shooting an extended scene in direct sunlight

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knobs

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I'm shooting a scene for a film in a lemon orchard in direct sunlight (we're going to match for that), with a dvx100 (not the A or B), all handheld with a skeleton crew (boom op and maybe someone to hold a bounce), and I was looking to see if anyone had any advice or general tips on how best to shoot it. We're not allowed HMI's. Also, there may or may not money available to rent a matte box. If we do, from the previous scouts I've found that at mid day a grad isn't going to do much good since there is so much kick from the trees in the orchard. What filters would you recommend?

A few more specific questions:

- Has anyone used a yellow blue filter? I've heard from another DP who uses the dvx100 regularly that it clears up a blue tint that affects the dvx100 in direct sun and he recommends it highly.

- Do you find you get better color saturation in direct sun with a higher shutter speed? I do, usually on action sequences, but since the scene happens in real time I am concerned that if the scene suddenly comes to a standstill or vice versa, that, A. 250, 500, or 1000 may seem out of place for the shot or B. if I switch to 48 or 60 for the more static shots it will be jolting to the audience. Does anyone have an opinion on that? The scene often jumps from lots of movement to more still shots.

- If I do rent out a matte box I was thinking of getting a black pro mist, a polerizer and maybe an ND. Any other suggestions?

- What scene files settings for the basic 100 would you use?

Any useful info would be greatly appreciated.

Knobs
 
Well, first off shooting in direct sunlight (bright) is always going to look a bit odd with video since it just doesn't have enough light to cover it. You're either going to have your brights blowing out or your blacks being really deep (which looks odd in sunlight). I'd go ahead and let your brights blow out a bit but not too much as that makes it look really video-ish. Overlighting somewhat is good anyway with Panasonic cameras to reduce noise and get a clean image.

Anyway, I'd suggest setting zebra for 100 and only letting blow outwhat you want to (you actually get a bit of extra detail). Go ahead and throw on the ND filters. As for the blue, I'd simply mess with your color temperature a bit in the scene file after you've white balanced. That always gives me the look I want.
 
I concur with above, but I think that any combination of filters/grads would not be as effective as simply shooting on an overcast day/or golden hour. If it's a long scene, I'd rehearse in the afternoon, and as the light got right start doing takes.
 
shooting an extended scene in direct sunlight

Thanks for the replies. As for overcast, it won't match the scenes before and after, which it has to. Also, the scene is almost ten pages, and my little crew and cast is only available for one day(!!!!!), so golden hour (golden 45 minutes) is out of the question. It's digital, the acting and writing is paramount and we'd like to not have to rush it. I was thinking about using a large silk perhaps, which has worked well for me in some circumstances and not so well at others. It can get windy where we're shooting. Anyone have an opinion?

I'll try working with the color temp, and keeping the zebras at 100, thanks for the suggestion.
I'm still unsure as to shutter speed, I guess I'll see once we get shooting. In certain respects, considering the circumstances, it's going to look the way it looks, I'm just trying to do damage control, like have a number of different varieties of bounce cards and anything else that might help.
Aiy-yi-yi.

Knobs
 
Glad to be of help.

I'd like to once again suggest that if you're going to error, error on the side of over-lighting. If some stuff blows out, it'll give the feel that it's really hot and bright (don't do it too much though or it looks awful). On the other hand, if you let lower stuff turn to pure black, it just looks damn wierd in color. I did a shoot once where I tried that and it looked really odd having a bright sunny day with so many pools of black. When shooting in black and white this looks fantastic but in color it just looks bizarre. Let it blow out a bit and just give yourself some warm colors to make it work with the "hot" look.

As for shutter speed, in my experience it's best if you just leave it alone (just like the gain). Messing with the shutter speed usually ends up producing clips that have great images but look awful in motion. Unless you are going for a wierd feel with the scene keep it on the preset.

Do you have a DP? If so, go through your shots with him you can plan this out better. You may not be able to afford lights but if you get some white boards or better some with aluminum for bounce that'll probably help getting a more even range of light.
 
shooting an extended scene in direct sunlight

Yeah, a DP friend who shoots outside a lot just suggested a low contrast filter, which may even out those low blacks you're talking about. He said to be careful with them though, as they can supposedly soften the image too much. The problem, one of many as you can see, is that the scenes before and after, particularly after, this real time 10 page scene, are late afternoon (the entire 17 minute film takes place in real time), so if I blow it out too much it will suggest even more that it's 1 or 2 in the afternoon. If I had a crew to speak of I could use a large mirror board on a combo and put an opal a few feet in front of it for back light. Not so on this. Thanks again for the tips.


Knobs
 
shooting an extended scene in direct sunlight

I'm not sure yet, most likely we'll simply be cheating any angle I can to get the best shot possible. 2 person scene, doc handheld over the shoulder's, wides and CU's. Considering the fact that there's no crew to speak of, I guess the answer could be yes.

Knobs
 
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