Filming at Night

[Pj]

Hi

I need some advice on how to film night scenes on Super 8 vision 200T. When filming in the night what lights should I use and how should I light trhe scene? Is it possible to film in daylight and use a filter to make the scene look like dusk or night?

I also want to film two people in a moving car. I keep getting a reflection of sky and trees in the windscreen. Has anyone experienced this reflection on the windscreen? How can I avoid this and get a clear image of the people in the car?

Thanks

P

[Ghost Don't Walk]

polarized lens? even just roll the windows down?

It is possible to film in day and make it look like night, though I don't ever think its done well, just because the moon never puts off reflections like the sun. I would just use actual lighting sources for my inspiration. Streetlights, stoplights, headlights etc. Accentuate them with lighting. If yr shooting on the street, get a worklight, and shoot it in roughly the same angle/direction, etc.

Hope that helps.

[manofthehill]

Hi. Just like with a house at night, an interior light can overpower night reflections. I've heard that in movies they tend to 'fake' the normal interior glow of the dashboard by placing quite intense ambient lighting onto the acotr's faces from below.

Or...

Sometimes they'll put the car in a dark room and phony up cars in the distance with flashlights. An old fashioned technique that, when done well is REALLY convincing (see 'Frailty' with B. Paxton--they did it well there). That way you can control the lighting as in the above scenerio, but also by shining 'passing car' lights onto the actors.

If you're IN the car with the actors, I think your best shot is to phony-up some lighting that roughly resembles where tiny lights would be in the car: a little source on the door handles, bright glow from under the dash (off-screen), etc.

Remember, what the audience doesn't see, they don't even think about!

Good Luck!
-Chris