Film Look - Indoors vs. Outdoors

Chris Altenburg

New member
I have noticed, when shooting 24p with my DVX-100A, that it creates a different look when shooting outdoors vs. shooting indoors with lights- even when I do careful film-style lighting. Outdoors looks like film. Indoors still looks like video.

Stephen Dempsey's work seems to support this.
http://www.pinelakefilms.com/beingdisjecta.html

Does anyone have any recommendations, like FCP techniques, to get a better match?

Chris
 
When production shooting I always manual white balance off of a pro white balance card. What I see is a difference mainly in the contrast ratio. Outdoors looks smother indoor looks more crisp, like video.
 
Yes, I've noticed that, and a D.P. friend of mine says that's typical of video--even "high end" video like the dvx100a. He suggested it's ultimately about lighting and production design. Some "smoke"--a very light haze in the air--takes some of the video effect away. But that involves having access to one of those machines and knowing how to use it so that you don't actually SEE the smoke. There also tends to be so much more detail in outdoor settings, and all these details give a greater texture to the image. Indoors, you tend to have uniformly painted walls and single tone couches and floors. These big areas of color reflect light uniformly and add to a a video look. That's why picking the right indoor location is important. A place with interesting textures. Peeling wall paint. Chipped furniture. Filtered light through curtains, etc.
 
sean90291 said:
Indoors, you tend to have uniformly painted walls and single tone couches and floors. These big areas of color reflect light uniformly and add to a a video look. That's why picking the right indoor location is important. A place with interesting textures. Peeling wall paint. Chipped furniture. Filtered light through curtains, etc.

I guess that's where cookies come in.

("Cookies" because the plural of cucoloris is...um...beats me. Cucolores? Cucolorises?)
 
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