MOTIVATED color grading in my next short-- thoughts , please?

[nycineaste]

shooting this short in a few weeks, a lovecraft adaptation, really just one scene. So my plan for lighting was to use a small softbox motivated by the shaded practical in the room, but at the same time, I wanted to start using a technique in my movies where I get color unity and near monochrome (which I love) by grading for the temperature of the imagined source. ( ie grade green for a bathroom that might be lit in flourescent, yellow for outdoor night lit by sodium vapor like in the crow sequel, etc, etc). But then, I realized that if I grade warm for the tungsten flavor, then my horror movie is warm. Ive seen this work well enough (Abel Ferrara's Body Snatchers remake was like this- it looked great), but I WANT to grade cool.

Soo. I tested out some cooler grading and I dig it, only now, this means that the implied source is now moonlight. Ill place the key higher, pointed more down, maybe go bigger/softer.

Im not 100 percent sure what Im asking, Im guessing its as simple as "is moonlight really believable as a source in my story"? I know this is a question I should just decide on my own being a director and all but hey...

the movie is based on "music of erich zahn" by lovecraft-, a girl plays crazy music for another, giving her horrible visions. The victimized girl fights back, and in the end the musician girl is taken away/killed by the monster she summoned (script not finalized yet). does it make sense -or better yet will the audience ACCEPT that this chick is playing a keyboard in moonlight INDOORS? I really dont want to grade it orange, I did this last time on a horror short (in camera no less- never again!) and it drove me mad. It was motivated by I hated hated hated the mood.

also the location is great has dark blue grey walls, and all my friends instruments (shes actually a musician).

thanks for reading.

 

[cpc]

Of course you can imply moonlight. "Moonlight" is used on thousands of movies.
Direct moonlight is not soft though. It is hard. If you just want the color, but with a softer feel, you can imply softer scattered moonlight coming from the windows.
In both cases your key should be from the direction of the window(s). This doesn't mean "high".

 

[nycineaste]

Thanks for the reply, Im aware blue is commonly used for moonlight, Im talking specifically about a scene where people are doing things other than sleeping or creeping around in the dark, but I guess if my protagonist is going to give someone creepy visions the audience will buy that she's doing so in the dark.

funny how the answer is somewhere in the screenwriting principle of character and motivation.

I think folks differ on how hard moonlight should be, I'll likely use the smaller softbox to keep it not-super-soft, and place it not too high or low so that I can choose in the edit to grade for moonlight or do a yellow "crow 2" thing (I like yellow better than orange for "indoor light" in this situation, and think it seems convincing enough). Im avoiding hard light because I have two actresses Im concerned with making look presentable; I did a hard light test and I wasnt happy with the look on the gal, also I want the slightly more freedom/choice of light angles you get from softer light; I dont trust my ability to make them look good from all camera/light angles.

thanks for chiming in I think I got a grip on this.

 

[starcentral]

I honestly can't tell you why, but soft light at a very low angle... almost at eye-line can look very much like moon light and worked for me in the past. Especially if you go higher in color temperature to really get that bluish cast. Of course that can also be done in post, plus dropping your levels by 10-20 IRE in post.

In your case since you will be going for mixed temperatures with a practical tungsten light and moonlight, I would suggest 3200k practical and 4000-5600 daylight balanced "moonlight". If you use a flo fixture you can actually mix your bulbs up so it is not as "daylight" looking.

 

[nycineaste]

I honestly can't tell you why, but soft light at a very low angle... almost at eye-line can look very much like moon light .

if this is the case, then I feel better about choosing the color in post. I would still prefer to go in with a decision made, but I might not get to that point.

if you go higher in color temperature to really get that bluish cast. Of course that can also be done in post, plus dropping your levels by 10-20 IRE in post.

thanks, dont have too much trouble creating the look itself, (using desaturation, levels, and color balance in Vegas) this is more a case of deciding which.

In your case since you will be going for mixed temperatures with a practical tungsten light and moonlight, I would suggest 3200k practical and 4000-5600 daylight balanced "moonlight"

this is exactly what I DONT want to do- too advanced for me, and as I said in the OP, my goal for now is to learn to create believable monochrome images.

So the question basically cuts to whether its believeble in the story context that the action is taking place lit entirely by moonlight, or "the dark" as the audience might basically percieve it(?). Like I said its a musician playing creepy black-magical music for another, summoning a demonic force. Ill try to decide if it makes sense that she leaves the lights off.

I LOVE back and white cinematography, and the compromise for me , for now, is to learn to do images with a strong, single color cast motivated by color temperature (as I only recently learned that a single color often is- as in the green flourescent pharmacy in Natural Born Killers). I want this skill under my belt as I work towards making a hoepfully marketable feature, where black and white might not the right decision. I'm quite excited about the direction, actually, especially in light of learning that silent films were often tinted this way.

 

[starcentral]

Yes I guess if you are after monochromatic images, then mixing temperatures probably isn't what you want to do. Just get your bulbs all the same temperature or use gels, I think you will be fine.

Post some images afterwards, would love to see the results..