Night for day
 

Hi,

I need to shoot some night scenes in a forest setting where it won't be very convenient to use a generator and lights, so I was wondering about using the old film technique of shooting 'Day for Night', that is, just shooting in daytime and then 'darkening' the image in post.

Has anyone tried this with DV? Im sure it ought to be possible -- and it may even be quite easy?? but can anyone give me any hints/pointers before I start experimenting?

Thanks!

Norman

How about just using a blue filter when you're shooting?

Thanks Frank, that sounds like a good place to start! Are there any particular settings/strategies that would work best in terms of aperture, shutter speed or whatever? And are there any pitfalls I should watch out for?

(I confess Im something of a neophyte when it comes to cameras, so even very basic advice would be welcome!)

Oh hey, I just found some useful looking info on Beale Corner, so if anyone else is looking for day-for-night tips, try this link --

http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/tips.html

(it's the last entry under 'production techniques')

I've never done this myself, but from what I've read the pros use blue lighting, and if this kind of lighting is not possible, they use a blue filter.

Thanks for the link.

A little search revealed quite a lot of threads on the subject:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=18656
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=16138
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=14111
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=12931
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=12106

The last one seems to be the most interesting?

Overhead Sun is your friend when shooting Day for Night.
 

Regardless of how you color your image, you want to keep an overhead sun as much as possible. This works to keep your shadows very short as opposed to your scene lightning becoming sourcey due to the long shadows pitched by low on the horizon sunlight.

It does present a logistics problem as far as scheduling the shoot and the "time over target" with your camera, but it will be well worth it in the end.

Good luck, RB

Thanks everyone!

Ive done some testing based on the various suggestions here, and the bottom line is -- I think Im gonna have to do it at night and use lights!

The thing is, I can get an OK 'twilight' look pretty easily, but this scene is supposed to take place at the dead of night and it just doesnt look convincing. Also, lighting scenes using a lightsource that you can't move around (or that goes behind a cloud just as youre ready to shoot) is very limiting/frustrating!

The plan now is to try to use one of those butane gas-fueled camping lanterns and see if I cant get closer to the result I'm looking for. Anyway, here's hoping! And if anyone has any tips/experience using this kind of light source, Id be grateful for any suggestions.