Day for night
- Thread starter Dan_Lahav
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alpi69
Veteran
Re: Day for night
we shot a day for night scene once (had to shoot i should say.) was a nightmare even with the day-for-night filters for the ARRI SR3. whatever you do (filters or in post) AVOID THE SKY!! a clear sky will come out bright and takes away the "nightfeeling". at night the sky is black so make sure you either cover the sky or never look at it.
i suggest the DfN filters. easier than post.
we shot a day for night scene once (had to shoot i should say.) was a nightmare even with the day-for-night filters for the ARRI SR3. whatever you do (filters or in post) AVOID THE SKY!! a clear sky will come out bright and takes away the "nightfeeling". at night the sky is black so make sure you either cover the sky or never look at it.
i suggest the DfN filters. easier than post.
magicdavek
Well-known member
Re: Day for night
There are a few suggestions already in this section. Try
http://www.dvxuser.com/cgi-bin/DVX/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1080162853
Update: for some reason, the above link isn't taking you there. However, there are other discussions of this in this section.
There are a few suggestions already in this section. Try
http://www.dvxuser.com/cgi-bin/DVX/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1080162853
Update: for some reason, the above link isn't taking you there. However, there are other discussions of this in this section.
G
Guest
Guest
Re: Day for night
Try to shoot your scene as close as possible to the middle of the day, as this will produce greater contrast in your "night" shots. It also helps if you spray/hose the streets with water, to pick up the reflected highlights, and again increse contrast. White balance to a yellow card. This will make your whole scene look more blue. When shooting try to avoid the sky. You will probably also need to stop down a bit for underexposure. I hope this helps a bit.
hmi5600@yahoo.com
Try to shoot your scene as close as possible to the middle of the day, as this will produce greater contrast in your "night" shots. It also helps if you spray/hose the streets with water, to pick up the reflected highlights, and again increse contrast. White balance to a yellow card. This will make your whole scene look more blue. When shooting try to avoid the sky. You will probably also need to stop down a bit for underexposure. I hope this helps a bit.
hmi5600@yahoo.com
DVX100Shooter
Veteran
Re: Day for night
there is a scene in the movie Torque that is a Day for night shot and in the commentary the DP said it was a easy shot to pull off but you have to pay close attention to the framing and like what was also said...frame the sky out of the shot or use very little of the sky. They had a quick shot of the sky in the scene but it looked like it was at dusk but they said they shot the scene in bright daylight.
What advantages do you gain for shooting a scene this way rather than shooting it at night?
there is a scene in the movie Torque that is a Day for night shot and in the commentary the DP said it was a easy shot to pull off but you have to pay close attention to the framing and like what was also said...frame the sky out of the shot or use very little of the sky. They had a quick shot of the sky in the scene but it looked like it was at dusk but they said they shot the scene in bright daylight.
What advantages do you gain for shooting a scene this way rather than shooting it at night?
Re: Day for night
if you have a properly exposed scene to begin with you can darken it without noise.. you cant really brighten a dark underexposed night image.. and not get noise issues. plus its easier to set up , and light with just reflectors and such.. less work. and its during the day.. shooting at night is bad for morall alot of times.. people are tired.
if you have a properly exposed scene to begin with you can darken it without noise.. you cant really brighten a dark underexposed night image.. and not get noise issues. plus its easier to set up , and light with just reflectors and such.. less work. and its during the day.. shooting at night is bad for morall alot of times.. people are tired.
G
Guest
Guest
Re: Day for night
A Before/After example of a "Day for Night" shot I did.
BEFORE (daylight)
AFTER (post)
I had a client that need to shoot his film almost completely in the middle of the desert and a few of the scenes took place at night. This is a perfect example of when to use day for night. Obviously if we had chose to shoot at night no amount of lighting gear would be able to show the vast desert and mountains in the background. We wanted the main source of light to appear to be moonlight as it would be naturally. Now its always a good idea to exclude the sky in order to better sell the shot but we felt we needed to establish the scene in a wide shot that would show how lost the two characters were in the vast desert. This shot would include the sky so the technique was to shoot the master/establishing shot locked down. Then color correct and replace the daytime sky with a night sky with just a few very subtle stars. The effect was extremely natural. We wanted to go steadicam for the coverage after that so care was taken not to include the sky on thoughs shots because its very post intensive to try and replace the sky on a freely moving shot. Why put yourself through that if you dont have to.
Besides giving your footage a slight blue cast and underexposed look you might consider desaturating the footage almost completely then after that adding the slight blue cast. The reason being is our own eye work in the same way. We have problems determining color in low light. This is not only because everything is darker but because our eye loose alot of their color sensitivity at under perhaps 1 lux. So do the same to your footage to make it feel real. Also if you look closely night sky is often not PURE black. On the horizion your likely to see a very slight glow in the sky. Its often a very deep/dark blue that gradually turns into black as you look higher and higher in the sky.
Hope that helps. When you start mixing in other practicals (light sources) in the shot then there are alot of other things to think about so if anyone is interested in doing day for night email me what the scene is in detail and I'll give you at least what I would recomend to do or better yet get me on your crew and lets work together.
Brett Erskine
Freelance Cine/Videographer
www.CinematographerReels.com
A Before/After example of a "Day for Night" shot I did.
BEFORE (daylight)
AFTER (post)
I had a client that need to shoot his film almost completely in the middle of the desert and a few of the scenes took place at night. This is a perfect example of when to use day for night. Obviously if we had chose to shoot at night no amount of lighting gear would be able to show the vast desert and mountains in the background. We wanted the main source of light to appear to be moonlight as it would be naturally. Now its always a good idea to exclude the sky in order to better sell the shot but we felt we needed to establish the scene in a wide shot that would show how lost the two characters were in the vast desert. This shot would include the sky so the technique was to shoot the master/establishing shot locked down. Then color correct and replace the daytime sky with a night sky with just a few very subtle stars. The effect was extremely natural. We wanted to go steadicam for the coverage after that so care was taken not to include the sky on thoughs shots because its very post intensive to try and replace the sky on a freely moving shot. Why put yourself through that if you dont have to.
Besides giving your footage a slight blue cast and underexposed look you might consider desaturating the footage almost completely then after that adding the slight blue cast. The reason being is our own eye work in the same way. We have problems determining color in low light. This is not only because everything is darker but because our eye loose alot of their color sensitivity at under perhaps 1 lux. So do the same to your footage to make it feel real. Also if you look closely night sky is often not PURE black. On the horizion your likely to see a very slight glow in the sky. Its often a very deep/dark blue that gradually turns into black as you look higher and higher in the sky.
Hope that helps. When you start mixing in other practicals (light sources) in the shot then there are alot of other things to think about so if anyone is interested in doing day for night email me what the scene is in detail and I'll give you at least what I would recomend to do or better yet get me on your crew and lets work together.
Brett Erskine
Freelance Cine/Videographer
www.CinematographerReels.com
G
Guest
Guest
Re: Day for night
Thanks everyone. As I hinted at the end of my post - once you add other sources of light in the shot it often changes what technique you use.
For example lets say we wanted to have a few guys around a camp fire in the same exact night (post) shot as above. This is going to make thing more complicated to pull off if we want it to look truely real. We know from every day experience that the fire should now appear to be the brightest source of light. It should be much warmer in color and even flicker on the character's faces and local surroundings. So how do you pull this off if when you shoot day for night the brightest light source by far is the sun?
Rather than just post what I would personally do I'll throw this question out there for everyone first.
And what would you do if the scene took place instead with a few street lights or car head lights and you were shooting day for night?
Thanks everyone. As I hinted at the end of my post - once you add other sources of light in the shot it often changes what technique you use.
For example lets say we wanted to have a few guys around a camp fire in the same exact night (post) shot as above. This is going to make thing more complicated to pull off if we want it to look truely real. We know from every day experience that the fire should now appear to be the brightest source of light. It should be much warmer in color and even flicker on the character's faces and local surroundings. So how do you pull this off if when you shoot day for night the brightest light source by far is the sun?
Rather than just post what I would personally do I'll throw this question out there for everyone first.
And what would you do if the scene took place instead with a few street lights or car head lights and you were shooting day for night?
Mike_Donis
Veteran
Re: Day for night
In that case, you'd kind of be screwed. Why wouldn't you be able to shoot at night? Because normally the reasons you're shooting DfN is because you want your scene to be lit, for night, without having the resources to light it. But if you have a campfire, you have a pretty good source right there...add some reflectors made from tin foil and you'd be good to go...
In that case, you'd kind of be screwed. Why wouldn't you be able to shoot at night? Because normally the reasons you're shooting DfN is because you want your scene to be lit, for night, without having the resources to light it. But if you have a campfire, you have a pretty good source right there...add some reflectors made from tin foil and you'd be good to go...
G
Guest
Guest
Re: Day for night
Why would you shoot day for night in that situation? We'll honestly most people dont go thru the trouble. Perhaps they dont feel the background is that important. After all if you shoot it at night the whole 20 miles of desert in the background would be lost in total darkness. That may be fine for some situations but I feel that there are times you have to show it. For example if you were trying to establish where the characters are (not to mention it makes for one beautiful shot). And in some stories the setting are like another character in the film. Anyone else have some tips on how to pull this shot off?
-Brett Erskine
Why would you shoot day for night in that situation? We'll honestly most people dont go thru the trouble. Perhaps they dont feel the background is that important. After all if you shoot it at night the whole 20 miles of desert in the background would be lost in total darkness. That may be fine for some situations but I feel that there are times you have to show it. For example if you were trying to establish where the characters are (not to mention it makes for one beautiful shot). And in some stories the setting are like another character in the film. Anyone else have some tips on how to pull this shot off?
-Brett Erskine