, one will be color and the other I'll make black and white and then do as you suggested. I appreciate the advice. I will make the alterations in post. I'll check out what you just sent as well.

Cheers!

Lucinda

[Lucinda Luvaas]

This is really a question for Ash:

You posted the thread below and I saw the jpgs which were great! I want that sort of look for some of the footage I'm doing. But, I was unable to get it. The gain on my XL2 won't go passed 12db, the 18db flashes magenta and the 12 is yellow..so no 30db and even if I use 12 and take the sharpening down more than you mention and the coring, it still isn't the same effect.

Any suggestions as to how to get the grainy noisy look in b&w on the XL2? Would the Contrast B&W.bbp file be the same look?

Thanks for your help!


Fun setting for you XL1s users


I stumbled on this setting a fews years back while shooting a documentary where, at times, there was nearly no light. It is unique but VERY VERY noisy, something fun but not for everyday use.

In your custom settings, move the sharpness half way down (move 2 or 3 notches to the left), the setup level ALL the way down and the color gain ALL the way down... Then make your shutter 1/60th and gain +30dB, use the aperture to control the light... here are some grabs... some of them with more action were shot with a higher shutter (1/250th) These are all RAW interlaced video grabs....



ash =o)


http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio24.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio58.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio46.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio53.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio54.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio4.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio19.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio20.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/joe15.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/joe16.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio11.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/ystudio48.jpg

Here are couple with the same settings BUT color BOOSTED up a couple notches:

http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio59.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio60.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio69.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio45.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/J5.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ashVID/Grabs/studio48.jpg

[Ash Greyson]

XL2 will not get as grainy, you can always add grain in post as well and generally it is recommended to get as clean an image as possible to the camera. Try this setting for a B&W look on the XL2..

Gain: +12dB

Gamma: Normal
Knee: high
Black: press

Color Matrix: Normal
Color Gain: -6
Color Phase: 0

R Gain: 0
G Gain: 0
B Gain: 0

V Detail: normal
Sharpness: -3 to -6
Coring: -3

Setup Level: -6
Master Ped: -3 to -6
NR: off




ash =o)

[Lucinda Luvaas]

Thanks Ash!

I did add noise last night and that worked, but thanks for these settings. I'll try them.

Lucinda