Shooting in low light conditions with K40

[mwkurt]

Just a suggestion. Maybe too hard to try. Why don't you shoot in regular daytime lighting, then correct for dusk or nightime in post? I am sure there are filters available for such work for different NLE's. There is a scene in "The Notebook", where and actress is looking out over the water in the night. The night effect as well as the moon was all done in post.
Mark

[Balint]

"flashlight" is American English for a torch.

Ahhhh!

The americans always thinks different!

:lol: :lol: :lol:


Balint

[studiocarter]

When was the last time you lit up an oil soaked rag on a stick?

[T-Scan]

Here's a look at some K-40 at night 8)



The still is a little pixleated, but it really looks amazing on the transfer and especially projected.

[mattias]

Here's a look at some K-40 at night 8)

ha, i'm pretty sure i have the exact same frame sowhere. not on video though. all my friends are meeting up in vegas this weekend and i can't afford to go. damn.

/matt

[matt5791]

Just a suggestion. Maybe too hard to try. Why don't you shoot in regular daytime lighting, then correct for dusk or nightime in post? I am sure there are filters available for such work for different NLE's. There is a scene in "The Notebook", where and actress is looking out over the water in the night. The night effect as well as the moon was all done in post.
Mark

I think your best bet would be to shoot in the day for night. This is going to be a whole lot easier, but perform the manipulation in the camera. Have a read of "Cinematography" by Kris Malkewicz (spelling?) there is a useful passage in there about this. Also see his book "Film Lighting"

Matt

[sonickel]

Ah. Now I have a question about day for night shooting.

I've heard it said that you should "stop down" 2 stops, to get the dark effect, during the day. Eg is this going from f5 to f11? or f6 to f16? Should this be done on a sunny or overcast day?

Also I've seen these filters on Ebay, "moonfilters", they are dark blue and filter out 90% of the light. Do they give a fake or naturalistic look?

Thanks, and here's hoping it helps the original poster too.

[mattias]

Also I've seen these filters on Ebay, "moonfilters", they are dark blue and filter out 90% of the light. Do they give a fake or naturalistic look?

it's not the filter, it's your shooting technique. those filters do change the color so that it looks a lot like night, but they don't help if the quality of the light isn't right. just removing the daylight filter will work just as well though, and leave you with some asa to work with. the best conditions in my opinion are semi overcast or hazy (overcast doesn't work though, a clear sky is better), with the sun behind the subjects and a little to the side. make sure there's no sky in the picture and that any practicals are turned on (extremely important), preferably replaced with higher wattage bulbs (high beam on cars). you *really* have to shoot some tests before you try dfn though. good luck.

/matt

[mattias]

btw 90% is 3 stops. sounds like too much, especially with k40.

/matt

[christoph]

make sure there's no sky in the picture and that any practicals are turned on (extremely important), preferably replaced with higher wattage bulbs (high beam on cars).

unfortunately those practicals wont look very convincing since they do not illuminate the area around it, as the would if you shoot at nights... makes day for night in urban areas pretty much impossible :(

one solution is to shoot during the blue hour, but your time is reaaally tight then. another would be to choose a higher asa stock and a ultra low light camera such as the canon 310xl.

just some ideas
++ christoph ++

[mattias]

unfortunately those practicals wont look very convincing since they do not illuminate the area around it, as the would if you shoot at nights... makes day for night in urban areas pretty much impossible

i wouldn't call it impossible, but it sure is hard. the trick is to keep the areas that should be lit by the practicals out of the frame. if you have street lights for example, don't show the street, and don't have your actors walk close to them. if you just have the light source itself in frame, especially if it's brightened up a bit, it can look rather convincing. and car headlights on high beam will look pretty convincing too. i've done it myself.

(a very urban setting will be even harder, and the more lights, the more surfaces and the more subjects, the closer you get to impossible)

/matt

[Santo]

I've got an observation/question on this. I shot a cart of k40 recently, most of it outdoors in urban lanscapes in daylight without a filter and, provided I didn't have the sky in any shots, it gave pretty great results with a really nice ultramarine blue cast to the images. At least I really liked it -- almost a surreal day for night effect. Now I'm considering adding a polarizer to darken the sky to sort of complete the effect. Has anybody done this with K40? What type of polarizer would be best to pick up for this purpose? Circular or linear?

[christoph]

the trick is to keep the areas that should be lit by the practicals out of the frame. if you have street lights for example, don't show the street, and don't have your actors walk close to them. if you just have the light source itself in frame, especially if it's brightened up a bit, it can look rather convincing.

so you are saying that all i have to do is to switch the bulbs in all streetlights, convince the city department to switch them on at daytime and then do some weird framing and the shot might look medicore instead of completely suck? ;)

now where was that 500T and my canon 310xl?
++ christoph ++

[christoph]

Now I'm considering adding a polarizer to darken the sky to sort of complete the effect. Has anybody done this with K40? What type of polarizer would be best to pick up for this purpose? Circular or linear?

a polarizer alone wont really help that much unless you have a really blue sky and shoot at 90 degree to the sun... even then you'd probably be better off with a ND grad (if you dont shoot handheld that is).

linear or circular will look pretty much the same, the difference is that the light meter will work more reliable with a circular pol.

++ chirstoph ++

[mattias]

so you are saying that all i have to do is to switch the bulbs in all streetlights, convince the city department to switch them on at daytime

not a problem at all in a small town. one phone call, often it doesn't even have to be ahead. like i said i've done it. and on a zero budget too. to be fair that was for a dusk/late afternoon for nigh shot, which is easier. it's hard to get good levels on practicals to compete with direct sunlight i guess.

and then do some weird framing and the shot might look medicore instead of completely suck? ;)

?!? why would it have to be weird? in how many shots except for really wide shots do you normally see the ground? if it shows in the far background i wouldn't say it matters much.

/matt