Crushed Blacks: In Camera or In Post?

Brandon Rice

Brandon Rice

Distributed Producer
Hey all. I had a question. Do you shoot your footage so the blacks are already crushed, or do you shoot a flatter image in production, then add contrast/crush the blacks in post? I do the latter, and have liked the option of changing the look in post. What do you think?
 
I usually just shoot pretty flat really, but then I haven't done much shooting where I would require a specialised filtering (Starlight etc, where I might use a filter on cam). I then colour correct later.

If I was shooting a 48hour film project I might just use a setup in cam and do it that way to get a decent look as there won't be time for CC ;)
 
I shot my last music vid pretty flat, but I did crush the blacks a little in camera. In the future, I want to try to get my image more in camera through the use of settings and filters.
 
I'm more and more shooting flat and messing my shot in post. I don't know why, but I am. Even when I have a very specific idea of what I want. Crazy, huh?
 
Same here... its just much simpler for me to "work the magic" in post. I cannot always do that... but I do as often as I can.
 
but technically speaking, you should have more control of the image if you shoot flatter, keep more details in the darks and lights, and then in post crush the blacks, preserving that detail, just darkening it up. if you crush the blacks in camera, then the footage your getting will not have as much detail in those areas. so less control. me thinks.
 
Personally I like to keep options open so that you have the option to recycle footage later. Shoot flat and then pull it any direction in post; crush the blacks blow out the whites, beach bypass, sepia. A flat image with good exposure, ussually 1/3-1 stop over exposed is best for post.
 
Murdoc why would you want to over expose? i can understand maybe run and gun and you have to blow out some windows or something.
 
matt s. said:
Murdoc why would you want to over expose? i can understand maybe run and gun and you have to blow out some windows or something.
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I was wondering the same thing... if you can help it, don't blow anything out.
 
I would say, don't over expose or under expose, get the exposure correct, but get it correct for the right things. When shooting people, always expose for the skin tones, unless you are going for a specific look. Light, or bounce light on the actors to get them exposed correctly and to compensate for other things filling the frame. Personally I would prefere to see a blown out background then a poorly exposed actor, it screems low budget indie film right away. But back to the question at hand. When i do my own editing, I usually get the look close to how I want it to be in the final, but leave room open for adjustments, so a little bit flat. However, if I am not doing the editing, I always make sure that I get the exact look I want in camera. It takes more preparation, but makes sure that you have control over the final look, rather than some editor. So it all depends on how you shoot, who is editing, and what you want the final look to be.
 
True... true, about who's editing it... Most things I shoot, I edit also... so I have post in mind... and yeah, always expose for the actor... if you cannot get both the actor and background exposed correctly.
 
i Shoot flat. Very flat actually. MP +3 CinegammaD

im a Dynamic range freak. I HATE blowouts..... i want ANDROMEDA' s 9+ stops of dynamic range so bad i can taste it.
 
Remember too that you might want to underexpose cause you don't want to lose highlight detail. Then of course your blacks will be crushed.

Also, I tend to expose for the highlights. Why, because if I understand it correctly, you want to use the most dynamic range as possible and use the most # of bits for the most detail. If say your brightest spot is 1 stop below what it could be (And maintain detail) then you've lost half the resolution in bits for the image. 1 stop is 1/2 the light is one bit, which in an 8 bit system is 128 of the possible values. Not good.
 
Murdoc why would you want to over expose? i can understand maybe run and gun and you have to blow out some windows or something.
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Well If you open the iris about one stop brighter than the image you want it helps the camera store more color information. Allowing you to close down in post and keep detail. I first heard of this Idea through all of the behind the scenes on KING KONG when it was the short about color correction, and then again in DV Magazines article about breaking bonaduce, (cant spell his name sorry) Which they shoot on 100a's and they do a similar thing. I have been doing it myself and I would say it helps myself in post.

Im not saying blow out the image through overexposing Im saying slightly brighter than usual. If you go too bright it will ruin the image. Sorry if i wasn't clear above.

Im also not saying this is law its just something I've heard and it works good for me. So try it out do some tests, and see if you like it or not.
 
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no no you should just properly light and expose your shot and relaly leave the rest to post, the benefit of having in camea setup is not having a ny rendering time, but for maximum control, yes, its in post. i shoot very flatt

all my settings are on 0, sometimes i shoot with my ped at +2, Cinelike D. the flattest picture going in, but the sexiest coming out.
 
Yup, shoot for the most pixel information as much as possible if you plan to do any sort of post CC or FX. You crush the blacks, you lose all that information. Sure it looks good, but if you find its too dark you can't get that info back. Shoot for proper exposure of lights and darks - then make what ever adjustments you want using curves or levels.
 
Can someone post a screen grab of the flat footage from before they correct it in post?

Thanks
 


There is minimal CC there. just the curves were adjusted. ( i think) i did this like a year ago. Master ped looks like it was at 0 or +1
 
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