Lighting for B&W Digital

[Julia Cross]

Hello,

I am a student in a cinematography class. For my final project, I am shooting on a Canon C70 in B&W. I am only beginning to learn about lighting, and am somewhat familiar with what it takes to light for black and white analog film, but what about digital? Is there a difference between lighting for B&W analog and B&W digital? What should I take into consideration when shooting in B&W digital?

[Dominic Holmes]

Hi Julia,

I think it depends on your intended look, what are you going for? 

 

[Mateusz Czopek]

In my experience, I find that lighting for B&W Digital is more about trying to create dynamic shots through gradations of light and how light plays in the shot, because you don't have color to make a shot more interesting or pop you have to do this with light. Harder light typically plays better in B&W, but that may be a more personal choice and depends on the look you're going for. I definitely  recommend having a LUT that is close to what you want the final image to be - a low contrast B&W or a higher contrast B&W, whatever you're more going for. And it's more okay to mix tungsten and daylight lighting since it'll be more about how the light is hitting the subjects and not about the color of the light. 

Hope this helps, I've shot a few short films on B&W digital and a feature in B&W!