Michael Boe

You may not have thought you "said much" but you actually answered my question fairly fully. This goes for all aspects of film I think, though cinematography especially -- if you can't envision it, you won't be able to make it. You have to know what you're trying to do and not get wrapped up in the competitive idea of "making pretty pictures" to be able to execute anything. I think in part I was starting to get a little overwhelmed by some of that aspect, and your down-to-earth posts about really understanding a vision and then thinking practically how to apply the look helped a lot. Thinking about color, when it comes to practical application, in terms of efficiency is a great way to go. If a filter and a gel both create an orange look, and you're trying to glaze the entire scene with that look, then it comes down to a number of physical factors, like you mentioned. Thinking of it like that has helped to "free" me a bit, partly because I've been afraid of making a wrong decision and thus I've been a little frozen as far as how to proceed. So your approach has definitely freed me to feel a bit more open to experiment. Thank you!

Hey, That does help, it was a lot of information and I thank you for taking the time to type it all out. I probably should have clarified myself -- I'm not so much struggling with vision -- I know how I want my scenes to look in terms of color and contrast, it's just that I'm struggling with the final step, which is actually bringing my vision to life from an image in my head into a final scene that I can look at as a print. I suppose I get intimidated by adding filters onto the camera, because without experience there's always the risk the footage will come out too red, too blue, too whatever and then you're screwed as far as post-correction goes. I guess what intimidates me the most is that there are so many tools which can do the same job and I just don't know which to use. For example, in that little scene I showed you, you could use an amber filter of sorts on the camera itself, you could use some sort of red gels on the tungsten lights, or you could color tweak it in post to bring out the reds. You're definitely right in saying that color schemes are more than just colored lights -- they have to do with everything, your set, your costumes, your props, etc.. but I guess what I'm more focused on is skin tones, which are by default already their own color, though in that scene for example, they're a much more deep red than you'd normally expect. That's something that doesn't come so much from painting a wall, but rather through some sort of manipulation. So to condense myself, I suppose what I meant to ask was how do I take a vision I have in my head, with regards to color, and best choose what technical tools to use in order to bring it to life? When is the right time to use red gels for a scene like that instead of a filter? When would you do it in post? Etc. Also, as a footnote I guess, I don't really know too much about camera filters, do you have any recommended readings I might be able to look up to learn more about them? Thank you again. Sorry for my long posts! I just have so much I'd like to learn. ;)

Hello everyone, Recently I was watching an old fan-film that was shot on 16mm film called "Grayson." As I was watching, I noticed a few scenes that had an overall color hue to them that raised the question in my mind of color. The film can be viewed on youtube here: The scene that I'd like to bring to your attention in particulair is at approx. 45 seconds into the video. It has a very redish overall hue -- something that in the video world is often considered ugly, but here works to the aesthetic advantage of the scene. How would one go about lighting a scene in order to achieve this effect? It doesn't look like gels were used. My guess is that either the scene was shot using lights with a cooler color temp. than the probably 32k balanced tungsten stock, or that the lighting in the films processing was "corrected" by a colorist to obtain the "red" look of the scene. Though I've raised the issue for the film Grayson specifically in this thread, I'm more curious in the answer in hopes that I can learn how to manipulate color in a general sense. I understand the basics of lighting, but when it comes to color I'm absolutely dumbstruck. How does one go about creating "looks" as far as color goes, as per in this scene with Grayson? I feel as if once the question can be answered in some general form for this scene, I'll understand at least what tools are available and the "proper" way to do so for any look I might have in mind. Additionally, is it best to always try and bake these types of color schemes into your footage, or is it better to light for 'neutral' color and tweak in post? Thank you in advance for any insight anyone might have to this question. Color is something I've been struggling with as a learning cinematographer and I'd love to be able to begin to understand it better.

Hi, I'm currently studying cinematography at film school, and for a short horror film I'm working on I'd like a more contrasty stock. Am I correct in thinking that slower speed stocks are generally more contrasty than higher speed stocks? I know that higher speed stocks are more grainy. Thanks in advance.