HD In Black and White

David Desio · March 30, 2009

Hey all,

I am planning a 20 min. short in HD using the HVX200 and finishing in Black and white. My question is, has anyone else done an entire film in Faux black and white? How did you monitor for it? How did you keep the contrast believable in the finished image. Any luck selling it as BW or will it just look like a BW video filter?

Thanks,

Dave

John Sprung · March 30, 2009

Shoot in color, and make your B&W in post. It gives you all the control you'd have with colored filters on B&W film, and more.

-- J.S.

David Desio · March 30, 2009

Shoot in color, and make your B&W in post. It gives you all the control you'd have with colored filters on B&W film, and more.

-- J.S.

Should I monitor the shoot in BW?

Adrian Sierkowski · March 30, 2009

I would perhaps have a monitor on set with chroma set to 0 reading off of the camera just for safety. It's what I did when I shot for B/w off of the DVX (later the color was left in, though). I'd leave the camera on color, though; with maybe the Viewfinder set to B/w and the LCD for color to approximate, of course. In post you'll have control over the image to a high degree.

Chad Stockfleth · March 30, 2009

I would monitor in b&w too. I find that I light different, usually for more contrast, and being able to see it helps.

David Desio · March 30, 2009

I would monitor in b&w too. I find that I light different, usually for more contrast, and being able to see it helps.

Thanks for the advice guys. The HVX200 does not have a BW shooting mode as far as I know. I will monitor in BW because I am going for a noirish look. I hope to be able to achieve this with video, at least somewhat anyway.

Dave

Bruce Greene · March 30, 2009

Thanks for the advice guys. The HVX200 does not have a BW shooting mode as far as I know. I will monitor in BW because I am going for a noirish look. I hope to be able to achieve this with video, at least somewhat anyway.

Dave

Hi Dave,

I don't think you have anything to worry about, though I prefer to call it digital capture, rather than "video":)

I have a clip on my website that was originally shot in color, and the director liked it in B&W better. You can see it here

It was shot on the Varicam, which can have a similar look to the HVX...

Best wishes for a great movie!

Andrew Koch · March 30, 2009

If you shoot in color and remove it in post, I would recommend to NOT just simply turn the saturation down to zero. Play around with the different color channels. Increasing and decreasing their individual levels will give you greater control over your contrast. In after effects, this would be the channel mixer tool. I believe Avid and Final Cut Pro have similar black and white controls.

Satsuki Murashige · March 31, 2009

How did you keep the contrast believable in the finished image. Any luck selling it as BW or will it just look like a BW video filter?

It's all about the lighting. Think about creating separation and contrast by modulating the brightness of foreground, midground, background elements, use backlights and edgelights, don't be afraid to let large portions of the frame go black. Use a light diffusion filter like black promists so bright highlights will halate. Do all that and it will sell, even if all you do is desaturate in post. If you're trying to specifically emulate b&w film stocks, then you need to think about adding some kind of faux film grain in post and tweaking gamma and channels to get that "silvery" look.