Shooting in Black and White

woodcarver

woodcarver

Well-known member
I was wondering if anyone had much experience shooting in black and white with the HVX. B&W might be appropriate to the story of my next project. I'm considering shooting with B&W filters and viewing the footage in the field on a monitor that I can set to B&W--then removing the color in post.
I assume a number of people have tried this already. Were you pleased with the results?
 
My last film on the DVX was converted to B&W in post. I've also done some tests with my HVX. I didn't use any filters on either.

In general, just make sure you have enough contrast in your image. Also lower the master pedistal and get someone good tomess with it in post.
 
The HVX looks great in B&W. And yes, I think it's best to do it in post. But... if you can, have a monitor on set that you can switch to black and white. Lighting for B&W is so different --- particularly if you're going for that really nice, hi-contrast look. You'll generally want to let your highlights blow out just a bit, and crush your blacks a little (Master Ped down to your liking). This will look awful in color. But when you switch the monitor over, you'll see how great it looks.
 
For the love of God do tests in the various locations so you know what you are doing. Go to the locations, practice different lighting set upts, and see what looks best in B&W. Once you know what you need, do it and trust your gut. I still remember how freaked out my cast and crew were when they looked at the LCD screen of my last film and then how surprised they were when they saw it converted to B&W.
 
Easy Solution

Easy Solution

Turn the Veiwfinder to B&W mode from color - you can see the color version on the LCD and the B&W version in the viewfinder - that way could get an idea of what it would look like and light accordingly.
 
CINEMANIAC said:
Turn the Veiwfinder to B&W mode from color - you can see the color version on the LCD and the B&W version in the viewfinder - that way could get an idea of what it would look like and light accordingly.
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Yes! Do that. On a colour LCD you compose completely different than using a B&W viewfinder. I still have problems composing an image with the B&W viewfinder of my 2/3" camera. But if your final product will be B&W it should be an advantage.

One issue that interests me very much: Some time ago in an other thread somebody told me that the DVX doesn´t work well with red filters. It´s because of the codec, was said. How is the HVX in this case? Did anybody make any experience with combining a red filter and a HVX for a B&W result?
 
Color said:
just wondering, on the dvx can you switch the viewfinder to b&W?
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Menu --- Display Setup ---- EVF Color ---- OFF....Then you will have a Black and White viewfinder :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

oops....I did not read that you ask about dvx.......
 
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HappyGobo said:
Why do it in post? Save time, do it in-camera and throw away the mental crutch of the DI.
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Mental Crutch ?

What's the hang-up with B & W ? Just shoot it and Desat it later.
 
Deparon said:
How? :banned:
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John_Hudson said:
Mental Crutch ?

What's the hang-up with B & W ? Just shoot it and Desat it later.
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It may be that I could have expressed my thought clearer. I'm not sure if there's a way to actaully set a DVX or HVX to record in B&W, but my feeling is that lighting should be done right the first time instead of using "I'll fix it in post" as an excuse to do a poor job. If you record in B&W you'll know you can't change your mind about it, and it might motivate better results.
 
HappyGobo said:
It may be that I could have expressed my thought clearer. I'm not sure if there's a way to actaully set a DVX or HVX to record in B&W, but my feeling is that lighting should be done right the first time instead of using "I'll fix it in post" as an excuse to do a poor job. If you record in B&W you'll know you can't change your mind about it, and it might motivate better results.
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With HVX you can't shot in B&W....so your comment has not sense...So fix in post is the way....as simple as that
 
As has been said here and elsewhere, desaturate your color in post. Shoot with your color-calibrated on-set monitors with chrominance at zero.

Do not introduce filters. The HVX is already at a resolution disadvantage, so don't muddy the image further with reds, ultracons or other glass that will only degrade the look further.

You'll still light by meter and zebra, but you can push your look further as was stated above by bracketing a half-stop here or there for blown highlights and so on.

To anyone who says grading in post is a cheat, I'd say you need to do a little research into the processes of film and digital cinematography. Color matching / grading / correction is used to great extent in each and every project you see in distribution.

The idea of artificially limiting your options through any step of the visual realization to improve your skills as a lighting cameraman is a somewhat Machiavellian, and, at the minimum, definitively ludicrous concept. When conceptualizing a look for any given project, it has been proven once and again that "painting yourself into a corner" is no way to go about lighting a show.

e
 
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Point. So my point at this juncture would be...don't say "I'll fix it in post," I guess. Don't get me wrong, I love messing around with color correction, but there's just some things you can't get without doing it right in production.
 
So, I should be able to approximate what a red filter would do to b&w film by monkeying with the color in post and then desaturating it?
 
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Here's a very shoddy color image that's been corrected via Magic Bullet's Basic BW preset. As with most NLEs, you can select the level of the effect within the plugin interface.

This is a drag-n-drop operation. An expert colorist will give you a consistent scene-by-scene look to your specification. Point is, it is a simple process within the Non-Linear environment.

e
 
Woodcarver, photographers generally use red (and orange) filters to bring out the blues in the sky, making them a nice gray color, rather than an overexposed white color. This is because red is on the opposite side of blue, on the color wheel. Adding red to your video in post, then desatrurating would not acheive the same effect.
 
Endless_Static_Sea said:
Woodcarver, photographers generally use red (and orange) filters to bring out the blues in the sky, making them a nice gray color, rather than an overexposed white color. This is because red is on the opposite side of blue, on the color wheel. Adding red to your video in post, then desatrurating would not acheive the same effect.
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Thanks. I thought that would be the case. Does that mean, however, that putting a red filter in front of the lens while shooting (in color, because the HVX can't do otherwise) would also be ineffectual once I desaturate in post? I would have thought that a red filter would reduce the exposure level of the sky--which would be a an effect which would carry through after the desaturation in post. No?
 
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