Latitude (or lack of)

L

LoveDVX

Active member
Shooting some 24p daylight sequences for a job coming up. All on a 100A.

I may not be able to use a grad filter because of the terrain/movement, etc. and as usual, faces will need to be seen with (hopefully) a blue-ish sky making it's appearance occ..

Wondering if anyone has experience with this type of shoot while trying for a filmlike latitude response, or as close as DV can get anyway. I guess what I'm asking about are settings. How to maximize the lat.... go with Cinelike-D setting, or High instead? Turn up the Master Ped a little but without milking it up too much? Experiences?

My tests point to CineD and pushing the ped up but I'm dealing with a lot of unknown variables, of course, by the time I get to the job site. Shots are moving and at different times of day so in a perfect world I'd........ but I....... well then I'd shoot 16mm but... . ;)
 
To be honest, I'd shoot regular cine_like: there's less noise in the darks, about as much detail in the highlights, and the knee doesn't blow out as quickly or drastically (not sure how this works, but highlights get blown but they don't look as bad.)

Also, just avoid shooting at noon, and if for some reason you have to (and ask yourself honestly if you really have to shoot between 10-2) wait for the sun to go behind a cloud. If you're shooting direct daylight at 12 noon, it doesn't matter what you're shooting on--could be 70mm--it won't look that great.

Also, I've found that the dvx has plenty of detail in the darks, just not much in the lights. Keep the master ped at +0 or +2 at the highest...of course, it all depends what look you want.
 
Only camera settings are not going to do wonders for you, unfortunately. I shot a very cool looking exterior sequence in my DVX using a 12'x12' frame with this huge silver reflector. That was pretty cool in handling contrast, add some mirror reflectors for punch and we were done.
 
Yes, using reflectors is very helpful. I should have mentioned that. Also, an ultracon +3 filter might be worth it, although it may give you a muddy image.
 
Oh I know settings aren't going to do what I want. I was just trying to get an idea on how to maximize what little I have to work with. I am using bounce cards but they don't help much when you have distant settings behind the actors.

That's interesting about using Cine only. I hadn't noticed it handling blow-out differently. More testing today will hopefully show this.

And I meant Cinelike V above, not D. It bought out the underexposed areas near some trees while exposing for the blue sky better than any other setting.
 
I'd stick with cine_like and use an ultracon filter, then underexpose a tad bit. I've never used an ultracon, but I hear good things and I think cine_like V is a bit noisy which may or may not be okay for you:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...ls&Q=&sku=60599&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

Of course, using it may just be similar to raising the master ped. I'm not really sure but I think it has a similar effect to flashing film (or whatever the term is).
 
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