Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Yes, you can cut directly, it just needs setting up in the script. Quite a few films do direct cuts to night, if in doubt you can use a dissolve.

It's no different to this:

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay. Well in Lawrence of Arabia for example, a lot of time has passed between the two. Where as in mine, it all takes place in the same evening/night, so I don't think I can do a subtle cut from full daytime to full nighttime, without a dusk scene in between to bridge the two, I don't think, compared to the timeline of Larwrence of Arabia.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

It's basically a jump cut. If the audience is set up for a time change you can do it, e.g, looking at watch or the dialogue " tonight then".

It's not a subtle cut, it,s a dramatic cut which is driven by the story.

If it requires mood setting etc, that's another matter.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay, I thought it was more of a smash cut. But if I do a jump cut, I feel that the audience would be thinking, why is it night of all a sudden, and why did even take so long, when it shouldn't have?

It's not the editing I feel that is the problem it's the wondering, if why the event took so long, when it should have only taken maybe a half hour. If I go from pure daylight, to pure night in a cut, then it's going to feel like more than a 30 minutes. went by, shouldn't it?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

As I intentioned before, it's how you set it up. A cut doesn't work in isolation, what happens before sets it up.

If the audience is left wondering or thinking, instead of following the story, you've done everything wrong. The reason is deeper than just a cut.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay. But the problem isn't the cut though, it's the time setting. Is it possible to go from pure after noon daylight, to pure black night, and the audience thinks that only 30 minutes have passed? It's not the type of cutting that's the problem it's the missing time gap in the story. How do you get around that though? No matter what type of cut you do, there will still be a missing time gap in the plot, wouldn't there? If I cut from pure day to pure night, the audience is going to think that at least 3-4 hours have passed, as oppose to 30 minutes.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

If you don't know how to leap time like this don't do it,

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay. Well in that case I could just have the seen be set at dusk then, so the night scene will follow after. But if I need to shoot for the longer day, then what dusk will allow, and just make it look like dusk though, should I just turn up the orange in the color grading to try to make it look like dusk, or will the audience still think it's daytime, but just cranked up orange?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Shoot day for night, assuming it's not an urban environment. That can look like dusk or twilight, especially if it's overcast.,

This sounds more like a scheduling issue than a creative decision.

If you're making a low budget film, don't put scenes in that you don't have the time to shoot. You need to change them to match the available resources. Time is a resource.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay. I have time to shoot. What I mean is, is that I need more time than dusk will allow to shoot, since dusk is only like an hour long around, before the sun changes.

Well the setting is an urban environment though as far as day for night goes. But when you say for night, you mean shooting underexposed in the daytime pretty much, right?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

The audience seem to have much more understanding than you do Ryan? You really believe that they'll get confused when it suddenly gets dark? Of course they won't! Time has passed. You then set up how much by the next scene - a few hours a week, ten years, millions of years? Every one of these has been done and audiences were quite happy. Stop making problems that you can't cure.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

But not that much time would have passed though. Only about 30 minutes. So would the audience by that all of a sudden it's pitch black sky, in 30 minutes as oppose to middle of the day in the previous scene, when the next scene would only be 30 minutes after? The audience will think "only 30 minutes about has gone buy, so how did the sun go this dark in only in 30 minutes?".

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

How do they know only 30 minutes has passed? A caption saying "later that day" doesn't need to say "29 minutes 30 seconds later".

They see it's got darker, it's later, done!

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Well in the scene, the police bring in a witness to be interviewed. But then the police take what she says and talk about the evidence. During this the witness is waiting in in the interview room. But is she going to want to wait in the room for more than 30 minutes? I mean she is going to want to get on with her day, isn't she just going to want to leave? If it's pure daylight, why would she stick around till it's pure dark out?

And, why would the cops want to keep her waiting and take forever to discuss it, rather discuss it and move so they can send her on her way? It just seems kind of strange that they would keep her waiting for so long, or that she would be willing to wait for so long.

But if I cut from a pure daylight scene, to a pure night scene, the audience is going to think they kept her waiting for such a long time, and that why was she willing to stay for such a long time, wouldn't they?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Do you ever watch cop shows in TV?

Have a look at the Nordic ones like "The Bridge" or "The Killing" or the French one "Spiral", they might break you one of the boring trap you seem to have fallen into.

You waste so much time, if they're not required for dramatic reasons, send the witness home, get rid of them,

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Well I want the main character cop to drive the witness home himself, because a new plot development happes as he drops her off. But I need him to go over the evidence with the others first before driving her home.

So she cannot be sent home before then, in order for the plot development to happen with him there.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

They wouldn't have witnesses waiting around, Cut the discussion to a couple of minutes and have him drive her home if it's important, The discussion scene doesn't sound that interesting and if it's just exposition definitely get rid of it and find a dramatic way to convey the information..

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Well it's just a new plot development happens after he drives her home, but in order for this to happen, I need the prosecutor in the case, to know what she said in the interview. So after the interview, they call the prosecutor and send him her statement and talk about it. But I need this to happen first before the next plot point at her house. I want the main character to talk to the prosecutor before driving her home too, because then he has that discussion with him that drives the plot. If that's possible. It's not exposition though, the prosecutor has to make a decision before she arrives home that drives the plot point at her house.

So I thought therefore, they should discuss what to do with the prosecutor before deciding if they are done with her in the interview, but they wouldn't want to keep her waiting around too long of course.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Smoke is coming out of my ears again from reading this. Time for a beer.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Ryan, you mimic the camera technique, the music, the editing, the sound and everything to minute detail, irrespective of appropriateness and now you demonstrate a total misunderstanding of how script writing works. You obsessed recently about how to cope with a few words being chopped. You've lost your grip totally now. What people say, how they say it or sometimes how they don't say it are important. Plot points vary from overt and critical or covert and critical through to padding to prevent silence. Does it matter if somebody spent 30 minutes or three hours in the police station. You are making mountains out of molehills. You are even thinking about creating an entire scene to explain something that doesn't matter. You really need to consider what happened here.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay, but I thought it matters how much time is spent in the sense that the character, the witness being interviewed, would not choose to wait there for three hours. She would want to leave soon, so the cops only have about 30 minutes to go things with the prosecutor before taking her home.

So if she were to stay for 3 hours, it be inconsistent in her character to do so, and she has no reason for wanting to stay. So wouldn't the audience think 'why is she waiting there this long when she has no reason for wanting to stay'?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Unless this person is a suspect they will probably send her home after she finished giving a statement. The discussion with the prosecutor can take place anytime if she's just a witness, if she's a possible suspect or a victim that may be another another matter. In the latter case it's more likely they'll drove them home.

If they've been inside the police station, in a room without any windows, they won;t know if it's dark. If their room has windows they can see it's now dark outside and they'll know that time has past.

If they walk out and it's dark, the witness can just comment on it now being dark. That's what people say if they leave and are unaware of how long these been inside a building.

Again watch those TV shows I mentioned to see how they do it. They have scenes like this all the time and also have levels of complexity way beyond anything you're thinking about.

You don't need a lot of business, the policeman can give a brief summery to the prosecutor over the phone and tell her he'll forward her the witness statement. She''ll pass an initial reaction during the conversation that the policeman can act on that.

Unless it's dramatically important that the witness spends time waiting, you're building a mountain out of a molehill. Plus, also boring the audience while you send statements around, have people read them and have yet more discussions. The police won't want a witness hanging around the police station, unless there's more to it.

The character doesn't need to stay after giving the statement unless they're under arrest.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay, well it's just that after they pass her statement onto the prosecutor, what if they have some follow up questions after the prosecutor looks it over? Sure they could ask her later, it's just there is a court hearing the next morning, and her statement will greatly effect the hearing. So wouldn't they want her to wait, while the prosecutor looks it over, so they can ask her follow up questions there, so it can be completed for the hearing tomorrow, rather than wait till later to ask her? I mean what if the prosecutor thinks of additional questions after looking over the statement that they didn't think of? Wouldn't they want to hold onto her, until he is done looking it over therefore?

Also, I wanted the main character to go over the statement with the prosecutor himself, because it establishes his relationship with the prosecutor which is a set up for things to come later. If he is busy taking her home, and someone else talks over the statement with the prosecutor, then that relationship with the main character cannot be established.

So I will have to write another scene where it is established earlier then. But then that's another scene. So shouldn't I write it so that the main character goes over the statement with the prosecutor to establish the relationship and kill two birds with one stone so to speak, rather than write another scene for it?

But as far as TV shows go, I haven't seen a TV show, where they wanted to get a statement in before the next morning though, so wouldn't they want to keep a witness waiting therefore, to get it in the night before?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

All this is pretty boring for a thriller, they'll be switching channels. .

Doesn't the policeman know what details are required for the court hearing? Wouldn't he have known before doing the interview? Can't he think for himself if he;s an experienced officer?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

No the policeman cannot know what she is going to say unless he interviews her first if that's what you mean? What do you mean by 'details'? Do you mean the details in her statement for the hearing?

As for it being boring, well there have been fictional stories that deal with crimes, and witness statements and court cases before, so is this not normal for that type of writing?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

If there's going to be a court hearing they will have already been putting a case together. If there isn't at least part of case against someone they won't usually proceed to the court. The police will want to either confirm or elaborate on what they already know, so that can be presented in court.

The French TV serial "Spiral" does this type of stuff, although, the French legal system is different, it is built around the relationship between the female detective and the much older justice (the gray haired man below) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examining_magistrate who is in charge of the case.


It's the way that you're telling the story that will have the audience switching off.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay. In my story there were already putting a case together and there was a new development with the witness that they wanted to bring her in for a statement before the hearing the next day.

But what is it about the way I am telling mine that is a turn off? Isn't it pretty straightforward, or is that bad?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

You're labouring over statements and then discussing it, while keeping the witness waiting.

Having been involved as a witness in crimes, they got your statement and sent you on your way. A detective will know how to interrogate a witness, if they're the main character it weakens them as an expert in their job if they need to check up, they'll know what's needed for the case.

Any such discussions will take place before the interview. That will act as a set up for the audience.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Boring Ryan. Unrealistic and boring - too much emphasis on the trivia, not enough guts and it sounds totally un-gripping. Too much dialogue about unimportant things. Frankly, even your explanation of the plot here is the same. What is the hook? What exciting things are going to happen. Legal dramas are very specific, dramas that need legal stuff in them rarely spend any time on reality.

My Police Officer son cannot sit and watch TV when they are doing Police things because they NEVER follow the reality of his job, just the bits the public are aware of. Procedural issue are so dull. He's had the TV people working with him in the Station for a couple of months - they sit in the back of the police car and one shift he drew the short straw and had them with him and they complained that nothing ion the 8 hour shift would be of any use - all boring. They HATE it when somebody gets arrested, because on TV the Police Station work takes air time of two-three minutes but the reality is 3 hours at the very least. None of this stuff EVER gets on TV.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay, I can have the main character cop take the witness home, but then someone else will have to go over the statement with the prosecutor because the prosecutor needs to make a decision that drives the plot after seeing the statment. But I wanted the main character to go over this decision with the prosecutor, so he knows more of what's going on and to establish the relationship.

Is there a way I can do this with the prosecutor and the main character, and also drive her home because when he drives her home, another plot point happens there as well. Or can he not do both, and I have to pick one?

But why is it unimportant? There are major plot points here that are set up for a pay off later, so why are they unimporatant? Don't I need them for the pay off to make sense later? Because if I cut them out, then I have a pay off with no prior set up.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

The whole scenario sounds clumsy and I don't believe it.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay, thanks. Is it just that they want to stay until the prosecutor seees the statement first, and decides he has no follow up questions, that is clumbsy or are there any other parts that are clumbsy? Any specifics?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

It just doesn't happen like this in the real word Ryan - it just sounds dull and word heavy. Somebody told me once I should always think of how deaf people would cope if you had a signer in the corner. Could they keep up? Would people be able to follow if watching the signing, and not able to look at the action? Using dialogue in this way is a very heavy way to write.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Okay thanks, but what are the specifics though? You said it just wouldn't happen this way, but what are the specifics of how it wouldn't happen this way? Is their more than keeping the witness around, or is that it? If there is more, what are the specifics of that?

Plus I don't see how using dialogue to tell the story is that bad, as there are many crime thrillers that do use dialogue especially in scenes of police talking to witnesses and discussing the next move on what to do in a case. It's normal and I've seen it before, so what am I doing different?

Also, I could write it so that the arrest the witness because she keeps dodging subpeonas if that's better, and then they can hold her longer for questioning, because has been arrested then?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

There's dialogue which pure exposition, which is what a good writer tries to avoid or tries to bury. Good writers can use exposition in a way that Robert McKee calls like firing bullets. Poor dialogue, as commonly found in soap operas. is on the nose, which is to be avoided.

If you can write dialogue in a manner that avoids these pit falls it's fine. However, you create the impression that yours is expositional.

You should try to be more natural about how you do these scenes, At the moment they sound plot driven, rather than driven by the characters.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay, well I thought that asking a witness to stay while they go over somethings, was character driven. I can see the characteer doing that, but it is that a flaw in the character I have created?

Also, I didn't think the dialogue was expositional, because her statement drives the case to go in a certain direction and the audience has to hear that statement and hear the prosecutors decision on it, in order to understand the direction it's being driven into. So it's not expositional if it drives the plot in a certain direction, and it reveals information that the audience needs to know, is it?

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Sounds boring and tedious.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Oh okay, thanks. But I can't really make any changes unless I know what is boring or tedious about it specifically though. Well I asked a LEO I utilized for research on the script before, and he said it's perfectly fine to ask a witness to wait while the investigators and prosecutor go over it, and he doesn't see the problem, he said. So I am not sure which way to go now.

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

As Kubrick said *It might be real, but is it interesting?"

Re: How do you get this type of blue sunlight cinematography?
 

Well it was said on here before that my plotting was unrealistic. Thus implying that being unrealistic is bad?