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Low contrast for commercial


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Hi, I'am going to shoot a Dove commercial as part of a student competition. I want to have a very soft and bright look to it. I was thinking of using a low contrast stock and ad a full pro mist or a low contrast filter. I am not to shure though if I would be better of using a low contrast or a pro mist filter, or both together? Maybe someone also could give me a suggestion for the film stock. I was thinking of using the vision 2 250 D. Since we are shooting inside i would have to go down to 64 ASA though. there might be a better film stock!?! I don't want to use the 100 T because I think it might be to sharp and contrasty. Maybe you can help me ought on that. Thanks

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pro mists and lo-cons do other things to the image as well, like introducing halos, glow and flare, so it's more a question of whether you want that look. other things to do in front of the camera to make the image softer is to add some atmosphere, like smoke or mist.

 

a trick i often use to create the look i think you're after is to light the background a stop or two over, then throw it out of focus with a long lens and large aperture. nothing smoothes the look as much as easily in my opinion.

 

as for film stock i really like the eterna 250t. very smooth and low grain, and with enough latitude to work even in low light. unlike kodak you can "push" fuji stocks in printing or telecine without getting weird color shifts and such. in my opinion. the best kodak stock for a soft lo-con look in my opinion is the expression 500t (5/7229).

 

/matt

Edited by Matt Sandstrom
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Hi Robert,

 

What format are you shooting? S16 or 35? Are going to finish in telecine or print? If you're going to TK, I'd suggest you shoot clean, without any filters on the lens so you don't limit your options and handcuff the colorist. Especially if you're shooting a smaller format like S16. You have many more options to add diffusion to the gate, defocus, reduce or increase contrast, etc. in the telecine bay than if you do it in camera on the lens which limits your options in post.

 

Additionally, bringing in examples of the look you're after is extremely helpful to a colorist. Digtal stills taken on set on the day of your shoot that afterward you manipulate in Photoshop; or showing the colorist a copy of a similar looking video or commercial , or even using tear sheets from magazines, can go a long way toward helping you communicate with the colorist.

 

 

In addtion to using your real name, you may also want to post the city, state and/or country you're in so other members can make you aware of resources available to you in your area.

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