Hello fellow Cinematographers. I can't find a solution to a problem related to a shoot I'll DP next week.
I'll have to shoot a scene in the woods that in the story is supposed to be at night/dusk but I'll have no chance to shoot it during the actual night. I went to the location for a scout and tried to do some tests with an 80A filter (I know is not the right filter to use but it was the only option I had during the scout) to see if shooting at a certain time of the day avoiding direct sunlight would have got close to what I'm looking for. I've combined the 80A with a ultracon and the effect is not that bad, the only problem is that the green of the woods comes back a lot in certain portions of the frame and I don't want the frame to be completely washed in blue, making the actors's faces look unnatural.
I've made some research and I saw that Tiffen has a cool day for nightfilter. Any experience with that? do you have any rough idea of how many stops is gonna cut (I know I have to underexpose for the day for night and I don't wanna end up loosing too many details and increase the noise ) ? and do you think is gonna wash everything too much in blue? Does using some kinos or other units help me bring back some color on the skintones? I was also thinking of using some ND grad and a hazer combined with the filter, but this is my first time shooting day for night and I'm really confused. I really wanna avoid a the cheap day for night look.
Thank you so much!