Are blown out highlights always bad?

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dtjohns1

Well-known member
When I first started out filming things I was always told to watch your highlights. Since that point I've tried my best to keep rich blue skies and use 100% zebras to make sure nothing is clipping in the frame. Honestly this is a pain to do in some cases and after watching closely to movies and music videos I see this rule broken countless times. Take the first couple seconds of this music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6z_cilnJzg or 1:26 and 2:08 of this Inception trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM I know in both cases these are shot on film and film has a greater DR and is able to retain highlights better than a digital format but im sure in both of these cases the highlights are peaking way over what they should. So what makes these shots acceptable and others not?
 
There are no rules to cinematography. Nothing good, nothing bad; simply right.

Are (controlled) blown out highlights right for your image, your story?
 
+1^ and consider moreover the contrast ratios in your shots. Look at that inception trailer for example.

That music vid opening shot and a few other spots were a fine example of where it failed IMO.
 
I don't mind blowing things out if it's intentional. For example, if a person is in a mostly dark room and the sky outside should look overpoweringly bright, I won't hesitate to blow out the window. The key is to know that you're doing it, and to make an intentional decision about it.
 
The question is if it detracts from the subject. Blown out skies usually look bland. Overexposed faces, as well as the rest of the scene, screams amateur. Direction of light also matters. Sometimes high key backgrounds can work really well, I like those. Sometimes I overexpose portions of a subject, the same as having half the face in shadow but opposite. However, you have to know the rules and how to follow them before you can effectively break them.
 
I've never shot on film, but with digital cameras I always try to expose for the shadows, since those get crushed faster than highlights get blown out typically, even after adjusting in-camera gamma curves. But I am mindful of highlights as well and typically operate with the meter set to 100 IRE. I like to do everything I can to produce a highly editable image, most conducive for color work in post that can lower the blacks or raise the highlights then, instead of having to work around blown out highlights in the raw footage. The latter is particularly a problem when you want to darken a scene (and if you are exposing for shadows, you will have to increase contrast and/or decrease luminance): blown-out highlights become gray blobs when darkened instead of corresponding to the correct color changes.

Like the others have said, consider what is important for the image, and consider what the target render of the image might be, especially if you will be editing picture yourself.

I am currently DPing on a short using the EX-1 and 7D, following mostly what I've just detailed. After reviewing the daily footage, it was obvious that the areas shown as blown-out on the LCD and VF of the camera (EX1) will not affect the quality of the picture or distract the viewer because they are motivated highlights. They are still, however, only on some set pieces and furniture; we took no risks blowing-out highlights on talent, who were two actresses.
 
I try to expose the important parts properly, things like faces and details that are story related. Once I do that I try to control the blowouts as much as possible with scrims or using a polarizer but I don't worry too much beyond that unless it's totally distracting. I don't worry too much about the gray detail in the shadows either. Most folks aren't going to be looking in the shadows for plot lines..
 
I think it is important to define blown highlights and 'hotspots'

over exposed windows for example often fine

hotspots could be a forehead or cheek on a person - blow these and it typically looks horrid

it is also worth noting you can blow just one channel with a colour hotspot and that will degrade the colour a lot - check out a builders jacket, the classic single channel blow

adiditionally one strong element of film is the 'transition to blown' a small digital colourspace can have all sorts of horrors at the point of blowing or just look like the image was cut with scissors

it seems to me that a pleasant transition to blown goes hand in hand with sensor size - ex1 horrid, 5d - nice

S
 
Thanks for everyones feedback. One of my primary concerns with this is shooting inside a vehicle during the daytime. I don't have the money, time, nor resources to gel the windows or make a ridiculous rig to have an hmi shine through the windshield so most of the time I have to cut these shots I want to do. After hearing most of the opinions on here I feel a little bit better about trying out some of these shots and diregarding the blownout highlights i know im going to get.
 
You can try taping window screen over the windows to cut the light. You'll need a couple layers but it'll cut down some of the light. Just make sure you can't see it in the shot!

There is also static-cling tint you can get from your local home-improvement store that is used for home windows. It comes in a big roll and you can cut it quickly and it just clings right to the glass, no gluing needed. You just peel it off afterwards.
 
Blown out highlights can be a look as well. I went with a blown highlight theme in this music video and pulled everything that wasn't gone back to normal. I couldn't do it with the GoPro footage tho because that camera has automatic exposure, but I did it with the 5D and HPX170 footage, which was 99% of the footage anyway. I think it work well for the video especially with the driving footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws9ZhrIPO-o
 
dtjohns1 said:
When I first started out filming things I was always told to watch your highlights. Since that point I've tried my best to keep rich blue skies and use 100% zebras to make sure nothing is clipping in the frame. Honestly this is a pain to do in some cases and after watching closely to movies and music videos I see this rule broken countless times. Take the first couple seconds of this music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6z_cilnJzg or 1:26 and 2:08 of this Inception trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM I know in both cases these are shot on film and film has a greater DR and is able to retain highlights better than a digital format but im sure in both of these cases the highlights are peaking way over what they should. So what makes these shots acceptable and others not?
Click to expand...

Here's my response... If you are shooting a news event, and there is just no way to make a 'well exposed image'... go for it... because the news value is greater than the 'film exposure quality'... This worked in the days of film film, where one would 'push' process underexposed film to get the image to a usable level, or pull processing to cover 'blown out' images...

The problem with current electronic sensors is they don't have the ability to be 'pulled/pushed' in post production to 'save the day'. It's like digital audio clipping... the music is blasting... and once the audio level goes beyond 0 DBFS, data is lost FOREVER.

In the film examples you gave, I have no idea what the 'original' image looked like. The first clip, the initial shot could have originally been a 'full range' exposure, and in post-processing the contrast uped for The Look required. But if it was 'as shot', it was under careful control... with perhaps a bit of 'room' to allow for post adjustments...

In the case of the second clip, again I don't know what the original negative looked like, my would be they were trying to make the light beyond such that it did 'blow out all detail'... This is done in film film as well... but that is a very specific look and done with conscious choice of lighting and exposure... again careful control of the lighting so that adjustments can be made...


A 'classic' example is the white desert in "THX-1138"(1971), where a huge 'stage' was used to create an infinite 'whiteness' that envelopes the characters... Even if the film was exposed such that there was some residual detail in the 'white' giving some sort of gradient of extremely light grey, the contrast would be boosted to eliminate any such residual.
 
Personally I hate blown out windows on digital. They look completely amateurish, and I appreciate DPs who don't tolerate it, and do it right.

I think we are fast approaching the day when blown highlights will disappear, due to HDR motion technology. The limited DR of old will look really cheesy to future viewers.
 
Every Hollywood movie has blown out windows.... I think...

I was working with some apparent newbie on some event shoot a while back. During break I went over to say Hi. I took a look at his LCD and everything that wasn't bright was underexposed. So naturally on impulse I opened up his iris without even asking for permission to touch his camera (HVX), thinking maybe he closed the iris after the shoot for whatever reason. He closed it back up right away like WTF are you doing to my shot. We are talking about the overcast sky, the white'ish buildings in the background, white clothes the kids were wearing were being properly exposed, at the expense of everything else that are more important.

Oh, and he was looking through the viewfinder at all times during the shoot instead of the LCD... lol
 
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chromeboy007 said:
Every Hollywood movie has blown out windows.... I think...

I was working with some apparent newbie on some event shoot a while back. During break I went over to say Hi. I took a look at his LCD and everything that wasn't bright was underexposed. So naturally on impulse I opened up his iris without even asking for permission to touch his camera (HVX), thinking maybe he closed the iris after the shoot for whatever reason. He closed it back up right away like WTF are you doing to my shot. We are talking about the overcast sky, the white'ish buildings in the background, white clothes the kids were wearing were being properly exposed, at the expense of everything else that are more important.

Oh, and he was looking through the viewfinder at all times during the shoot instead of the LCD... lol
Click to expand...

No, most windows are 'matched' to approximately what one would expect of the human eye compensation, given the time of day, sun, etc. when looking from interior shots to exterior world. When one sees 'blown out windows' it is usually for some specific effect. In fact, if you drop down the exterior 'too much' it looks like it was shot on a set...
 
Look at Roger Deakins movies like "Oh Brother where are thou?" Almost every sky is blown. He loves that.

I hate that, so I always us a ton of ND/Grade filters and fill light/bounce to compensate and get the best possible exposure.

To each his own, but if you break a rule you should have a good reason.

Frank
 
Postmaster said:
Look at Roger Deakins movies like "Oh Brother where are thou?" Almost every sky is blown. He loves that.

I hate that, so I always us a ton of ND/Grade filters and fill light/bounce to compensate and get the best possible exposure.

To each his own, but if you break a rule you should have a good reason.

Frank
Click to expand...

Yes, and addition to blown sky, the color of the fields were 'graded' to 'yellow' rather than the summer green of the original shot... I don't know if the blown sky was a 'cost' of that grading, or another decision to make the film look like it was shot in the 'fall', with a 'sepia' cast...
 
Blown skies an a low angle deakins - jarhead

another advantage is it hides camera shake same could be true of your car shot

Blown - cool..
images


Hotspot -uncool unless you are communicating 'harsh'

jarhead.jpg


http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=jarhead&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1594&bih=867

S
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
No, most windows are 'matched' to approximately what one would expect of the human eye compensation, given the time of day, sun, etc. when looking from interior shots to exterior world. When one sees 'blown out windows' it is usually for some specific effect. In fact, if you drop down the exterior 'too much' it looks like it was shot on a set...
Click to expand...

I will assume you are right, but I have a tough time coming up with an example where the window to the exterior world is not all white.
 
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