need help

[newcomer2004]

sorry!..i'm new to this site.
i will be filming a short video this fall, using GL2 and dvx100a
which i will borrow from a friend. we want the video to look
cool not warm. any idea how i can achive it. is that part of the lighting during production, camera setting, or postproduction using software effects. please help.

 

[direktor]

Re: need help

I think I am going to try to take a shot at this. Everyone, please jump in if I am way off and on crack, but here it goes :-[.

Cold looking - as in theme?
I am a professional artist. I have been for the past 8 years, so my first piece of advice is to consider color as it applies to location, time of year, wardrobe, etc. I think that needs to almost be the first consideration.

As for the camera and lens is concerned, I'd shoot darker, maybe with a faster shutter speed (1/500) to give the aesthetics of the piece a sharper, quick look - like ice or taught power lines on a cold morning. In the summer, everything droops, moves slower - know what I mean. Give a treatment to your shots and then consider your shutter speed, manual iris settings (ALWAYS USE MANUAL IRIS), and your depth of field.

I tend to fall back on color theory being an artist and then I fall on my studies of cinematography when it comes to capturing my images for a certain look I want.

Design your film. Design your shots; give them a lot of thought, that is why I answered first with location, color, wardrobe, time of year, etc.

Am I rambling?

As for post production, well sure, there are a lot of things you can do there I think. You could darken your blacks (also can be done during shooting too), deaden your whites a little, deepen your blues. Stay away from warmer colors unless you want to separate your actor from their background and frame them like Kubrick did in "Eyes Wide Shut". He used colors for depth - warm colors come towards you and cool colors go away from you...stuff like that. Also using contrasting grays with blues and even usage of some greens too - - all will give you a cooler look.

Gosh I hope I've helped.

-Declan