Correcting for Daylight w/Tungsten Balanced Film

[Driver]

I know some DP's don't bother to correct tungsten balanced film with 85 filtration but rather, they just let a colorist correct out the blue in telecine.

 

Has anyone ever noticed any color crossover when not correcting with 85 filtration and allowing the correction to take place in telecine?

[Dominic Case]

It depends a lot on the brightness range of the scenes you are shooting.

 

If you don't use an 85 filter, you are automatically building in an exposure error. Typically, the 85 cuts the blue light by 2 to 3 stops, and the green by between 1 and 2. So, assuming you have read your exposure meter correctly, you will have exposed the blue layer of the film emulsion by up to 3 stops more than the red layer.

 

With a low brightness range scene, you'll get away with that: with a higher brightness range, you will, by definition, either have overexposed blue highlights (which will look a bit yellowish on transfer) or you will have underexposed red shadows, (which will pick up a warmish colour).

[John Pytlak RIP]

I know some DP's don't bother to correct tungsten balanced film with 85 filtration but rather, they just let a colorist correct out the blue in telecine.

 

Has anyone ever noticed any color crossover when not correcting with 85 filtration and allowing the correction to take place in telecine?

 

Usually best to use the correction filter, especially if you are off in overall exposure, which could produce a contrast mismatch.

[Driver]

With a low brightness range scene, you'll get away with that: with a higher brightness range, you will, by definition, either have overexposed blue highlights (which will look a bit yellowish on transfer) or you will have underexposed red shadows, (which will pick up a warmish colour).

 

 

Yeah that makes sense. I spent some time making internegatives from transparencies and know from that experience that unless you know what you're doing, you'll have colors crossing that you can never correct out because of the lack of balance in exposure across all layers.

[David Mullen ASC]

"Driver", time to go to My Controls and edit your Display Name to a real first and last name, as per the forum rules. Thanks.