Lighting to get a GREEN TINT look with Panasonic DVX100

[jay chow]

Hi,

 

So i have these 4100 K fluorescent lights, and I want to use them so that on camera the white balance has a slight green tint to it.

 

I'm using a Panasonic DVX100 and I'm using fluorescent lights because I know they're naturally green looking on camera.

 

Problem is, I can't figure out how to get the green tint. (Some of these questions might sound basic but I figured I'd ask since I really don't know how to go about this):

- Am I still supposed to white balance with something white to get that tint?

- Or am I supposed to white balance with something of another color?

- I've been doing this with my WB button on A and using the ATW button for a custom white balance and it's weird because it seems like the WB tends to change a bit after I set it. (Example = sometimes I'd get the greenish look I'd want but it would slowly change and the green look would disappear)

 

- Lastly, is this even possible for these lights? Or is my only option getting gels? And if so, what kinds of gels?

 

Thanks so much, I've been trying to figure this out for a few days now.

[jay chow]

Oh, and I actually wanted some of the flicker that people sometimes get with these lights. I was messing with the shutter speed but i couldn't get any flicker. Is this possible either? If not, i'm just going to get the flicker another way. thanks!

[Chris Keth]

White balance to something pink to get a green tint. The stronger the pink, the more green it will be. Paint sample cards from the hardware store are good to trick white balance to. Grab a variety and see what you like.

[jay chow]

hey,

 

thanks so much, white balancing with something pink works.

 

i'm going to have to find something really light pink to get the light green tint i wanted.

 

i remember some people saying how using gels would work too. which one would you guys advise?

[Walter Graff]

Or just use a gel in front of the lens and white balance. A minus green series of gels will do the trick to whatever degree you want the green. Then you can further it in post if needed.

[jay chow]

ooh, the green gel in front of the lens to white balance sounds a lot easier

[Tim Terner]

I always carry a Rosco gel swatch in the lighting case's. There's lots of pink tones in it

[Walter Graff]

ooh, the green gel in front of the lens to white balance sounds a lot easier

 

Actually to make green you would want pink. White balance adds what is missing. If you put blue in front of lens and white balance the camera sees you need more orange and makes the picture warmer. If you put pink, the camera sees you need more green to make that white, white. A gel swatch is the simplest way to white balance and give yourself a look with color. I keep a Lee cinematographers book with me at all times. Mostly I use it to warm or cool a picture easily without having to do so with the menues, but you can also get some weird looking effectgs likke green with it. Try all sorts of colors and see the extremes you can get. Moslty you can warm or cool a picture, but with the right gel you get green.

[Kiarash Sadigh]

To achieve this effect I usually put a 1/2 minus green (Magenta) on my key fixture and then white balance on a white card under it...this will render the key as white and the rest of the army of lights (that had not been gelled with minus green) as green...so your actor or key subject will have a neutral colored light on them whereas the rest of the lights automatically shift towards green...

For flicker you need to narrow down your shutter angle ( increase your shutter speed) until you see it. This effect will be cyclical as both frequencies ( Shutter rotation i.e. 200/sec, and Fluro i.e. 60/sec in north america) go through peaks and lows at different times...as a result you'd have times when flicker is at its most visible and you'd have times when flicker is non existent or less visible...and in the edit the best flicker footage will be used...

Check out the link below, I shot this a few weeks ago and right at around 0.20 you see a photography booth flicker, I used an HVX with 250/sec shutter speed ...the extreme flicker lasted about 5 seconds which is used here on this video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ORhcB0KxRQ