Hi, long time lurker, first time poster. I' am about to shoot my third short film next week that includes a scene of two people having a conversation inside a car while driving. Do you guys have any suggestions or tips on doing this the NO budget way? Any advice would be helpful, particularly on how to light up the interior of the car.
Interior Car Scene...
- Thread starter Davester
- Start date
wahrez
Well-known member
This is one of those things that done well looks amazing. The no budget way of shooting would be to shoot from the back seat and get those 3/4 shots almost in profile on the actors. Also use the mirrors to pick out moments too.
You should also think of shooting little cutaways of the dashboard and the world passing by as this can help if you get in to a sticky bit of dialogue.
In terms of lighting...I'm assuming you are shooting at night??? Drive down a well lit street and use the cars interior lights. If you have a little money, experiment with battery powered flouri's. I'm going to get some soon and shoot a car interior with them strapped to the exterior of the window. Always remember wet windows instantly adds production value too??
A key thing here is audio, the last thing you want is different engine sounds (high revs v low revs) as you cut between the actors so think about a nice long stretch of road and a good constant speed? - Record the dialgoue wild too at the end of the scene.
Good luck...hope to see what you shoot on here!
You should also think of shooting little cutaways of the dashboard and the world passing by as this can help if you get in to a sticky bit of dialogue.
In terms of lighting...I'm assuming you are shooting at night??? Drive down a well lit street and use the cars interior lights. If you have a little money, experiment with battery powered flouri's. I'm going to get some soon and shoot a car interior with them strapped to the exterior of the window. Always remember wet windows instantly adds production value too??
A key thing here is audio, the last thing you want is different engine sounds (high revs v low revs) as you cut between the actors so think about a nice long stretch of road and a good constant speed? - Record the dialgoue wild too at the end of the scene.
Good luck...hope to see what you shoot on here!
Stas_Tagios
Well-known member
If you're shooting at night, small, battery-operated (or ac powered via the cigarette lighter) lights can easily be hidden by the car's instrument/readout panel to light the driver. Lite panels work great for night car footage.
If you have enough room on the dash, you can velcro a camera or two to the dash two shoot singles of the driver and/or passenger, and velcro lights to the dash or hide them by the instrument/readout panel.
Literally just came off a night shoot in a car, lit by the car's overhead interior lights and a lite panel, gelled with 1/2 cto, propped in front of the speedometer, pointing at the driver. Worked liked a charm.
Daytime car interiors are trickier, if you want to avoid blown out exteriors through the window. You'd probably have to gel whatever windows you're seeing out of.
If you have enough room on the dash, you can velcro a camera or two to the dash two shoot singles of the driver and/or passenger, and velcro lights to the dash or hide them by the instrument/readout panel.
Literally just came off a night shoot in a car, lit by the car's overhead interior lights and a lite panel, gelled with 1/2 cto, propped in front of the speedometer, pointing at the driver. Worked liked a charm.
Daytime car interiors are trickier, if you want to avoid blown out exteriors through the window. You'd probably have to gel whatever windows you're seeing out of.