Hey,
I?m in pre-production for my first feature, and I wanted to know about shooting at night.
I don?t have much experience with shooting at night since everything I?ve done involved indoors or daytime. I?m about to start filming a short film that is partly at night but I need some real help for the feature.
For a large amount of the film will be shot outside at night, many scenes inside a dark car. (Sounds like an interesting film doesn?t it.) I know about keeping the scene well lit in order to see everything but I?m really wanting the darkness to be prevalent as part of the mood.
So you see my predicament is how do I light a scene shot in the middle of the night, in a moving car, so as to see the actors well but still keep it dark?
This is a hard question to me, but perhaps someone can shed some light on this. No pun intended. No. Wait, pun intended.:)
I plan to do a lot of experimentation before filming begins, but I would like a good starting point. This will be filmed in DV, as a low budget (gotta start somewhere).
Any help is much appreciated.
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"Excuse me. I don't mean to impose, but I am the Ocean."
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"Excuse me. I don't mean to impose, but I am the Ocean."
I hate shooting at night, but if you must, you must.
Try to light the scene as much as you can without giving much away. Maybe lights outside the car, or a green glow where the radio numbers display. Anything that can help you light your car.
DO NOT UNDERLIGHT. That is the worst thing you can do. You film will look grainy and very poorly shot, and you will not be taken seriously. You'd rather overlight than underlight, believe me.
-YO
-YO
Annother tip fo shooting at night, if your script allows for it set the outside night scenes just after it has raind so that the ground helps reflect your light. And try to set dialogue shots either infront of well lit shops or under streetlights.
Make Love Not War!
Make Love Not War!
I?ve been thinking about shooting with an orange light coming in through the front window, so it?s similar to street lamps.
I was also wondering if a dark blue light could work to light a scene but keep it dark. Has anyone ever used a similar technique?
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"Excuse me. I don't mean to impose, but I am the Ocean."
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"Excuse me. I don't mean to impose, but I am the Ocean."
There is a proceedure called "Day for night" where you put a blue gel infront of the lens and turn your cameras exposure down low and then you just shoot in daylight. This however is very difficult to make look entirely convincing.
Make Love Not War!
Make Love Not War!
Go outside at night and look around. What makes light at night different than light during the day? You need to motivate your light for it to be believable. Most light at night is toppy because it is hanging from fixtures up in the air. This gives you motivation for directional slashes of light and hairlights. Keep contrast up, but tailor it to the media you're using. Don't get too contrasty with video. Remember moonlight. It's a great fill and a nice soft source, as is dashboard light and the light from store windows. If your cars supposed to be moving this is a great time to use poor man's process. Wetting down the street helps a lot, and is common even without motivation like a rainstorm, but it can feel fake and commercial. Be sure to use rimmers, hairlights or silhouettes to separate your actors from their background and give depth to your image. If you've got a deep background, light it so you avoid huge swaths of black. A few christmas lights or a pool of light here and there go a long way to helping you out. Good luck.
"On a good gate, that's a wrap."
"On a good gate, that's a wrap."
Actually, a little while ago I thought about the fact that the moon is like a big spotlight. And after doing some calculations, I realized that filming is planned to occur during a near full moon. So hopefully that will bring some good light to everything.
I?m just going to have to go out and experiment as much as I can before filming starts, which is next month. God, it?s coming so fast and I still have a few things to do.
I?m starting to freak out.
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"Excuse me. I don't mean to impose, but I am the Ocean."
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"Excuse me. I don't mean to impose, but I am the Ocean."
that sounds nice too, but you can also use a blue gel to light the sides or parts of the actor?s body the the moon can?t light.
the more independent, the finest
the more independent, the finest
I've used blue gels to make night on stage and it worked ok, so i see no reason why it shouldn't work for film.
Just film the car in a wide shot and rely on dialogue to carry the scene. Who needs to see their face?
