Exposure practises

DP StrangeLove said:
Just a quick question, if I were spot metering caucasian skin, would I want to be around the 55 IRE Zone? And for dark skin, the lower part of the range, 45 IRE?
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The answer is, it depends. Perception of color and density is highly contextual, it really depends on the tones and colors around the object, and don't have hard and fast rules that I hold myself to on this, however, it's common to put white skin highlights in the 60-70 range and black skin highlights in the 40-50 range. Just as importantly is where are you putting the shadows. Do you want detail in there? Is it a noir film and you want lots of black in the shadows rather than textural detail?

It all really depends on the actual scene and the tones/colors surrounding people... Middle grey maps to about 50, on, and the actual numbers are dependent on the gamma setting you're using. Question is, does it look good on the monitor and serve your creative needs? For a look, I like to depend on the monitor, but use the numbers to assure me that I'm in the right place. It's like flying with instruments in a plane and each dial tells you a different thing and you have to put the whole picture together in your head. With a good calibrated monitor you can make critical exposure decisions as long as you use a waveform monitor or the spot meter to confirm that, for example, "yes, the dark side of the actors face has textural detail, it's reading about 15..." The actual numbers are hard to discuss outside the context of an actual scene. When you don't have a monitor available, learning to "fly by the numbers" will help you previsualize the scene and avoid surprizes when you do see the scene on a calibrated monitor.
 
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cinemakinoeye said:
It's like flying with instruments in a plane and each dial tells you a different thing and you have to put the whole picture together in your head. With a good calibrated monitor you can make critical exposure decisions as long as you use a waveform monitor or the spot meter to confirm that, for example, "yes, the dark side of the actors face has textural detail, it's reading about 15..." The actual numbers are hard to discuss outside the context of an actual scene. When you don't have a monitor available, learning to "fly by the numbers" will help you previsualize the scene and avoid surprizes when you do see the scene on a calibrated monitor.
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And that's the art of cinematography! Thank you for your awesome post! I have a Studio Shoot today with children of diverse ethnicity, your suggestions add another tool/intstrument to use, to paint light.
 
DP StrangeLove said:
[..] I have a Studio Shoot today with children of diverse ethnicity, your suggestions add another tool/intstrument to use, to paint light.
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Hey, consider posting a frame and share with us what you did and were thinking about.
 
cinemakinoeye said:
Hey, consider posting a frame and share with us what you did and were thinking about.
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Will do. We are wrapping up shooting today. Hopfully have some stills posted early next week I have been shooting the kids against a hanging Duvatene black backdrop, and I am going for a nice fall-off on the opposite side of their face from my key, shooting 15% IRE in the shadows. HVX mounted on a Porta-jib Traveler, this stuff is looking gorgeous! The IRE Target Marker is proving to be like an excellent light meter assistant.
 
Gamma and knee settings

Gamma and knee settings

Great post. This is what DVXuser is all about.

Can someone discuss the application of various gamma and knee settings when
using 105 zebras as a max and letting everything fall in place underneath.
What are the best setting to "eat" into shadows. I know each scene will need different settings, but I have always used highlight zebras and a crt monitor as my gold standard when a waveform was not available.
 
cinemakinoeye said:
Hey, consider posting a frame and share with us what you did and were thinking about.
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Just finished the shoot last night, would love to post some of the still frames from the shoot, but I can't seem to upload pictures to DVX User.
 
DP StrangeLove said:
Just finished the shoot last night, would love to post some of the still frames from the shoot, but I can't seem to upload pictures to DVX User.
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You have to upload them to you your own site, or to some other hosting site, and then link to it.

I'm looking forard to seeing your work.
 
jameswmulryan said:
Great post. This is what DVXuser is all about [...]
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Thanks...

jameswmulryan said:
Can someone discuss the application of various gamma and knee settings when using 105 zebras as a max and letting everything fall in place underneath. What are the best setting to "eat" into shadows [...]
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The Cine Gamma prioritizes shadow details, so it "eats" into the shadows more than Video Gamma. One of the best ways to understand Gamma and Exposure better is to derive your own Gamma Curves. A while back I posted this to my blog: " DVX-100A Gamma Curves Chart," where I describe the process of charting the Gamma Curve for the DVX, however, you could easily do the same with your HVX.
 
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235 Studios said:
You have to upload them to you your own site, or to some other hosting site, and then link to it.

I'm looking forard to seeing your work.
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Just posted them under the HVX Screen grab section, under 'Frame still of Children for city of Portland. Appreciate any feedback!
 
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