Shooting day for night on DV..

Adam Jennings · August 6th, 2003, 02:04 AM

Hi Rob

No results as yet - the shoot wont be until late summer 2004 and I'm still trying to raise the funds.

I was really looking to find out if it's an easier way of filming, (with an interesting visual look), to see if it would be cheaper than actually filming at night.

I'll post more info about the project if you're interested - is there a relevant thread / board for that kind of discussion?

Cheers

AJ

Tor Salomonsen · August 6th, 2003, 02:37 AM

If you gave us some hints as to what kind of location and what kind of action/set your have in mind, maybe it would trigger some ideas. Also, I suppose you mean "office hours" when you say "day", so advise on what you can do late evenings and early mornings are no good?

Adam Jennings · August 6th, 2003, 02:54 AM

We will be shooting both externally and internally - however it's the external shoots that I was primarily thinking of.

Not sure of the period of the shoot, (will probably be around two months), but we are set to shoot at any time of the day - so very early morning or very early evening would be fine.

As for the action being filmed there will be tracking, panning and zooming shots of people walking, talking and running. There will also be a handful of establishing and mood shots.

Cheers
AJ

Tor Salomonsen · August 6th, 2003, 03:50 AM

Park? Garden? City centre? Mountain? Forest? Open field? Building site?
(I'm not experienced in all this, but I'm wringing my brain to see if something comes out.)
Sunlight will produce shadows, but so will the moon.
Late evenimng and early moning will produce long shadows, something the moon at midnight will not.
Cloudy days will be easy to darken (in post) but will not have shadows and may become muddy (lacking highlights). Can you supply highlights artificially? Then a cloudy day might be your solution. There should be no shortage of clouds in the UK.
If you can control the intensity of the sunlight (in a forest, under a party-tent or whatever) then mid-day in bright weather might be the thing.
Also if you shoot close-ups and half-shots in the day, you could probably intercut them with real nightshots (without action but with sound) and produce even more convincing results.

John Threat · August 7th, 2003, 07:23 AM

All these suggestions are excellent for shooting day for night.

One thought though, if you have a matte box, get a graduated ND filter for the wider shots. If you can position the denser part of the filter onto the sky, it will darken it substantially, while leaving the subjects which are closer to the bottom of the frame still in the light. These filters are not cheap, but they can make the outdoor shots look amazing, and make the sky read like dusk in wide shots.

Throw in a polarizer and a yellow filter. For a different punch for dusk.

August 6th, 2003, 02:04 AM	#16
Adam Jennings New Boot Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7	Hi Rob No results as yet - the shoot wont be until late summer 2004 and I'm still trying to raise the funds. I was really looking to find out if it's an easier way of filming, (with an interesting visual look), to see if it would be cheaper than actually filming at night. I'll post more info about the project if you're interested - is there a relevant thread / board for that kind of discussion? Cheers AJ __________________ ----------------------------- AJ www.redboxgroup.net

August 6th, 2003, 02:54 AM	#18
Adam Jennings New Boot Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7	We will be shooting both externally and internally - however it's the external shoots that I was primarily thinking of. Not sure of the period of the shoot, (will probably be around two months), but we are set to shoot at any time of the day - so very early morning or very early evening would be fine. As for the action being filmed there will be tracking, panning and zooming shots of people walking, talking and running. There will also be a handful of establishing and mood shots. Cheers AJ __________________ ----------------------------- AJ www.redboxgroup.net

August 7th, 2003, 07:23 AM	#20
John Threat Major Player Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York Posts: 322	All these suggestions are excellent for shooting day for night. One thought though, if you have a matte box, get a graduated ND filter for the wider shots. If you can position the denser part of the filter onto the sky, it will darken it substantially, while leaving the subjects which are closer to the bottom of the frame still in the light. These filters are not cheap, but they can make the outdoor shots look amazing, and make the sky read like dusk in wide shots. Throw in a polarizer and a yellow filter. For a different punch for dusk. __________________ Director: http://www.mediathreat.com

August 6th, 2003, 02:37 AM	#17
Tor Salomonsen Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Stavanger, Norway Posts: 265	If you gave us some hints as to what kind of location and what kind of action/set your have in mind, maybe it would trigger some ideas. Also, I suppose you mean "office hours" when you say "day", so advise on what you can do late evenings and early mornings are no good?

August 6th, 2003, 03:50 AM	#19
Tor Salomonsen Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Stavanger, Norway Posts: 265	Park? Garden? City centre? Mountain? Forest? Open field? Building site? (I'm not experienced in all this, but I'm wringing my brain to see if something comes out.) Sunlight will produce shadows, but so will the moon. Late evenimng and early moning will produce long shadows, something the moon at midnight will not. Cloudy days will be easy to darken (in post) but will not have shadows and may become muddy (lacking highlights). Can you supply highlights artificially? Then a cloudy day might be your solution. There should be no shortage of clouds in the UK. If you can control the intensity of the sunlight (in a forest, under a party-tent or whatever) then mid-day in bright weather might be the thing. Also if you shoot close-ups and half-shots in the day, you could probably intercut them with real nightshots (without action but with sound) and produce even more convincing results.