XL-H1, low light/tight spaces/double exposure?
 

Hi, i am shooting a short film on the canon. The entire piece is to be shot from within a car with the background detail outside vital. There will also be a subject within the car. Zero budget obviously!!

I'm just looking for some lighting/exposure tips as i don't at any point want the world outside to burn out yet i cant constantly shoot the subject inside as a silhouette.

Anyone?

If you don't want the world beyond the car windows to overexpose and blow out, then you'll need to raise the light level inside the car so that the exposure level inside matches the exposure level outside.

cheers chris,

i kinda knew that, but any further advice on how to achieve this? i know it's a tricky one to pull off but it has to be achievable somehow?

Gavin;
Shoot on an overcast day, should be easy this time of year, right? Get a couple of small lights, tunsten, and gel for daylight color balance. Also a small on camera Obie light and fill with that also with a gel for daylight color. If the car is moving you can get an inverter that will allow you to plug AC lights into the cars electrical system. You'll probably have to spend some money after all.

Tint the car windows, use a couple of small lights inside, and shoot on an overcast day, all of these things will help you achieve your goal.

It seems that Barry and Mark posted similar advice while I typed this! Well, here are my thoughts anyway…

I would rather wait for a cloudy overcast day with even outdoor light (much easier to then match the car interior light rather than coping with a bright sunny day). Try to use a polarizer filter on the lens and twist the filter to cut glare and deepen colours beyond the window. Like Chris said, also add lighting inside the car to match the daylight exposure outside the car.

On the other hand, you could try to pick a time of day and location where the sun is cutting directly through the back or side windows to light the interior - although this would probably give a headache with harsh shadows without extra car lighting.

Another option is to use a car model with open top, or maybe even a car with a large open sunroof.

An extra idea is to use a car with slightly darkened glass windows (tinted) or even try grey (ND) clear cellophane over the window.

yeah buy a roll of nd.6 and double or triple the coverage on the windows in the shot (not the windshield as that's where most of your light will come from). Lite panels are pretty good for lighting as well.

Cheers lads,

lovin the nd tinted window tip. legend!

As Nick mentioned, another choice, but it's expensive... Several months ago I bought the new 1x1 LitePanel ($1600), which is an LED light source... it doesn't provide a lot of light, but it's light weight and cool so you can place it very close to the subject, it comes with an AC adapter, but you can run it off the cigarette lighter in a car or a 12v camera battery (like the Anton Bauer - I use my Aaton camera batteries)..

I have found this to be one of the most valuable pieces of equipment I own... It simulates window lite nicely, so even when the location is bright I can place this thing to the side, just out of the frame, and get a consistant source if the light from outside changes...

Like I said, probably more than you want to spend, but if you do a lot of this kind of shooting it can be a life saver... Maybe it's rentable by now...

Gelling the car windows is a little difficult - read "pain-in-the-ass" -.. I've done it in the past, but the gels ripple in the wind so if you put it inside it means that you can't roll the windows down.. and if you put it outside, forget driving faster the 10 mph because the rippling really shows... There are solid plastic ND panels (they are expensive) that can be cut to shape, but once cut, you end up with a lot of useless pieces of plastic when you're done...

Another choice, questionable to say the least, but it can work in a pinch - in fact I just did it last week - shoot with the camera very steady in the car - shoot slightly underexposed so you get some detail outside (the subject in the car should be a little dark anyway to look natural)..

Then when editing (I use FCP) lay the clip in the timeline twice, one over the top of the other... Then crop the one on top with a soft edge (at least 50% - the outside edges of the crop will show, but don't worry about it, no one will notice. Don't crop the one on the bottom though or it will show) - then adjust the levels of the two clips, brightening the bottom one with the subject in the car and darkening the top one with the exterior... If there's a lot of movement you can key the crop to match, takes some time - I know, it sounds flaky, but guess what, it works...