Blocking out sunlight?

starcentral said:
Cmon guys, if $50 - $100 is really too expensive to buy some fabric to black out some windows then A.) how long is the scene? B.) Does it make sense to just shoot at night?

In this example its a small bedroom - how long can that scene really be?
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1) I cant shoot at night, we have child actors.
2) 3 night scenes.
3) I live in England, its much more expensive.

Thanks again!
Ned
 
Foam core. Nicer than plywood; it can be cut with a razor.
Black background paper used for photography.
As previously mentioned, black visqueen, though this may let a little light through.

If you have NO budget, figure some other way to do the shoot. Shoot some footage in the building without the talent, at night, and composite the talent from a green screen or black screen shot at everyone's convenience. More than one way to do this.

Grant
 
ggrantly said:
Foam core. Nicer than plywood; it can be cut with a razor.
Black background paper used for photography.
As previously mentioned, black visqueen, though this may let a little light through.

If you have NO budget, figure some other way to do the shoot. Shoot some footage in the building without the talent, at night, and composite the talent from a green screen or black screen shot at everyone's convenience. More than one way to do this.

Grant
Click to expand...
Ok thanks. But how do i stick em to the window?
Green screen is out of the question.
 
N3D said:
1) I cant shoot at night, we have child actors.
2) 3 night scenes.
3) I live in England, its much more expensive.

Thanks again!
Ned
Click to expand...

Ok so daytime it is.

Be careful with plastic material however - if it is not thick enough it will still allow light to shine through. I tried some black plastic sold in rolls once and it was not thick enough to stop the sunlight even when doubled and tripled up.

Also anything you put right in the window might actually be visible in your shot and look like you have blacked it out. On bigger budget shoots we had quite large tents constructed outside the window to add some depth and keep our "black outside" a bit further away from the glass.

Of course you can cheat stuff with depth of field, framing, etc.. .


Good luck, sounds like fun project.
 
David W. Jones said:
OK, hate to say this, but you have no business shooting this scene if you can't afford $15 worth of visqueen.

Do you have any black plastic trash bags and a roll of gaff tape?
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Calm down man. I have every right to shoot any scene at any time of the day with any amount of budget.
 
starcentral said:
Ok so daytime it is.

Be careful with plastic material however - if it is not thick enough it will still allow light to shine through. I tried some black plastic sold in rolls once and it was not thick enough to stop the sunlight even when doubled and tripled up.

Also anything you put right in the window might actually be visible in your shot and look like you have blacked it out. On bigger budget shoots we had quite large tents constructed outside the window to add some depth and keep our "black outside" a bit further away from the glass.

Of course you can cheat stuff with depth of field, framing, etc.. .


Good luck, sounds like fun project.
Click to expand...
Awesome, awesome, awesome! Great info! Legend.
 
I found 4x4m Visqueen. About £25 which i think is $40.
How would i stick this up. From the outside i could use gaffers tape?

How about if the window is like on the 2nd floor. Not going up a ladder. Maybe stick my head out the window and tape it to the wall...

You guys are awesome, thank you!

Ned
 
Gonna be difficult (maybe impossible) to do it from the inside without getting some light leaking through. Sometimes the entire sides of whatever material you're using have to be taped off since when the wind picks up it will cause said material to bow out away from the building.
 
N3D said:
Calm down man. I have every right to shoot any scene at any time of the day with any amount of budget.
Click to expand...

Yes you do, but it might not meet expectations with no budget. One thing I have learned when I have done low budget projects: you need to adjust the production values down to the budget. Keep it simple, be flexible, and you must be willing to live with the results.
 
A T-50 stapler and black cloth from the fabric store. Bolts tend to be 5' wide, overlap it. Visqueen is shiny, you may get weird reflections from lights off the folds in the material.

Or if you can only use visqueen, black streaks and tips on the outside of the windows where you do see reflections. It's water soluble.
 
Something else to consider, is night time is rarely pitch black without any light. Depending on the flavor you are going for, and the shot angle, a full blue gel centered in a light tent outside the window could add a nice moon light effect to the shot. Of course the gel would add $7 to your budget.

Good luck with your shoot!

Dave
 
Hey guys thanks for the info. I have another question i dont know if i should start another thread.

basically im using 3 dedos and various practical lamps. How do i avoid harsh shadows? Do i go from flood to spot light, raise lights higher etc

Or maybe i should start a new thread?

cheers

Ned
 
N3D said:
Hey guys thanks for the info. I have another question i dont know if i should start another thread.

basically im using 3 dedos and various practical lamps. How do i avoid harsh shadows? Do i go from flood to spot light, raise lights higher etc

Or maybe i should start a new thread?

cheers

Ned
Click to expand...

Start a new thread...
 
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