Suggestions on Shooting a Period Piece

[Stephen Whitehead]

I am in the process of preparing to shoot a period Piece (19th century Canada, i.e. horse drawn carriages, bonnets and so forth.) I have never shot a period piece before so I am looking for advice. as of right now I am thinking of shooting 5218, perhaps with bleach bypass, and warm soft light. Also I am considering using a pro-mist to defuse a bit, and get a softer look. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Cheers,

 

SCW

[David Mullen ASC]

Bleach-bypass may be a bit strong for the 19th Century -- it tends to be used more for late 19th / early 20th Century settings to suggest some of the early b&w processes, whereas a pre-electricity / pre-photography era is more likely to use paintings as a visual reference.

 

But assuming you want that look, you may want it mute it a little by using a low-con film (like Fuji F400T or Kodak Expression 500T) or by using a heavier fog-type filter, or a heavier ProMist than what you were thinking, or combining a ProMist with an UltraCon or something. Or exposure / pull-processing or flashing.

 

Are you doing the bleach-bypass to the print or the original negative?

[Daniel Stigler]

You could experiment with older lenses, for example Cooke S2s. They are rather soft and vignette whith open Iris.

[Stephen Whitehead]

You could experiment with older lenses, for example Cooke S2s. They are rather soft and vignette whith open Iris.

 

I like the idea of older lenses. As far as the bleach by-pass goes, the project will probably not be going back to film, so the idea was to add the bleach bypass look during the transfer. Now in regards to the fuji 400t stock, I know it has a more pastelly look, much like the expression 500t (which i am not a huge fan of.) but since I am not making a print, should I just strive to create the colour effect I seek during the transfer, or would I be better off just shooting a more muted stock?

Edited July 19, 2006 by Stephen Whitehead

[David Mullen ASC]

You can simulate the desaturation and increase in contrast with digital color-correction tools that skip-bleach normally causes -- what you can't simulate as well is the increase in graininess, and the texture of the silver grain left in the colors. So it just depends on the look you want.

 

Most labs charge a $500 set-up fee everytime you drop off film that needs to be skip-bleach processed, which may affect your decision to do it for the whole movie.

[Chris Keth]

You can simulate the desaturation and increase in contrast with digital color-correction tools that skip-bleach normally causes -- what you can't simulate as well is the increase in graininess, and the texture of the silver grain left in the colors. So it just depends on the look you want.

 

Most labs charge a $500 set-up fee everytime you drop off film that needs to be skip-bleach processed, which may affect your decision to do it for the whole movie.

 

 

I've read (though I haven't done it) that pulling most Kodak films tends to render scenes in "earthier" colors and lower contrast. You may test it to see exactly what "earthier" means :D

[Jonathan Benny]

I am in the process of preparing to shoot a period Piece (19th century Canada, i.e. horse drawn carriages, bonnets and so forth.) I have never shot a period piece before so I am looking for advice. as of right now I am thinking of shooting 5218, perhaps with bleach bypass, and warm soft light. Also I am considering using a pro-mist to defuse a bit, and get a softer look. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Cheers,

 

SCW

 

 

Try some tests with Fuji's F400 using contrasty lighting motivated from "natural" sources - IE windows for DAY and lanterns for NIGHT. A very low con stock but when you work against it with little or no fill, it yeilds results that might interest you from a standpoint of saturation and softness for Interiors.

 

AJB