I think the bulk of the French New Wave cinema from the 60s was shot using natural light. I'm not really overly aware of french New Wave cinema beyond that so don't ask me for titles but I think the light and the real locations were the main defining characteristic of the movement.

Do you expect to shoot in natural light for style reasons or cost reasons?

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

I love the French New Wave, and you're right, I just thought of some movies that could have been shot with natural light.

I have a cinematographer friend who wants to shoot using natural light, and so we want to try it, just to experiment. We don't have a script yet though, so I wanted to watch a couple of films to get some inspiration on how the cinematography could benefit the story.

Anyways, thanks for the reply!

I am a big fan of natural light, you can see some stuff at our Myspace, I shoot docs and shorts and have had some very successful shorts shot in natural light.

The big pitfall is you can end up with unwatchable shots, you need someone shooting who is a good photographer and is used to working with natural light; many great DPs are great because they are masters of lighting, personally I prefer natural light entirely.

Also think a little broader as to what "natural" is; in my mind any light source in situ ie the sun, TV, desk lamp is all natural to the set, this is how Kubrick lit all of his films with daylight and light fixtures that would naturally be there; look at Barry Lyndon, all the interiors were shot in just candle light because it was true to the period, light is always where it should be in Kubrick's films and I think that's the real beauty of natural in that concept; you are looking at something so much more real.

Steve Piper
Coffee Films
www.coffeefilms.com
www.myspace.com/coffeefilms

Thank you! That helps a lot.