Best Scene Setting for a Suspense/Thriller Short...

gdot101

Active member
Hey Folks In late june/ early July i will be shooting a short. I wanted to if any one has a some good Scene Files or setting for a Suspense/Thriller film. if so lease post them up or send them

g.

skin101@gmail.com


 
I'm constantly surprised that people post scene file suggestions and questions. To me the scene file is a personal thing, it's what make the pictures unique to my eyes the way that my operating makes them unique to my hands. Unless I'm collaborating in some way, I would never ask anyone what to put in there.

My scene files come from conceptual discussions with the director, they take into account my sets, locations, actors, makeup, art direction and largely my plans for colour correction in post. I typically tweak them for every scene, or at least make sure everything is working in the new location.

I don't know how you want your movie to look, so it's really hard to suggest scene file settings. Sometimes my scene files are 'dirty' or 'snotty', with lots of noise, a cross white balance, desat, and harshly clipped highs and lows. Sometimes they are beautiful, with a touch of extra chroma, leaning the phase slightly to the warmer side, pressing the blacks a bit, maybe a spot of extra detail. Or if I'm filtering on the lens, the scene file will reflect that.

The best thing is to know what each setting does and let your gut guide your fingers when you set those up while taking into account some of the factors above. Watch your skin tones, keep them natural... different skin complections will return different results when you change settings in there. Same with makeup and wardrobe. Imagine the mood of your piece... is it happy or sad? What are colours that reflect that? Is it a warmer or cooler story? Is it red or green? Dark, rich shadows, or low tones with tons of detail? Will you have time/ability in post to get the look there? (in which case you should go in with a mostly clean, dense 'negative').

You get the idea.

Sorry if that was a useless reply :p
 
You mean your dial doesnt have a setting for suspense? Its right next to the film look setting.

just play with it til its what you like. Not all suspense/thrillers look alike. The only thing they have in common is that they are suspenseful and thrilling. Maybe you want to shoot "clean" and do this in post anyways.
 
i was about to say the same thing - why not shoot it clean and do your color adjustments in post? this way you have more control and can play with different types of looks and feels. i remember when i first got my camera 6 months ago and set the camera settings so i could get a look like the movie TRAFFIC and when i got in post i was stuck with that and couldnt adjust the colors because the blacks were already crushed, etc.
 
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