Benjamin Handler Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Hello all, Just finished watching the new Dune film. It's beautifully shot. In particular I enjoyed the night exteriors in the desert. The film has about ~30 minutes of night exteriors that feel like this beautiful, diffuse blue hour, but last for what must've taken days or weeks of actual production time. Any idea how this was done? From my experience shooting blue hour, you don't get much time and it's a race to film before you lose light, and can be tough to match in post with the light constantly changing. That seems prohibitive for a production of this size, though I know Chloe Zhao has done scenes like that (though much more contained scenes) Am I naive, and this is on a stage? Or some sort of elaborate day-for-night? I can't imagine lighting the desert would be possible, as there are many expansive wides. Nor does this feel like a stage. Can't attach screenshots unfortunately but see here on the Dune trailer below, close-up : https://youtu.be/n9xhJrPXop4?t=86 wide : https://youtu.be/n9xhJrPXop4?t=170 Appreciate your all's thoughts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mateusz Czopek Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 On 10/24/2021 at 6:04 PM, Benjamin Handler said: Hello all, Just finished watching the new Dune film. It's beautifully shot. In particular I enjoyed the night exteriors in the desert. The film has about ~30 minutes of night exteriors that feel like this beautiful, diffuse blue hour, but last for what must've taken days or weeks of actual production time. Any idea how this was done? From my experience shooting blue hour, you don't get much time and it's a race to film before you lose light, and can be tough to match in post with the light constantly changing. That seems prohibitive for a production of this size, though I know Chloe Zhao has done scenes like that (though much more contained scenes) Am I naive, and this is on a stage? Or some sort of elaborate day-for-night? I can't imagine lighting the desert would be possible, as there are many expansive wides. Nor does this feel like a stage. Can't attach screenshots unfortunately but see here on the Dune trailer below, close-up : https://youtu.be/n9xhJrPXop4?t=86 wide : https://youtu.be/n9xhJrPXop4?t=170 Appreciate your all's thoughts Not certain because I haven't seen the film or even seen much behind the scenes, but I know Greig Fraiser, the DP, is a big fan of LED Volumes, which can replicate sunset/blue hour for as long as they want and provide realistic backgrounds. Because they're LEDs, they also provide lighting that's accurate to the image being displayed. Again, not sure if that's what they did, but that would be my guess on what you've said and on the DPs preferences. Here's more information about Volumes: https://www.xrstage.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Frerichs Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 The DP Greig Fraser discusses that they did not use volume lighting on Dune, but is considering the possibility of using it for the sequel in this article: https://www.ibc.org/features/dune-behind-the-scenes-with-cinematographer-grieg-fraser/7992.article The article also spells his name wrong throughout... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Whitaker Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 If that's Abu Dhabi in the background, then it was literally 15 people likely in blue hour for the close up. Here is the original plate before they added the sandworm and brought up the levels. I hear they were a mix of big budget and indie style shooting to get the naturalism the director wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Lemmen Posted November 15, 2021 Share Posted November 15, 2021 Fraser discusses this towards the end of this Go Creative Show episode (the entire episode is fantastic). It sounds like they shot most of these night scenes on location in full shadow during late afternoon. The dunes allowed for multiple hours of full shadow conditions in certain areas. The night look was then brought out in the color grade. I was surprised to hear that it was such a relatively simple setup to achieve the look. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicky Shotz Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 Yes! I read that Villeneuves big ask before making DUNE was to be able to shoot on location. So im very sure, this is location work. Seems to be quite classic day for night work so makes sense with the dune shadows. I honestly thought they got a bit too dark for my taste. But its so subtle so it might have been the projection in my cinema. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mateusz Czopek Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 Greig Fraser did a Clubhouse Conversation about Dune and he talks more about how he achieved his night looks. He does say some of it was on stage, with painted backgrounds. Here's a link to it, he begins talking about nighttime shots around 22 minutes in. https://vimeo.com/647609522 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now