hi, im planning to shoot a crime-drama short, and would like to achieve (or approximate) the look in se7en by david fincher. of course, i wont achieve exactly what darius khondji lensed for the venerable director, since all i'll be using is a mini-dv format, and until the funding comes along, film finish is not in the picture yet. i've also seen 28 days later and find its treatment perfect for me, and am ecstatic to find they used Canon XL-1s throughout.
In other words, how does one approximate the classic noir-treatment or gritty looking film on mini-dv? im going to use a canon xl2, and have tinkered with the pedestal and knee settings of the cam, and still don't get the effect i'm shooting for (the shadows are quite grainy, and details like eye-shine, hair, specular highlights etc, are lost...)
and this might sound like a broken record, but i've really no budget for renting tungsten or daylight balanced lights so i'm going with industrial lights-- halogen worklights for the most part. i'll be using some 300 and 150 watt combos with a little diffusion using parchment paper (the kind used in diplomas) to light my sets, since the story is takes place mostly at night, in small rooms.
any help will be greatly appreciated
thanks
