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Shooting in daylight


Guest Jeremy Hunt

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Guest Jeremy Hunt

Hi, im a first time cinematographer, and i have some questions about shooting in daylight.

 

Im trying to get a look thats quite similar to kes, with its dull looking "natrual" colours. I did some tests on my nikon d40 slr, and found that underexposure made the colours dull, but thats an slr.

 

Any suggestions?

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Hi, im a first time cinematographer, and i have some questions about shooting in daylight.

 

Im trying to get a look thats quite similar to kes, with its dull looking "natrual" colours. I did some tests on my nikon d40 slr, and found that underexposure made the colours dull, but thats an slr.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Kes was a wonderful film I'm a huge Ken Loach admirer and locations are very important to what he achieves on screen

 

that dull natural look has more to do with production design,wardrobe and location. I would concentrate on that first, shoot it clean

 

then do the rest in post.

 

Kieran.

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Guest Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy,

 

Are you planning to shoot film or digital?

 

I've never seen Kes, but according to the Internet, cinematographer Chris Menges pre-flashed the film stock. You might find the following link useful:

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?c...rticleId=183450

 

Cheers,

Ralph

 

Hey, thank you for the reply.

 

Yes thats very helpful, there isnt very much on what he did to get that look. It is more production design than anything, but the grass is really kind of a dull colour, which is intresting. Were going to be filming on 16mm, but im doing a previv tomorrow on a panasonic p-2.

 

would using a low contrast filter get a simillar look?

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would using a low contrast filter get a simillar look?

 

 

With the Low Contrast filters, you'll also get halation in the highlight areas. The Ultra Contrast filters, on the other hand, will evenly lower contrast over the entire frame without halation. I've used them before, but only for video (ultracon 4), and they do help. Of course, as others have already indicated, choosing your color palette (location, design, wardrobe) is extremely important.

 

 

Here are some frames from my last short film, shot 2 years ago with an HVX200 and the Ultra Con 4, with deliberate underexposure. I was going for a specific look, but I think it's close to what you are seeking. Should give you an idea at the very least.

 

Arita.jpg

Hailey.jpg

Paige.jpg

Bobby.jpg

 

In that last shot, I added slight diffusion to enhance the effect created by the sheers hanging over the bed, and in post I restored the blacks a bit.

 

I've found that 7205 with slight underexposure (1/3 to 1/2 stop) is wonderfully low in contrast and saturation. Sadly, I do not have any frames to show you--still waiting for my copies of the footage from the director. I imagine though that with the combination of an Ultra Con you could get pretty close to the look you want.

 

Most people avoid grain/noise, but I think a little grain helps (and maybe that's simply my opinion) in achieving a muted look. Just look at Savides' work, especially in Birth.

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Yes thats very helpful, there isnt very much on what he did to get that look. It is more production design than anything, but the grass is really kind of a dull colour, which is intresting. Were going to be filming on 16mm, but im doing a previv tomorrow on a panasonic p-2.

 

I'm guessing that pre-flashing the film stock is one of the keys on that film. You can flash with different colors of light instead of just white light, so you can effect the response curves of the different colors. Production design is crucial to the look of a film of course, but I doubt that they touched the grass. These days, you can probably do most of things that film-flashing does in post.

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Guest Jeremy Hunt
With the Low Contrast filters, you'll also get halation in the highlight areas. The Ultra Contrast filters, on the other hand, will evenly lower contrast over the entire frame without halation. I've used them before, but only for video (ultracon 4), and they do help. Of course, as others have already indicated, choosing your color palette (location, design, wardrobe) is extremely important.

 

 

Here are some frames from my last short film, shot 2 years ago with an HVX200 and the Ultra Con 4, with deliberate underexposure. I was going for a specific look, but I think it's close to what you are seeking. Should give you an idea at the very least.

 

Arita.jpg

Hailey.jpg

Paige.jpg

Bobby.jpg

 

In that last shot, I added slight diffusion to enhance the effect created by the sheers hanging over the bed, and in post I restored the blacks a bit.

 

I've found that 7205 with slight underexposure (1/3 to 1/2 stop) is wonderfully low in contrast and saturation. Sadly, I do not have any frames to show you--still waiting for my copies of the footage from the director. I imagine though that with the combination of an Ultra Con you could get pretty close to the look you want.

 

Most people avoid grain/noise, but I think a little grain helps (and maybe that's simply my opinion) in achieving a muted look. Just look at Savides' work, especially in Birth.

 

 

Wow, those look amazing.

 

It turns out as of a few hours ago that we are infact going to be shooting on 7205.

 

Thanks very much for the references and the info, i can post the results if you like?

 

-Jeremy

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With the Low Contrast filters, you'll also get halation in the highlight areas. The Ultra Contrast filters, on the other hand, will evenly lower contrast over the entire frame without halation. I've used them before, but only for video (ultracon 4), and they do help. Of course, as others have already indicated, choosing your color palette (location, design, wardrobe) is extremely important.

 

 

Here are some frames from my last short film, shot 2 years ago with an HVX200 and the Ultra Con 4, with deliberate underexposure. I was going for a specific look, but I think it's close to what you are seeking. Should give you an idea at the very least.

 

 

Bobby.jpg

 

In that last shot, I added slight diffusion to enhance the effect created by the sheers hanging over the bed, and in post I restored the blacks a bit.

 

I've found that 7205 with slight underexposure (1/3 to 1/2 stop) is wonderfully low in contrast and saturation. Sadly, I do not have any frames to show you--still waiting for my copies of the footage from the director. I imagine though that with the combination of an Ultra Con you could get pretty close to the look you want.

 

Most people avoid grain/noise, but I think a little grain helps (and maybe that's simply my opinion) in achieving a muted look. Just look at Savides' work, especially in Birth.

 

Such a beautiful looking shot.

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Ram,

 

I didn't use any 35 adapters on this one, just an HVX200 right out of the box.

 

It's been 2 years, so I don't recall all of the details, sadly--I always want a dedicated note-taker, but it never seems to work out. :blink:

 

All I can say now is that I'm pretty sure I went with the Cinelike gamma setting--whichever is flattest. I cranked the detail level down quite a bit, set Master Ped at -3, and pulled the color a little (except that last frame grab, for which I dialed in a little more saturation). No bump in gain. UltraCon 4, and underexposure.

 

Sorry I can't be any more specific.

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