Olivier Metzler

Hello everyone! What's your best advice/approaches for when you're doing daytime exteriors – also particularly sunset/blue hour? I'm shooting a narrative short in Puerto Rico in April with a 2&2 G&E team and have 6 scenes at the beach (about 3 & 2/8 pages) of which 6/8 are supposed to be at sunset, though half that could be done at blue hour. We'll only be there for 1 day. 2 characters mostly. It's a North-facing beach. I'm planning on doing my wides at the optimal time of day, and diffuse my closer coverage under a large silk or similar. There is one scene in particular of the 2 main characters looking at the sunset and taking photos of each other, and another where one character is looking at the other walking ahead of them towards the sunset. Thanks!

Hey everyone, What are your preferred ways of augmenting in-shot practicals? Particularly a practical with a lamp shade on a side table that plays as the apparent lighting source for a talent close by. I’m mostly wanting to try out new/different methods than what I’m used to. Thanks!

Hey Ruth, I would potentially consider an M90 for your ultrabounce so you have a greater exposure range for your fill light.

I would always say better to have some extra lights that you can turn off if it’s too much than having to add them. You can of course get into the minutiae by determining the light level you need for the T stop you want to shoot at, the area you want to cover in light, and how much overexposure you want to have for your background. Answering all those questions will guide you to what units to use - if you have the option to build out a lighting package of course.

Hey Enoch, Depending on the rigging capabilities of the space, an overhead softbox would be a good first place to start as it will flood the space with light and the walls will further bounce the light around the room. Having separate soft lights aimed directly at the walls of the space will further give you control over the exposure on the walls. In addition you can have a soft source for your talent if you want it to fill in. I think the THX reference only uses an overhead soft source.

Hello, I’m going to Oman for a doc shoot in the Fall and was wondering what your recommendations are for clothing in that climate and environment? Most filming will take place in the mountains and desert. Thanks!

Doesn’t the notion of “lighter grey shadows” inherently mean that there is more information though? Or is it an apparent increase in detail (even if there isn’t any from a technical standpoint)?

I see. Now, would you say that shooting with uncoated lenses gives you more control over your shadows though? Considering that instead of having to build a big soft source to lift your shadows, with uncoated lenses you might “only” have to add negative fill to get them darker? Controlling the toe of the exposure can be quite tricky - at least from some shoots I have participated in - and I feel like uncoated lenses could offer a solution to that? Though as you said, it doesn’t only affect just the shadows but the entire exposure.

David, I’m assuming going into a shoot knowing this, you can increase your light levels to compensate for the loss in exposure and still get away with not needing/wanting to fill in the shadows as much? It also reminds me of a photo of your dog you posted on your instagram quite a long time ago where you compared two different lenses and their rendition of saturation and contrast - I remember being so suprised by the difference in look.

Hello everyone, I recently listened to Suzie Lavelle’s interview regarding her work on “Normal People” and at one point she mentioned that she often relied on lens aberrations of Canon K35s lenses to give her the fill she needed. I was wondering if someone would elaborate on this practice a bit more and clearify what she meant by that? I’m assuming the K35s either increase or reduce image contrast overall and one could use that inherent quality to get higher or lower fill levels right out of the gate? Thank you!

Hello everyone, I find myself a bit in the weeds of things and I would greatly appreciate it if someone would help me find my way again. I recently listened to the Team Deakins podcast with Matthew Libatique, and at one point, he said that there is no relationship anymore between his meter and the camera's exposure setting, unless you use a LUT. Now, I am a cinematography student and my program unfortunately does not spend a lot of time on LUT workflows - we shoot on RED Epic Ws with a Helium sensor and use one of RED's LOG-to-Rec709 LUTs. I almost entirely rely on my light meter to evaluate exposure because I know the LUT we use tends to crush my blacks and clip my whites before they actually are - the saturation is also a little excessive to my taste. And since I am still wrapping my head around how to build an effective LUT and how to apply it on set, I trust my meter more. However, when I hear someone like Matthew Libatique talk about the disassociation between light meter readings and camera, I find myself questioning my exposure method, and I feel like I need to start from scratch when it comes to understanding exposure. And so, I am wondering if I need to change my approach, or if I can stick with it while considering additional exposure-reading tools, or if my meter is indeed outdated and "all" I need to do is build my own LUT to use in camera to determine my exposure on set. There is so much contradicting information online and even in cinematography books about this topic, and I was hoping that this forum would be able to help me see the light. Thank you!

I wish I could upload this picture, because I literally did the same thing with a 2k Blonde during a night shoot a few days ago haha

Thank you for sharing your insight on all this! And I'm sure it's been done before for those same reasons, but that last one made me laugh!

I hadn’t even thought of that, but that makes a lot of sense! Thank you! Would you foresee any other reasons why a DP would overlight then use ND to lower open up again, other than planning to shoot high-speed overcranked shots?

Hello everyone, I have a question about a BTS shot that I saw for a music video (here's the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlBKCwydtPY) The cinematographer was shooting at: 23.976 fps 180 shutter T/2.0 EI 800 ND 1.2 Now, my question is regarding the use of the ND 1.2. I understand the use of NDs in exterior locations or when trying to balance an interior with an overexposed exterior, but in this case, the music video was shot on a stage. And so I'm wondering why the cinematographer decided to use an ND 1.2 and shoot at T/2.0, instead of say, have the lighting set for a T/2.0 exposure without the need to use the ND 1.2. Thanks!