That washed-out steel-blue look...

[nitejrny282]

I'm shooting a 20 second spot on 16mm. The location will consist of a city sidewalk, a public phone, and a homeless man. The look, in terms of photo image, I want to achieve is overcast lighting, shadows of black and an overall tint of steel-blue. I can't think of a good example, maybe The Matrix?

 

Anyway, can anyone recommend a great 16mm film stock that would enhance this effect? Or possibly some in camera filters? Or film processing tricks that I would notify the lab to do?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

> I want to achieve is overcast lighting,

 

Shoot in overcast weather, or spend titanic amounts of money flying in huge silks. I believe this was done for Phone Booth. Or, since it's a short piece, you might get away with a magic-hour shoot.

 

> shadows of black and an overall tint of steel-blue.

 

Shoot in daylight using unfiltered tungsten stock, although it's probably quite achievable in tranfer (given a decent colourist).

 

Phil

[nitejrny282]

Thanks for the quick reply. I have a roll of Kodak 320T/7277 indoor which should do the trick. But what can I do to get that rich, gritty steel-blue look rather than just a washed-out flat blue look? How does Fincher's DP do it? Is there a better stock I can use?

[Dominic Case]

Make sure of a full exposure, and print (or transfer) dark. Despite the overcast look, put a back light somewhere to strengthen the outlines and shapes.

 

If you really want to rely on chemistry or emulsions, consider bleach bypassing the neg. This will build up contrast and reduce colour saturation so you can then grade in the blue to the whole image. But these sorts of look are invariably about the way you dress and light a shot - much much more than they are about emulsions and processes.

[Jonathan Benny]

An 85C used outside instead of an 85 can take you closer to where you want to go. Remember though to shoot your chart with an 85 and then replace the 85 with an 85C before you start shooting the scene.

 

An 85C gives a partial correction towards tungsten and therefore will yield a result that is more "bluish" than if you did a correction with the 85 (or 85B).

 

Try to get your hands on some 48 or 12 and use an 85C (exteriors). Then play in the telecine suite.

 

This advice applies only to exterior daylight scenes.

 

jb

Edited March 9, 2005 by Jonathan Benny

[Patrick Neary]

I don't know if this is what you're aiming for, but here is a small frame grab from a promo I shot for Ultimate Fighting Championship, we used HMI's (no correction) with 7218, and in telecine the director said "how about a cold-steel-" and before he finished his sentence the colorist had dialed this in. I think most telecine colorists have done a LOT of "bleach bypass" looks!

[Boone Hudgins]

I believe the "blue scenes" in The Matrix were shot with tungsten lights gelled with 1/4 CTB. It was really subtle.