Grabs from a recent shoot. Opinions sought...

MattC · March 23, 2005

Ok so some of you saw my lighting test. Well I shot this scene and have been playing with color correction. Obviously I'm going for a (wait for it..... wait for it.......) "film look". Now bear in mind that this scene should be lush looking and have some punch to it (that doesn't mean that I did this well, but if you offer suggestions please do so with that in mind. The earlier part of the short will be shot more drab getting progressively more "beautiful" (think joe versus the volcano)...

Ok have at, what do you think? I'm wondering if the images are too saturated?

Thanks,

Matt

March 23, 2005

Ok so some of you saw my lighting test. Well I shot this scene and have been playing with color correction. Obviously I'm going for a (wait for it..... wait for it.......) "film look". Now bear in mind that this scene should be lush looking and have some punch to it (that doesn't mean that I did this well, but if you offer suggestions please do so with that in mind. The earlier part of the short will be shot more drab getting progressively more "beautiful" (think joe versus the volcano)...

Ok have at, what do you think? I'm wondering if the images are too saturated?

Matt

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What did you do to his face? It's always a bit difficult to say something if you don't know what the piece is about, but even if you wanted to make him look unhealthy... this is wrong.

Looks as if you did something different on the brighter part vs the dark part, but the colors of bright part are totally wrong. The saturation looks "clipped" (thats at least how I tend to call it). Apparently there is not enough color res for this kind of adjustments, or maybe you did it wrong. This becomes very visible at the edges where the transition to dark just cries "color correction" !

Did you do some selective color correction (chosing just one specific color tone)? I assume your footage is just not good enough for nicely seperating the two parts of the face via color. Better do some handwork and draw a soft mask on his face and within that raise the contrast (carefully watching what happens to the saturation), if thats what you wanted.

If you were out for just adjusting the bright part of the face, again better "select" via brightness categories (cause the luma has better res with video footage, than chroma), so again, draw a mask and within that just change the upper mids / highlights.

His face is really what I find the most distracting. Everything else and the film look........what do you mean exactly ("filmlook" can refer to alot of aspects)?

-k

pkbissen · March 23, 2005

i'd drop the blue from the background lighting. i would emphasize the color of the wood and candles and go for something warmer. it depends on the mood you are going for though.

also the light on the actors face feels too hard and pink for simulated candle light. i'd drop the light on his face between 1/2-1 stop, soften it, and color balance to 1/2 CTB or whatever works to warm up the scene.

i do like the background light expect for the blue.

pkbissen · March 23, 2005

also the exposure on his face seems inconsistent between shots. i like to shoot an entire scene at the same f-stop unless i change the lighting for CUs. if i change lighting for the CU, i take careful notes on difference in footcandles and contrast to make sure i choose the appropriate f-stop to match.

MattC · March 23, 2005

Hmmm.... Ok. Well I like the blue, but I'll probably bring it down a bit. I did maintain the same f-stop through out. Here are uncorrected grabs:

Edited March 23, 2005 by MattC

Jonathan Spear · March 23, 2005

Matt,

Very cool. Looks exactly like what you described it like.

The blue in the background is daring. i like it.

Great job.

-JonS

Phil Rhodes · March 24, 2005

Hi,

The face is over-the-top. It looks a little overexposed in camera, but possibly only because he's shining slightly. This is why even men need makeup, even if it's only a powdering-down. In video-for-drama shooting, it is absolutely essential (Yes, I'm making an uncorroborated statement of fact, but I'm really that confident about this!) to keep faces from clipping, even at the expense of some really serious underexposure to then grade up in post.

Phil

Sam Wells · March 24, 2005

OOk have at, what do you think? I'm wondering if the images are too saturated?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes. Brutal honesty time: the first series looks like theater not film. You're overthinking this.

IMO (JUST me speaking) film lighting at it's best should defy easy analysis.

Second group I like better. You did well with the wall. Now treat his face as nicely as the furniture :D

-Sam

Edited March 24, 2005 by SamWells

drew_town · April 1, 2005

I too like the second set better. It looks like a soap opera lighting design which has very distinctive video connotation. I'd cut the saturation quite a bit and maybe even add some overall neutral tones to even it out. I'm curious as to what camera you used. I'll take a complete stab in the dark and say a Sony. Don't take offense but I grabbed one of your stills and ran a two-minute color correction on it. Basic 3-way in FCP. It's an idea of what I'd do. Your footage is not bad at all. Rest assured, I wouldn't take the time to critique something I didn't think had potential. Good luck.