Sunny Day for Overcast

RyanHMartin · May 4, 2004

Hello all,

I have a shoot coming up beginning in the first week of June. The director would like the entire EXTERIOR scene to look like it takes place under overcast skies. However, knowing the weather around here, we will probably be shooting in the woods during bright, sunny conditions. I'm in the middle of research to pull this off, but I'm welcoming any suggestions.

I intend to shoot some tests. Right now I'm leaning towards creating a canopy of Visqueen or silks for close ups, but the wide shots are a bit more problematic. Here's some info about what we'll be using, again suggestions regarding making the woods appear to be under overcast skies during sunny weather are welcome:

Super 16mm Black and White film (KODAK Negative 7231)

CP-S16 Camera

No lighting instruments, enhancing available light with reflectors, nets, silks, flags, etc.

Scenes contain mixture of close and wide shots, mostly capturing action sequences.

Thanks guys,

Ryan H. Martin

bouncybabybucket · May 4, 2004

There's a good talk about this on the Miller's Crossing DVD. Though I think if I remember correctly they wanted overcast skies so bad they did indeed wait for them.

Luke Prendergast · May 4, 2004

Black and white will certainly help your cause. Use a red filter to pull in the blue sky. Won't look so good if there are fair weather cirrus or cottonballs in the sky, but the exposure is really what will sell the effect.

RyanHMartin · May 5, 2004

The woods are pretty dense with the exception of the one sequence taking place in a large clearing--so I don't think seeing the sky will be an issue. A red filter is one of the things I will be testing, but I'm curious as to how that will effect subject and background separation.

Thanks for the tip though, please keep them coming.

Ryan H. Martin

Phil Rhodes · May 5, 2004

Hi,

I think if you're in the woods you may have a problem. The trees will cast sharp shadows which will wreck the effect - unless you can put up some truly gigantic silks to soften the light over your entire scene, you may be out of luck. Depends how large an area you want to show.

Why do you want overcast? Come to the UK, we've plenty.

Phil

Michael Nash · May 5, 2004

It's also going to be really difficult to put up any large overheads or frames between trees. It's not like you're going to fly a huge silk over the TOPS of the trees, so anything you put up has to fit conveniently between trunks and branches, yet still manage to cover your action and keep the stands hidden. Or, you could try to tie off the silks to the trees with ladders. Sounds like slow going to me.

You might be better off shooting your wide- and medium-shots around sunset when you have even, diffused skylight; then you can pick up closeups during the day with smaller overhead silks for the actors and flags for the background. Or, try to pick a location that's in the shadow of a hill or very dense trees so that you have shady light for a longer portion of the day.

A really dense fog from an outdoor fogger can give you more continuous light, if you have access to such a machine and fog suits your story. Look at the DVD extras on "Insomnia" for this.