Day For Night shoot

[Yasutake Torii]

Hi!

 

Im going in production for a couple of days in a forest. I plan to shoot day for night as im on a tight budget and dont have manpower nor budget to get ready any lighting equipment except for small handheld LED lights (like YN160).

 

So im seeking advices here to achieve such a shoot of day-for-night.

 

thanks in advance!

[Phil Rhodes]

Avoid showing any sky. Underexpose a lot. Grade or filter toward blue, if you like the "blue = night" aesthetic which is sometimes seen as slightly cliché.

 

Otherwise, it depends what you want it to look like. In reality, in a forest at night, most camera systems would not see anything except things that were being artificially illuminated. This is difficult to simulate without very big lights that can create enough contrast against daylight. In the movies, night is usually much less dark than in reality, and you can see more.

 

It also depends on the weather. If there's strong sunlight, you can underexpose it enough to make it look like moonlight, since moonlight is effectively identical to sunlight, just much dimmer. If there is no sun, it may be more difficult, since an overcast night is often extremely dark and lacks any sort of contrast.

 

Where are you, and what's the weather likely to be?

Phil

[Yasutake Torii]

Hi Phil!

 

Thanks a lot for the tips!

 

I'm in Japan. I dunno about the weather yet. It's 3 weeks or so away. Right now I'm gathering info on how to shoot day for night, so I can prepare by testing beforehand.

 

I'll test out your advice and see how it turns out!

[John David Miller]

If it is a clear day keep an eye on the shadows it's a dead giveaway.

[Leo Anthony Vale]

If it is a clear day keep an eye on the shadows it's a dead giveaway.

 

You could always have cutaways to a full moon.

[John David Miller]

You could always have cutaways to a full moon.

 

Or to a police helicopter with a search light, right?

 

What is some of the best "Day for Night" footage that you have seen? To me, it always stands out or looks off especially when it's inter cut with actual night footage. It always seems to catch my eye, pulls me out of the film, and says "looks like they didn't make their day."

 

I'd like to see a few examples of what some of you feel is good looking footage.

[Nicolas Gomez]

nice hollywood night technique! Hit the blues and underexpose!

 

http://www.elsotano.com.co/videos.php

[George Ebersole]

Hi!

 

Im going in production for a couple of days in a forest. I plan to shoot day for night as im on a tight budget and dont have manpower nor budget to get ready any lighting equipment except for small handheld LED lights (like YN160).

 

So im seeking advices here to achieve such a shoot of day-for-night.

 

thanks in advance!

I hope this doesn't sound too negative, but the advice I always heard is "don't do it", and "just shoot at night", otherwise your footage winds up looking like bad day footage.

 

Having said that, there's some stuff in the latest software that can change sky and background if you have access to those sorts of resources.

 

What exactly are you trying to shoot?

[Nathanael Neveux]

Maybe this is too late but I found the question interesting anyway. Looking at professionally lit night shots they tend to have a much stronger (and bluer) backlight than the typical day shot. To replicate this without having a lot of lights on hand I would use the sun as my backlight source. I'd also use slightly warmer lights for the front lighting (or a very slightly red/orange tinted reflector) - that way when you white balance for the warmer light on the face the sun backlighting will get a bluish cast to replicate the moon better. And avoid the sky.

[Zachary J Esters]

Avoid the sky.

 

 

 

.........just thought I'd be the 15,000th person to say it. And make sure it looks like you want it to look! Trust your eye!

 

 

 

Zachary J. Esters