How do you REALLy shoot a city at night?

R

RPLace

Carbonite Member
Hey all at DVX, I have a huge question: how do you REALLY shoot a City Scene at night?

My thoughts are that any professional film that does this most likely uses a digital camera with complex enough technology and editing to shoot the scene dark enough where the street lights and ambient lights are not overblown, recovering the darker details of the scene in post with advanced curves and RAW files (in the case of Red Cameras, which most many modern films are filmed on.) I'm sure we can all scream "lighting" all day long, but there's things that are impossible to equalize with production light (skyscrapers, for instance, or every street light under the sun.)

-OR-

Do productions merely film at late dawn, and color balance and darken in post?
 
It depends. Some cinematographers try to shoot when there's enough light, sometimes in the middle of the day. For most high end productions they can light up the scene enough at night to make it work. For reality shows it's all in the digital signal processor. There's not really any single answer to your question.

The street lights don't have to be recreated, the ambient light has to be bright enough to reduce the contrast while the practicals stay in the shot. Most modern films are shot on 35mm film stock, not digital cameras. And the ones that are shot in digital cameras use Arri or Panavision more often than Red. That goes for TV shows as well. Red is a good low budget option, and it is used a lot in the indie world, but definitely not for 'most modern films'.
 
RPLace said:
I'm sure we can all scream "lighting" all day long, but there's things that are impossible to equalize with production light (skyscrapers, for instance, or every street light under the sun.)
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Actually, big budget films actually light the skyscrapers. I remember reading an article about either "Lethal Weapon" 1 or 2, and they used searchlights to light the high rise hotels way in the background of a night shot in L.A. And on "Terminator2", they rented almost every movie light in the city to light a 2-mile stretch of the freeway for the ending car chase. So, back in the day it WAS lighting. Now, with the Alexa shooting at 800 ISO or 1600 ISO, you don't necessarily need to do that. You can let some of the street lights just blow out, or selectively put ND gel or black wrap over the offending lights in the shot.
 
dvbrother said:
Actually, big budget films actually light the skyscrapers. I remember reading an article about either "Lethal Weapon" 1 or 2, and they used searchlights to light the high rise hotels way in the background of a night shot in L.A. And on "Terminator2", they rented almost every movie light in the city to light a 2-mile stretch of the freeway for the ending car chase.
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I'm just trying to imagine this... mind blowing.
 
RPLace said:
Do productions merely film at late dawn, and color balance and darken in post?
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I'm not sure if anyone really does day for night anymore. With the advancements in HMI lighting, big night scenes aren't as difficult to light for exposure and for look.

Cassius said:
Most modern films are shot on 35mm film stock, not digital cameras.
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Searcher said:
You wont be able to say this for too much longer.
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I don't think you can say this at all now.
 
Jordan Scott Price said:
I'm not sure if anyone really does day for night anymore. With the advancements in HMI lighting, big night scenes aren't as difficult to light for exposure and for look.
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Totally. I was watching a Hitchcock movie the other day, Vertigo, and I totally spotted a day for night scene - and I thought "when last did I see that??".
 
It seems that just like most situations (with digital) you would expose for the highlights (Not blown are just starting to blow) then when you crush it down in post you'll get the effect you want. Lighting would/could be used to narrow the range between the highlight and the point where you lost all the shadow info.
 
Dinos on top of buildings, or blasted into 20-bys, Lekos and Par/firestarters for rim lights and kinos up close is one way. A LOT depends on the look the DP is going for. Not everything is done with 18k HMIs blasting down from space, although that seems to be a popular solution. Shooting 500 ASA film with a T-2.8/4 split on the new Kodak stock doesn't take a whole city's worth of lights for even a large-ish scene. Chances are production will change the practical bulbs that are in the scene to jive with the lighting plan the DP has set. Like anything else it all depends.

Always remember though, there is a difference between having enough light for exposure and actually lighting a scene for beauty/aesthetics/story.
 
kylevant said:
Totally. I was watching a Hitchcock movie the other day, Vertigo, and I totally spotted a day for night scene - and I thought "when last did I see that??".
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My old HVX 201 had a "day for night" setting :-))) Never used it.
Very nice link dvbrother! Thanks for that.
 
William_Robinette said:
Always remember though, there is a difference between having enough light for exposure and actually lighting a scene for beauty/aesthetics/story.
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And here I thought for 'night city' shots, one always had to remember to get a water truck to wet down the streets so they would not be blank black... or... why does it always look like it's raining at night in LA?
 
In high end work, ALL night scenes are lit.

Usually, what you do is use a very large, soft source that gives your scene base fill, motivate a Key, then use a condor w/ something big as a backlight for the whole scene, shoot lights onto key buildings in the scene. (Sex and the city, I am legend, inception etc... big stuff)

Or, you can pull a "1970's" and just get a key light and rim on talent going. (Think taxi driver, vengence, dog day afternoon, etc...)

Or you can pull a 2009 and not use any lights and just buy a 50 F1.2 and have the scene look like yellow mud.
 
TimurCivan said:
In high end work, ALL night scenes are lit.

Usually, what you do is use a very large, soft source that gives your scene base fill, motivate a Key, then use a condor w/ something big as a backlight for the whole scene, shoot lights onto key buildings in the scene. (Sex and the city, I am legend, inception etc... big stuff)

Or, you can pull a "1970's" and just get a key light and rim on talent going. (Think taxi driver, vengence, dog day afternoon, etc...)

Or you can pull a 2009 and not use any lights and just buy a 50 F1.2 and have the scene look like yellow mud.
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Timur Civan, you're my hero.

tumblr_lil27wefcP1qdshi4o1_400.gif
 
"Or you can pull a 2009 and not use any lights and just buy a 50 F1.2 and have the scene look like yellow mud."

Boy you do see a LOT of that don't you.
 
TimurCivan said:
In high end work, ALL night scenes are lit.

Usually, what you do is use a very large, soft source that gives your scene base fill, motivate a Key, then use a condor w/ something big as a backlight for the whole scene, shoot lights onto key buildings in the scene. (Sex and the city, I am legend, inception etc... big stuff)

Or, you can pull a "1970's" and just get a key light and rim on talent going. (Think taxi driver, vengence, dog day afternoon, etc...)

Or you can pull a 2009 and not use any lights and just buy a 50 F1.2 and have the scene look like yellow mud.
Click to expand...

I wonder what would be a 1989...
 
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