Lighting, Day for Night, and other Fancy Stuff...

[Andrew M. King]

Hello.

Well, I've gotten to use my camera a bit since I've joined this forum. Though I certainly do see the limitations that low light bring, I have to say I love the camera. While I bought it almost exclusively to do a horror short, I quickly realized that it wasn't a low light genius. I have what I have now, however, and need some help with some work arounds.

I have two questions. My first is Day for Night. What is a good time of day to eliminate shadows? I mean, high noon seems like the best time in theory, as light is directly above. I ask, because when I used some pre-made "day for night" Final Cut effects filters, it looked pretty good, but the long...looooong shadows of the trees were a pretty dead give away...

Also, I have a campfire scene...suggestions?

Finally, any lenses, filters, or other tricks anyone suggests for Day for night filming with this camera would be great. I'm a total amateur hear, so if you are going to recommend settings on the camera, please put it in "for dummies" terminology!!!!

Thanks so much!