Filming at night.

throoper

throoper

Member
Yes, I have searched, but I couldn't really find an answer that suited my question. I'll be filming at night for half of my next short. It's a hitman story, but a lot of night shots will be handheld, and dolly shots sort of like Michael Mann of late. The day shots will be static shots to give a contrast.

But to my question. I love Michael Mann's use of light in Collateral, and Miami Vice with the rugged/ rough camera at night. I want to know what would be the best lighting for it? Also I don't have much money. So thanks to anyone that helps out.

Thanks again.

Later.

- Matt.
 
Day for Night.

Sunset light. Stop down (or stack lots of ND). And white balance on a yellow or orange card to force a blue tint.

Take your camera out and experiment a few times... let us know how it works out.
 
Not sure how much is not much, but if I were you I'd probably rent some HMI's - 1.2's and 2.5's
 
I'll try the day for night trick, but I'm looking more into actual lighting. Well maybe I'll have a couple hundred for lights, and I could check with an old teacher if I could borrow some lights from him.

But if I would like to get as many options as possible. You know?
 
I'm shooting a film that also takes place mostly at night. I've found that dusk is actually the worst time to do it because what really makes the night scenes is that city lights all around you. I'm in L.A. and I dont know what the official turn on time for city lights is in the rest of the world, but here, you get squat until the sun is DOWN. Night time.

Also, unless you are key lighting your scenes, you get nada from the environment. In day, sunlight drowns out store interiors, at dusk, they about match, and at night, store interiors provide some great light. Big lighting kit, or walk by the laundrymat?

Just my thoughts. I thought I was going to be a big Day for Night fan when I started, and I've learned I love the real night much more, and when you get creative it's really much easier. It's really all about location. I will have a big, expansive, nighttime desert scene which I am not looking forward to it as the only light will be "moonlight" and car headlights. Maybe a couple flashlights. That wont be fun. Drop a big laundrymat into my desert and I'll be much happier.

(As soon as I can figure out how to render a clip for the web and then post the b!tch I will have a test sample up.) Wish me luck.

-GageFX

(edit) Well, F it all. I actually got a decent looking, smallish file size .mov and I have nowhere to upload it to and I really dont have the time to search for a place. Asi es la vida. Maybe I'll just post a couple stills. Not the same vibe, though, as seeing the actress walk through nice light into darkness and then then into other light. RAWR. -gfx
 
Last edited:
Well, here are some stills. Grrrr.

Straight from cam. Haven't had time to learn CC yet. I'm "working" in Vegas 6. I say "working" as that's what I have, intend to use and currently capture with, but I haven't learned a darn thing about it yet.

Anyway.... the stills.

65198255.jpg

65198257.jpg

65198259.jpg

65198261.jpg

65198263.jpg
 
Sorry. A few more.

65198268.jpg

65198271.jpg

65198254.jpg

65198273.jpg



The 24p footage is really beautiful. It's really hard to capture the feeling in stills with the moving in and out of light. I've tried to give a good representation of both the light and the dark. It certainly reflects the mood of the piece.

Just the way I'm doing it. Everyone has their own way.

(I think this stuff will have a really nice look when I figure out how to CC. This was all shot on default F6)

-GageFX
 
These are simply beautiful! Nice grabs! The lighting where you are at works well. My favorites are your first grab and the first one of your second post.
 
Glad you like them. And the light, obviously was vary different colored all over and I really wanted the feel of the different lights - store lights, street lights, neon lights - so the WB was a setting I used earlier in the day, a custom pulled in the sunlight. The red lights at times can look a bit harsh, but as she moves through the scene the transitions are quite nice.

Thanks again.

-GageFX
 
wow nice shots Gage...I love the fluorescent lights in your second grab. let us know how they turn out after some CC
 
I know Chapters doesn't caryy it . I go there for all my DV mags .

If you ask , they can usually get it in for you .
Ian
 
1154741727.jpg


I love shoting at night, especially when you're doing a no budget. You do it right it will give your whole film a more pro-look. I white balance against red which creates a blue tint. I keep this as a preset. Now when you shoot hit a busy area of the city. You want neon signs and street traffic (both human and auto) in the background. The blue will kill the orange overcast.

Depending on the script you throw in some of the more seedier elements (have extras if this isn't already done for you depending on the street). I shot on Clark and Division here in Chicago and it was excellent. You can also shoot in well lit alley's at night also which is always a good look for an urban based film. This adds to the grimmy look if you're going for that.

Some examples of what I'm talking about as for a elements: see that weird looking chick in the background? That's not an extra. Check out the glow of the signs off Felicia and CiCi's faces. You can only get that type of lighting with a) A lighting expert. b) Shooting on location just like this. What about that background traffic and streetlights. And since it's night time, your background will be out of focus while images closer to the camera and light will be in focus. (As so many of us "film-look" lovers want). You should try it. Also try white balancing against various colors for different looks. This is a real city street with a real street feel not a set of any kind.

-Nate
 
Last edited:
Thanks, Nate. Insanely helpful. But have you need to use any lights for any of the night shots? Because I'll probably have a scene or two that will need lights.

Would one of two of those spotlights from a Wal-Mart with diffuse paper on it work?
 
Shooting on city streets here in Chi-town at about a gain of 3 gets what you see above. To my suprise I have never had to use extra lighting in on a city street at night, particularly downtown (street lights and neons give off light, huge department store windows act as reflectors plus there's an area that resembles Tokoyo here). I will admit if you move to an area that's not well lit you may have a problem of getting extra lighting. In some of our suburbs there are no street lights so each house has a porch light but honestly you can really shoot with that unless you're close.

If you actually do need extra lights buy one or two 500 watt halos from Home Depot or Mennards (they're about $40 max and come with stands) and grab some blue gels (or use the aforementioned white balance trick) to cover the front of the lights. Take the metalic grill off then attach the gels (but obviously not directly to the light housing because it gets really hot). Not all you need is a generator or a really long extension cord to a nearby outlet and you're ready to go. To work with spot lights you have to be really smart about how you do it to not show that you're spot lighting but it can be done.

-Nate
 
Last edited:
GageFX:

Looks like you're heading in the right direction, GageFX! Ambient, store-front lighting always rocks. Bright storefronts (like laundrymats) work as terrific keys. Your Chinatown images look very good; very "real" (because they are). Plus, your actress is very hot! And that's a real good thing!

For your desert exterior, if you're really desparate, you could try some of those cigarette lighter-powered lanterns (need to keep the car running) with a heavy diffusion (they're VERY spotty), either some Rosco/Lee 250 or 216. They're actually pretty lame, because they're so damned spotty, AND someone has to keep the trigger switch depressed the whole time. Plus, they're hard to mount on a stand.

Instead, I would highly recommend you invest in some portable power. I've purchased several car battery-sized portable power units with built-in AC inverters (they come with female Edisons) from West Marine (they have two stores in Marina Del Rey). The big one is about $250, but it should run a couple of Home Depot-style flourescent units for HOURS. You could even run a few small incandescents for an hour or two. Too bad it won't strike my two-foot, two-bank KinoFlo, though for some reason. Just remember to relamp all of your flourescents to the Philips "full-spectrum" daylight-ey tubes (regular stock at Home Depot). They balance just under 5600K, so they really rock.
 
Last edited:
Nathyn said:
Shooting on city streets here in Chi-town at about a gain of 3 gets what you see above. To my suprise I have never had to use extra lighting in on a city street at night, particularly downtown (street lights and neons give off light, huge department store windows act as reflectors plus there's an area that resembles Tokoyo here). I will admit if you move to an area that's not well lit you may have a problem of getting extra lighting. In some of our suburbs there are no street lights so each house has a porch light but honestly you can really shoot with that unless you're close.

If you actually do need extra lights buy one or two 500 watt halos from Home Depot or Mennards (they're about $40 max and come with stands) and grab some blue gels (or use the aforementioned white balance trick) to cover the front of the lights. Take the metalic grill off then attach the gels (but obviously not directly to the light housing because it gets really hot). Not all you need is a generator or a really long extension cord to a nearby outlet and you're ready to go. To work with spot lights you have to be really smart about how you do it to not show that you're spot lighting but it can be done.

-Nate
Click to expand...


Thanks, I'll probably go with those 500 watt halos. I know I'll probably be filming in areas with not a lot of light, so I'll need some lights. But in the end I'll probably be turning it black and white in post. So I doubt I'll need to be doing the white balance. But I'll do it anyways just incase I change my mind on the black and white.

Thanks again.

- Matt
 
I implore you to get a better light setup. Dont spend a fortune, but get something with a reasonable amount of control.

I'm not at my computer, but I'll post a still from another night shoot where I needed to take a light. I'll also post what was used in the setup. It will cost you a bit more than the shoplights, but it will be 10,000x more versitile with your shooting.

-GageFX

Just an aside. I'm a fulltime professional photographer. When I first starting shooting as a serious hobby, I started with the shoplight route. Everyone touting what you can do with some shoplights and a couple homemade modifiers. I didnt have a lot of money so it sounded good. Well, money for 4 shoplights, money for pvc and fabric and whatever else for modifiers and a sh!tload of time and energy putting all the stuff together and it dosnt even work all that great. Better than complete darkness, sure, but not even close to as good as a nice storefront or big livingroom window. If it is shoplights or nothing, I vote "nothing" and say find the right location with available light. If you dont have money to spend on good lights (re: USABLE) then you dont have the money to WASTE on bad lights. I'll get alot of flack from the shoplight guys, but I'm fine with that. I've been there and have moved on to pro equipment. I have the experience and I will never go back.
 
Last edited:
>If it is shoplights or nothing, I vote "nothing"
>and say find the right location with available light. If you dont have
>money to spend on good lights (re: USABLE) then you dont have the
>money to WASTE on bad lights.

WOW! I've never heard it put better! I concur!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top