Making daylight shots better

[Dan Stroie]

Hello everyone!

I am currently in the last year at the film school here in Romania and I have to shoot a short movie on black and white film stock with an Arricam LT and Cooke S2 lenses. The story is set during World War Two, showing two Romanian soldiers and their encounter with two German soldiers.

As of lighting, we only have bounce boards, floppies, diffusion frames and a 4m x 4m butterfly with ultra-bounce on a side and black on the other. Besides this, as artificial lighting for fill, I will have an Aputure 300D MkII and a KinoFlo.

The thing is I can't really know how the weather will be that day. What I know is that for the wide shots I can't control the light at all, but for tighter ones, I want to have the contrast ratios on the people's faces at around 1:4. Is this a good approach for both sunny and cloudy weather?  So I have to think about two different scenarios:

1. Overcast day. For wide shots, I think I'll have only the natural light, but I am curious if the big 4x4 neg put next to the characters, out of the frame, will help to add depth or not? For closer shots, I would add negative fill on one side of the character and maybe add some artificial light source from the other side (to make the key level higher). Is this a solution or should I think of something else?
2. Sunny day. It is good that being December, in Eastern Europe here the sun won't act ever as a top light. I planned the shots to have the sun either on the side or on the back of the characters. But still, considering this, how could I direct this sunlight to have the 1:4 (maybe 1:8) contrast ratio on actor's face? For wide shots, I can't do anything. But I'm afraid that if I try to diffuse the light for the close-ups, the difference will be too noticeable. What would be your advice on this situation?

Thank you a lot. I am a bit afraid because working with daylight seems very tricky for me.

[David Mullen ASC]

It's one of the hardest things that any cinematographer deals with.

A 4x4 is not considered big, especially not for negative fill in a wide shot, even in a close-up it wouldn't do a lot but if the actor is walking, it might be the largest thing a single person can walk alongside the actor. Otherwise you have to think a lot bigger.  But once you set up a 12x12 or 20x20 negative fill to one side, you could use the 4x4 overhead to take some top light down too.

How much you change the light from the wide shot in natural light to a close-up is a matter of taste and necessity.  If you have to make a leading actor look good in a close-up, then you might have to forget worrying about the match to the wide shot in harsh overhead light...

Otherwise, what I tend to do is use the lightest overhead diffusion possible, like Half Soft Frost or Quarter Grid, etc. so that there isn't a jarring difference in brightness compared to the background.

[Satsuki Murashige]

They have a 4m x 4m frame, so a bit larger than a 12x12 frame for us Yanks... It sounds like a good approach to me.

I’d only add, try to schedule your wide shots for when the sun is where you want it and you can fake the tighter shots. 

Since you’re shooting B&W film stock, don’t forget that you can use contrast filters outside. I would also consider using ND grad filters if you get totally overcast and can’t darken the skies with Red or Orange filters.

[M Joel W]

I'm out of my depth here, but I have found that on an overcast day bead board and silver reflectors throw enough light for a decent offside key for CUs and then you can set up a solid on the other side and as close to the talent as will still be out of frame for close ups to give a bit of shape to the light. Even a 4x4 floppy will probably get the job done I think and be fast to move? Bring it right to the edge of frame and it should do quite a bit.

Of course contrast filters will also be an interesting option for black and white. I think Schindler's List and the Lighthouse used quite different, possibly opposite, colors for a romantic vs more masculine and dreary effect. Nicely shot movies lol.

I have been working a bit with Schneider Cine-Xenons (the poor man's Cooke S2) and their rendering is dull on overcast days. So you might want to use a matte box and mattes as they're intended to be used to bring back some contrast as those old coatings that look so nice in high contrast scenes will wash out in the day. In my world this means gaff tape around the lens lol, but a matte box and mattes would be good, too. 

Again, out of my depth and coming from a guerrilla background, but it might be impossible to achieve a 4:1 contrast ratio on an overcast day. And even if you can only do this in close ups, it will not match the wider coverage. So I would just do what you can.

Lastly, composition is more important than lighting in most cases. Of course the two are related but if you can compose the images nicely and control the light relatively well that will probably be fine. 

A hard light like the aputure might prove too sourcey to intercut nicely. Try that really reflective bead board (they sell it here at Home Depot and at grip shops) and the silver side is very punchy. You can bounce into that or try putting it close to the subject and use the sky as bounce. It really works.

For sunny days I put the sun behind the character (or just off to the side to avoid lens flares) and then cheat the characters slightly in close ups to improve the angle of the sun on their face. Again I am from the super guerrilla world but rather than using a frame to diffuse the light I like to bounce it back from the opposite side, and not even entirely as fill so much as slightly opposite the light so it has a 3/4 back light look. You can also put a bedsheet below the actor for his close ups to fill a bit more, too.

Edited November 28, 2020 by M Joel W

[Albion Hockney]

Your plan sounds good. I would agree 4x4ft (1x1meter?) floppy's, one or two, will cover close up and even medium close up shots. so if you don't have any wide coverage of a scene that might be quicker, The bigger frame will do a better job though if you have the crew to move it around and I'd guess it'd cover you about waist up or even a 2 shot. 

For direct sun your plan sounds good. with 35mm stock you could get away without much fill light I think, but if you want some extra light on faces you can bounce the sunlight back from the side. You can even do a big bounce on one side and add negative fill on the opposite side to create contrast on the face, but you might not need all of that, it depends on the look you go for. if the sun is in a good position and the location is good, you could be in great shape. Just keep in mind the sun moves fast, timing is key. When I was starting out I would always have trouble with these scenes because on the day it'd take an hour to get a take with the right performance and we'd be loosing light or it'd be changing. I always ask directors with sun critical shots to try to get rehearsals in and knock it out quick when the light is right. 

Some people might use light diffusion on the sunlight, but I never do that. Roger Deakins is very anti sun diffusion and I always loved his outdoor work so it just depends on the look you want. 

Do as much scouting and planning as you can. If the location is close by I might try to see it on both sunny and cloudy days and shoot reference pictures with a stand in. 

leave the lights at home. Unless you are shooting blur hour or have night scenes. for daytime your better off working with the sun unless you have much bigger lights and the crew to help. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by Albion Hockney