Shooting for black and white

[Eugen Oprina]

Hello great forum,
I am shooting a drama series with our beloved camera. In the next episode we have some scenes that we intend to make them black and white in post. Is there anyone who tried somethig similar before? Is the Paulo's true color seting still the best? Is it a special plugin or software for B&W conversion? I am using FCP.
Any advice is welcome.
Eugen

[Stephan Ahonen]

If you know for sure the scene will be black and white, shoot in black and white so you know what your pictures will look like in the field as much as possible.

[Steve Oakley]

no, turn the chroma down on the monitor, then figure out if you need to change settings. by adjusting the RGB paint of the camera, you can change around how the image looks without being stuck with a B&W image on tape thats harder to change.


Steve Oakley

[Corey Boutilier]

I agree. It's probably best to just shoot in color.

FCP BW Filter

Effects -> Video Filters -> Image Control -> "Desaturate"

[Steve Benner]

There is a sticky at the top reguarding Scene Files. Use Tim Dashwoods "Film Noir"

It looks incredible for Black and White.

[Joe Bowey]

Does changing the color to B&W affect the focus assist?

[K. Forman]

I'll agree with Tim's Film Noir recipe. Just started playing with it, and I like the blacks. As far as focus assist, I haven't got the hang of it yet. It still looks like a 3D movie without the glasses, but the peaking helps a lot.

[Nicho Gram]

don't shoot in B&W. No modern B&W films shoot like this. They use a low contrast color negative, then transfer it to high contrast B%W positive. This makes perfect sense... Capture a crisp initial image, then you can clean it up (raise red curves to make all the ugly actors become blemish free) and up the contrast in post. No need to initially degrade the image when you're going to have to anyhow in post.

[Eugen Oprina]

Thanks to all.
I'll shoot color and BW in post.
Regards,
Eugen

[Brian Luce]

There's a guy whose recently gone to the dark side (purchased an hvx) that did a lot of shots in BW with the HD100. He's a cool dude named Michael Pappas, you might do a search--he shot some nice stuff.

[George David]

Michael Pappas has almost the same settings as Tim's film noir. He shot his stuff @ 18DB daylight with a red filter on. I've tested stuff in this setting and it makes spectacular B&W footage.

[John Vincent]

Originally Posted by Nicho Gram

don't shoot in B&W. No modern B&W films shoot like this.

Well, it depends on what you mean by 'modern" - RAGING BULL and MANHATTAN were shot on b/w. The begining of VAN HELSING is shot on b/w stock...

I would be torn as how to shoot. Film, when shot on color stock then made b/w in post does not look as 'pure' as regular b/w film, rather it looks like what it is - like color film with the color removed. The black and, most particularly, the greys are not as rich or textured.

Costumes, make-up, and set decoration will all be impacted in ways, good and bad, by shooting in color then desaturating the image.

But, perhaps video is a different animal. It's a completely different process in one way, but I suspect that because it's shot in color, judged on set in color, and looked at with the naked eye in color, that the overall effect would be better, more natural, if it was shot in b/w on set.

Tough call, but if you are absolutely going to have be in b/w, shoot in b/w. It will have an impact on how you light, for sure, and may effect the costumes/make-up/set decoration. Good luck, keep us posted -

john
evilgeniusentertainment.com

[Alex Humphrey]

Well this is an old thread, but what the hell. Here is part of a project that I shot 720p 24fps 1/60th at +3 color and -9 or min detail. Then for fun went into FCP Studio 1 (yes I still have something that old) and did a sepia filter, but dropped the sepia color to white, and maybe adjusted the contrast a little, but I don't I even did that. I wonder. Since this is video and not really a film camera doing film, is there any advantage to make the video look BW from the beginning or simply do it all from the end.

[Joseph A. Benoit]

HELLO
Where do i get the RED FILTER, and what does it cost.
thank you
Joe

[Alex Humphrey]

Originally Posted by Joseph A. Benoit

HELLO
Where do i get the RED FILTER, and what does it cost.
thank you
Joe

i get virtually all of my camera gear from BH photo video. I recommend NOT getting a Tiffin, but get something better like a Hoya. B+W are also good, though more expensive than Hoya. Hoya makes Nikon filters, so that's my benchmark.