My video, lighting

For me viewing the clip on my iPhone it was way too dark. You said you were going for a noir look. But I think it ended up too much dark.

Update: Not on my iPhone anymore...

I'll comment on the final scene with the couple. If you wanted an 'intimate' look, perhaps with 'dark surrounding' the couple then a top light, and use
the bounce of an absolutely white table cloth to give the couple a 'glow'.


The side light in all cases was the 'wrong' direction, especially in that final shot... especially when it cast obvious shadows.

You can use the 'all darkness' to give the couple an 'for them selves' enclosure... perhaps with a candle (we are dealing with cliches anyway...) and with top light, and soft bounce
you can focus on the couple and their enjoyment of the 'treat'...

Perhaps change the lighting, have the beginning well lit overall, then as the story unfoldes the light becomes more on the couple leaving the rest in darkness.
 
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Way too dark. Also, you're not trying to portray good and evil here, with stark black and stark white; it's supposed to be romantic. You need to bring out more softness, more detail, and more romance. Solid black is evil and scary; don't hide the romance in it. Bring in a few more steps than just black and white.
 
Need motivated light. It doesn't look good when you shine hard light on subjects. Make a room look like a room, not a theater stage.

That being said. Great start! Have fun learning!

I agree with David - need some more steps other than just solid black and brightness. Put in a few shades of grey here and there. Experiment with a greater range of tones.
 
It's good that you're interested in film noir.

Film Noir is a genre, yes, but it is a discipline, in a sense, just as much because it requires you to look at a color stage and imagine how it will look in black and white. It is difficult to master, but it's necessary if you want to shoot film noir, or black and white in general, for that matter.

Lucille Ball's wardrobe on I Love Lucy was often ridiculous - orange hair, red makeup, yellow polka dot dress, green shoes - because in black and white the colors morphed into a pleasing range of gray tones.
 
memento515 said:
Maybe. Hes doing noir, isn't it supposed to be stylized?

if this stuff (made with hard light) looks like a theatre stage, sign me up for it:

http://www.celtoslavica.de/chiaroscuro/dop/alton.html
Click to expand...

Totally, that stuff by Alton is beautiful. OK please scratch out the "it doesn't look good when you shine hard light on subjects". But everything else still stands. All of the still frames from that page show some kind of motivated light - it's motivated by the streetlights, moonlight, light coming from the other room, light coming from the ceiling lamp, etc.

Also, stylized doesn't necessarily mean 'unmotivated'. And if it's a good 'noir' film, it will be be using motivated light, unless it's some kind of dream sequence or something. And also, exceptions can be made. But generally, it's gotta be motivated or it's gonna look amateurish.
 
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