Filming with overcast sky

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Guest

Guest
hey everyone,
i'm planing on shooting a musicvid out in the woods, I want a desaturated, limited colors, the world-is-cold-and-dead look.
I waited until now to get the weather i think i need for this, but now i'm more and more concerned that the image will look to flat, since the overcast sky won't give much contrast...
i don`t have the budget to add light, to punch out the actors a bit, so i hope to achieve the look i want in post...
anyone done this before?
can you get an interessting look out of no-contrast footage?
 
Re: Filming with overcast sky

I love the soft wrap around light from an overcast sky. Use some reflectors (you can afford reflectors) to punch up the faces, especially in any close shots. As long as you have enough light in the first place, it's very easy to use gamma/color curves to punch up the contrast and you can also play with color grading for a nice look.
 
Re: Filming with overcast sky

For a desaturated look, set CHROMA LEVEL to -7 and MATRIX to NORM. If you want it blue-tinted, set COLOR TEMP up a few notches (+7 makes everything really blue). You will probably have to further desaturate in post.

Overcast skies give a very nice soft effect, but reflectors will be basically useless if the sky is really overcast. If you want an edge light or any sort of modeling to the image, you'd have to add a hard light of your own.
 
Re: Filming with overcast sky

For extreme closeups, I find that negative fill using black foamcore on one side helps give you some modeling on the face (not much, but it helps a little).
 
Re: Filming with overcast sky

The black card is a good suggestion, and like the reflector, it will work under overcast conditions, but the reflector or cards do need to be close. Which is fine, because close-ups are where you really need facial lighting to look good. If you shoot in November, you'll have that cold and dead look--and you won't need much color correction :).
 
Re: Filming with overcast sky

The overcast sky should actually help you with the look you are going for. As already mentioned, nice soft wrap around light without that bright color saturating punch you get with sunlight. Although you may have more control in post, you might consider a tungsten white balance under the overcast daylight conditions for a really cold, lifeless sort of look.
 
Re: Filming with overcast sky

Hi All,
Everyones' input is great to this point, but I would caution you against the 32k setting outside unless you want a lot of noise. The DVX hates blue light. I'd shoot with reflectors, blk. foamcore, those self powered 12v lights from Meijers as back light & the daylight setting. Go blue in post unless you like noise.

Sorry to be so negative but I have a zillion hours of blue noise from a gig I just finished.

Go blue, but in post ( and to an uncompressed CoDec if you can)

You know, the Magic Bullet Editors is a great plug for this look, check it out.

Steve
 
Re: Filming with overcast sky

Thanks to all of you!
Will def. use reflectors and black foamcore for close ups...
@Barry: your suggestion "CHROMA LEVEL to -7 and MATRIX to NORM" - how does this affect the recorded image?
i want to record as much information as possible, to have
the most control in post...
 
Re: Filming with overcast sky

Those settings will get you close to your look in-camera. If you want to do it all in post, you can ignore that recommendation and shoot at zero.
 
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