Hey all,
This is probably a stupid question but here it goes... how would you shoot a moonlight shot (some frames directly at the moon and night sky) with 16 mm film? Is it possible to control the lighting (on black and white film) or would I have to shoot day for night or something. Thanks!
You should test this with a good digital SLR. Bracket a bunch of exposures to get an idea of what the moon would look like shot directly.
To shoot a light source like the moon you need to take a reflected meter reading of the moon itself. You can use an external spot meter, which is how it would be done on a "professional" motion picture shoot. But again, you can use a good digital stills camera to learn the same information. A stills cam has an internal light meter that can substitute for an external one, so you can pick an exposure for your film camera from that.
However, chances are if you exposed for the moon then the rest of the sky, if it was total night, would just be completely black, unless there were other bright stars in the frame.
I've never done it myself, I just know a lot of the theory behind it. Best to consult with a professional stills photographer or a motion picture DP that has actually shot the moon.
For a scene that takes place at night in moonlight you can go with a white or slightly bluish light source. Use it as hard backlight on the subject with just a very little bit of fill for the face. This'll give you a nice, dark, contrasty night-ish feel.
