Shooting through a car window (backseat) - from outside to inside

[gregory weisert]

Hey guys,

 

mid next week I'll have a three day shoot. On one day we will/want to shoot a guy how is sitting in the back and watching the environment he passes, while the car is driving.

we will shoot it with the Blackmagic pocket camera, because it is easy to rig on the outside of the car. I did that some years ago, and it worked fine. However this was a night shot, now we will shoot in daytime so i'm aware of possible reflections (and for sure there will be some). So for me it is not so important to cut all the reflections out, but it is very important to see the guy who is sitting inside and how is view wanders around.

here is an example spot (look for the scenes with the little girl inside the car) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqlaV1SAqGE

 

Could a Polarizer filter help? And what about putting a black flag on the car window, that reaches over the camera?

 

best

 

gregory

 

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Yes a pola can help reduce the strength of the reflections if the camera is at a raking angle to the glass (which it usually is to not see itself in the glass). A black flag would kill it completely though Tony Scott used to do this trick in a lot of his movies with a black flag covering the top half of the glass. Sort of unrealistic if you think about it too long but it works. Would have to be a very rigid black solid though that wouldn't budge in the wind.

[gregory weisert]

thanks David for your answer! anything else I should take into consideration? can it help to shoot it at a certain time because of the position of the sun? i think we won't have the opportunity to add light inside of the car

 

best

gregory

Edited April 23, 2017 by gregory weisert

[David Mullen ASC]

Driving in backlight to the camera avoids having the camera throw a shadow into the shot, and also minimizes the brightness difference from outside the car to the interior but you may have some issues to deal with from the sun kicking off the roof of the car into the lens. When that kick is off-camera, you can put some black tape or piece of black cloth over that spot reflecting the sun.

 

One issue with driving in backlight is that the reflections are brighter because the area in reflection is facing the sun.

[gregory weisert]

thanks again David! one more from my side :) does it help to have the camera/lens as close as possible to the glass and shoot as wide open as possible?

 

best

gregory

[David Mullen ASC]

Get too close to the window and it's hard to not be reflected even at an angle to the glass, plus you don't want your lens banging into the window every time the car hits a pothole. But go too far back on a longer lens and car bounce and shake becomes more pronounced.

 

Shallow depth of field helps pull the subject out better from the reflection layer.

[Mathew Collins]

Yes a pola can help reduce the strength of the reflections if the camera is at a raking angle to the glass (which it usually is to not see itself in the glass). A black flag would kill it completely though Tony Scott used to do this trick in a lot of his movies with a black flag covering the top half of the glass. Sort of unrealistic if you think about it too long but it works. Would have to be a very rigid black solid though that wouldn't budge in the wind.

 

Where would be the position of black flag?

[Mathew Collins]

Driving in backlight to the camera avoids having the camera throw a shadow into the shot, and also minimizes the brightness difference from outside the car to the interior but you may have some issues to deal with from the sun kicking off the roof of the car into the lens. When that kick is off-camera, you can put some black tape or piece of black cloth over that spot reflecting the sun.

 

One issue with driving in backlight is that the reflections are brighter because the area in reflection is facing the sun.

 

>One issue with driving in backlight is that the reflections are brighter because the area in reflection is facing the sun.

 

Is the sun behind or infront of camera now?

[David Mullen ASC]

I'm talking about the reflections over the glass which are of things behind the camera which are therefore front lit when the camera is shooting a backlit car.

[Mathew Collins]

Thank you David.