lights/black and white
 

Hi Everyone,

I am goning to start production on a short and I have 2 questions...



With black and white video...do you get better results going black and white at shot...or do it in post production in premiere? Stats are XL1s and premiere 6.0

Second question...

I want to get a real dreamy dark romantic feel indoors...and suggestions on lights...and camera settings for darker richer feel? Can you make lighting equiptment from Home Depot? Any suggestions on type of bulbs and what not...

Thanks in advance!

There's no advantage to going B/W in the camera except that you get the preview the shot in the viewfinder in B/W. I'd just shoot everything in color and go B/W in post, you can always convert the video to B/W, but not the other way around. So if later down the road you decide to use a color shot, you've got that option.

Don't know about lights, except that B/W should make things a little easier since color temp isn't really important.

hope this helps

Mark

I agree with Mark. Do B/W in post. However, keep in mind that
some colors in B/W are the same! I saw a making of from the
movie Pleasantville and it displayed an example of this. So it
might be nice to have a black and white (switchable?) monitor
on set to make sure you are getting everything lateron.

One other advantage to do it in post is that you can:

1. control the B/W process more. I did a test where I made my
footage B/W with a slight color to it. You didn't actually noticed
the color, but it was a different image then true B/W
2. if you decide B/W is not working you can still go back to color
3. you could have a B/W scene with one item in color, if you are
good in post production. This can make some real nice effects.

Rob:

Would shooting in B&W allow you to use certain filters, such as a yellow or red filter, that you couldn't use if you were shooting in color?

Yes, to some extent the b&w contrast control filters from still photography can have similar effects in video although ccd's and digital signal processors do not behave quite the same as film emulsions.

But, honestly, since you can manipulate your image so completely with any good nle in post I don't think it's worth the hassle to play with the filters. In my opinion, it's better to get the best, truest original image (and to see that image in your viewfinder) and then fine-tune it later.

I always prefer to have as many options as possible. So, usually i shot color and change to B & W in post. The exception is if the client or script says the shot will be in B & W. Then we use filters (red, yellow, orange etc.) just like film. Filters change the gray scale of the scene and are used to enhance the contrast. Custumes and sets are designed for B & W also. If I am shooting color I just turn down the chroma on the monitor to simulate the B & W scene.

Jeff