underexposing

[jamessilverman@hotmail.com]

Aside from the basic principles of under exposing negative film....

 

 

How far can you under-expose, for night scenes without getting a thin negative?

what is the best approach for shooting "generally dark scenes" ---- higher contrast ratios?

would it be a better idea to expose normally (denser negative for cc via telacine)?

 

can one expose the negative normally, and have high blue printer light levels and less red..?

Do printer lights really matter at all if the project is CC'ed in DI or telecine?

 

I know these are broad and somehwhat awkward questions that require experience and testing, but any enlightening knowledge and examples would be appreciated. (or sources of info on the internet)

 

 

thanks

james

[David Mullen ASC]

Any underexposing means a thinner negative, but a thinner negative is not ALWAYS a bad thing IF you leave the image dark overall. For example, if you have a really dim room that's like three stops underexposed overall, the image on the negative will be very thin. But if you leave it that dark, that means you're still printing at normal printer lights. So in a sense, it's supposed to be thin. Your blacks, your grain, etc. are more based on how much you lighten the image in post, whether through printing or in a telecine transfer. If you leave a dark image dark, you're fine, but if you find that it has to be lightened, THEN you see the effects of having a thin negative.

 

But most dark scenes are not overall darker. Small areas will usually be at normal exposure or even brighter -- but the frame overall is largely made up of dark areas.

 

You can print a scene bluer with printer light changes or color-correct it to look bluer in a telecine transfer.

 

Printer lights are only relevant in a telecine transfer in the sense that they are an indicator of how dense your negative is. Basically you don't want to have to lighten an image in post; it's easier to darken it in post (don't go nuts though.) However, some of the ill effects of printing a thin negative brighter can be mitigated in a telecine transfer instead, where you can crush the blacks, for example, to fix them or use noise reduction to compensate for graininess. But it's all a compromise compared to exposing the scene correctly to begin with -- and by correctly I don't mean at full exposure but at the exposure you want to give it so that it looks correct to your eye without having to brighten it in post.

 

In general, you lose details in shadows ON THE PRINT when they are three stops below the key on the negative, assuming you print for the key light. However, there is still more information on the negative - it's just being buried by the contrast of the print. So in a telecine transfer off of the negative, you have another stop of detail in the shadows to play with.