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Night Exterior 35mm


Iggy Alves

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Lighting a night exterior in front of a house.

 

Largest light available will be a 5k fresnel, and as of right now it's 50/50.

 

If we can't get the 5k the next available is two 2k fresnels.

 

Think it can be done? If so how far do you think it will need to be?

 

 

No budget, so no crazy talk please.

 

 

 

thanks

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how about a Blondie? (or two)

 

 

While bored at the house last week I caught "star trek 4?"( the one about the whales) and saw an interesting way of doing a night ext. Look at the scene's at the park at night. It looks like there isnt a condor, but a bunch of 1k/2ks placed all around the field underlighting the forrest canopy. I thought I would bring it up here because it is an OPTION to shooting Low budget Night Exteriors.

 

Yes A 5k will help a low budget night ext. but What are you shooting? how wide do you want to be? what is your background? What do you want to see? you dont say any details about the location, film stock, desired Fstop, lense speed, scene style, etc. All these things dictate how you light, and what you light with.

 

If it is low budget, you have to be creative within your means to get something. blanket questions like is a 5k enough dont work. refine your wants and desires, and define clearly what you want. I could answer sure a 5k is enough. It would be enough for one way but not another. do you want to bounce it?

 

define your shot and story concept clearer and maybe...

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so right, pars are always more bang for the (electrical) buck.

 

what about shooting 5229 and pushing a stop? that'll give you a little more to work with, and you don't really pick up much grain in 35, esp if you're shooting for telecine... i've even heard of people pushng a stop and rating at 1000, but i haven't been gutsy enough to try that yet!

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so right, pars are always more bang for the (electrical) buck.

 

what about shooting 5229 and pushing a stop? that'll give you a little more to work with, and you don't really pick up much grain in 35, esp if you're shooting for telecine... i've even heard of people pushng a stop and rating at 1000, but i haven't been gutsy enough to try that yet!

 

 

Joe,

 

I shot a film a few years back where I rated the stock 1000 and pushed one full stop. The stock was 5218 and it held up remarkably well - not nearly as grainy as I hoped/thought it would be. I also shot an interior scene, which was a punk rock show in a club, where I rated the stock the same because I wanted to be consistent with the grain structure. Even with a back light that was 6 1/2 sops over key, the stock held up and wasn't nearly as grainy as I expected. With 5218, it seemed as though I could really abuse the stock and get some good results and, like you said, the telecine will help you as well. I think if you follow the suggestions David and Robert, you'll be in good shape with the lighting.

 

Best,

Adam

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Lighting a night exterior in front of a house.

 

Largest light available will be a 5k fresnel, and as of right now it's 50/50.

 

If we can't get the 5k the next available is two 2k fresnels.

 

Think it can be done? If so how far do you think it will need to be?

 

 

No budget, so no crazy talk please.

 

 

Is power the limitation, or just that a 5K is the biggest lamp you have ?

 

I guess it depends on the look you want, but would a HMI be an option ? You'll generally get more bang for you buck there. And it's already on the way to being the right colour for moonlight if that's your thing ? That way you can have a 3/4 backish moonlight, from far enough away to appear to be a largish source, and then light the front of the house with smaller tungsten or even pracs ? What colour is the house ? If it's white or light, you could also then bounce a little moonlight fill back onto the front of the house and then something warm inside the house for a glow on the windows perhaps. ? Or a porch light feel ?

 

jb

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Joe,

 

I shot a film a few years back where I rated the stock 1000 and pushed one full stop. The stock was 5218 and it held up remarkably well - not nearly as grainy as I hoped/thought it would be. I also shot an interior scene, which was a punk rock show in a club, where I rated the stock the same because I wanted to be consistent with the grain structure. Even with a back light that was 6 1/2 sops over key, the stock held up and wasn't nearly as grainy as I expected. With 5218, it seemed as though I could really abuse the stock and get some good results and, like you said, the telecine will help you as well. I think if you follow the suggestions David and Robert, you'll be in good shape with the lighting.

 

Best,

Adam

 

 

sorry dude, i meant push a stop and rate at 2000!

 

of course if you push a stop you rate 5229 - or 18 - at 1000! what i meant to say was, i have heard of dp's underexposing 5229 2 stops, and then pushing a stop. actually, i think the way it is done is to rate at 1600, so you ar underexposing 1 2/3 stops, then pushing a stop. i have never tried it, i always wanted to test it first, but never got the chance.

 

and i agree, either the 18 or the 29, or really any of the vision 2 stocks, hold up to a 1 stop push amazingly well. that's realy vision 2's strong suit, underexposure/fine grain, imho. fuji realla seems to be the only stock you can get any grain out of these days.

 

oops, i think we've gotten off-topic here!

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I shot a film a few years back where I rated the stock 1000 and pushed one full stop. The stock was 5218 and it held up remarkably well - not nearly as grainy as I hoped/thought it would be. I also shot an interior scene, which was a punk rock show in a club, where I rated the stock the same because I wanted to be consistent with the grain structure. Even with a back light that was 6 1/2 sops over key, the stock held up and wasn't nearly as grainy as I expected. With 5218, it seemed as though I could really abuse the stock and get some good results and, like you said, the telecine will help you as well. I think if you follow the suggestions David and Robert, you'll be in good shape with the lighting.

 

Best,

Adam

 

 

btw, adam, nice work. i would think the club scene you referred to the one on your reel... very nice subtle, simple beautiful photgraphy.

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