Shooting in B&W (Black and White)

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diego80

Active member
hello everyone,

I would like to ask, as my second 3d, what differences are between shooting in color and shooting in BW.

what are the most relevant issues that I have to pay heed to?

I believe that shadows are much more "dangerous" than in color and, definitely, in my opinion the relation between lit and dark areas become really prominent in this kind of shhoting. (i hope not to be wrong)

what are good cameras to go bw? i.e.: is the dvx 100 adequate?

thanks a lot for now

diego
 
The DVX100A is fine for Anything. MY twilightfest film was shot using it and it is in Black and white. I think It looked great after adding the effects and the right compression.
 
Shoot some test footage and see how the lighting is affected when you go B&W in post (I am assuming the B&W effect will be done in post). That way you're not trying to figure things out while on set.
 
Not to rehash this idea, but because blue tinted sunglasses will filter out parts of your color spectrum, leaving the image more monochrome (although not truly), it will make the tonality of the image completely wrong from what your final image will be. And in the end, black and white is ALL about tones.

Please don't use this method for 'previewing' black and white in reality.
 
You may not be able to use a blue filter, but I think it's the wratten 80 filter. Those are often times used for previewing a scene in black/white.

I think one thing to keep in mind is that colors do matter. I remember hearing about some world war II movie where the nazi's were dressed in some odd colors (purple and yellow, maybe?) because that gave the contrast that they were looking for.
 
i second and vouch for the need to pay attention to colours...

never shot B&W video but i know in still photography, my make up artist will boost/alter the makeup before hand so that it translates to B&W properly. it will look a little weird as you shoot but the end B&W result is stunning.
 
Use a B/W monitor as a guide.

Considering that most images that are shot these days get extensively graded and cc'd in post...dont sweat it too much. In saying that i....t is definitely worth doing tests to see how wardrobe, sets, skin and make up looks in B/W (grey scale tones)
 
The differences may be crucial

The differences may be crucial

I must disagree with the idea of just applying the B&W in post. The classic example we old B&W still photographers were taught, is the red apple and green leaf, evenly lit: in color, the difference is striking, while in B&W, both tend to appear as roughly the same gray value, and your exciting image becomes as dull as dishwater.

If you are going to render in B&W, you must be aware at the time of shooting how the colors in your frame will translate into monochrome. Think of all the movies that use techniques so that the main characters will stand out visually. Often, a contrasting color is designed in the wardrobe. However, this contrast alone, unless there is also a value contrast, will not always work in BW. Instead of imagining that your lead will standout in warm mid-tone colors against a cool mid-tone background, for instance, you will have to use value contrast to do this. Sometimes, lighting will achieve this, but if you are broadly soft lighting for low contrast, the distinction you want may disappear. Computer technology can do phenomenal things, bit fixing in post may be time-consuming and costly.

There is a school of thought that any scene should be designed to work in either color or BW, and the argument has merit, in that it obliges the photographer/ filmmaker to be fully aware of color, value and lighting contrasts, but it is not universally applicable.
 
"I must disagree with the idea of just applying the B&W in post. "

Easier said than done.

eg. It is possible to get hold of B/W motion picture film but its a mjaor task to get it processed anywhere. Unfortunately we must adapt. (Similarly, not all video cameras have the capabilty to shoot in B/W)

I concur with the balance of the post above.
 
Everyone is forgetting one HUGE FACTOR for black and white imaging:

The actual channels being used to capture/display the image.

In traditional black and white photography, most people use films that only respond to blue and green light (thus the reason for a red light in the dark room).

When you have a somewhat "lack luster" image in RGB monochrome, it could in fact look much better if you deleted a color channel entirely.

For example, the Red apple and green leaf. It could look like crap in RGB monochrome, but work better if you just deleted the red or green channel.

I highly recommend shooting with the idea in mind that you'll be getting rid of a color channel entirely in post.
 
cardmaverick said:
Everyone is forgetting one HUGE FACTOR for black and white imaging:
I highly recommend shooting with the idea in mind that you'll be getting rid of a color channel entirely in post.
Click to expand...

So if you removed the blue channel it would give you an orange or yellow filter look?

(edit: removing the blue channel from RGB monochrome image)

Thanks.
 
diego80 said:
hello everyone,

I would like to ask, as my second 3d, what differences are between shooting in color and shooting in BW.

what are the most relevant issues that I have to pay heed to?

I believe that shadows are much more "dangerous" than in color and, definitely, in my opinion the relation between lit and dark areas become really prominent in this kind of shhoting. (i hope not to be wrong)

what are good cameras to go bw? i.e.: is the dvx 100 adequate?

thanks a lot for now

diego
Click to expand...

The Official Black and White viewing filter is a Wratten #90. It does not show the world in 'black and white', but a 'deep amber'.

The problem with the Wratten #90 these days, is 1) it's amber... and some people can't figure out how that translates in to B&W... never did, but viewing scenes through the filter allowed one to 'see' values and learn to map those to approximate B&W film response... 2) the B&W film response varied (i.e. how the film actually responded to the various colors in the scene. Pan-chromatic film was so named because the film was created to respond better to green/red end of the visual spectrum, as silver halide is more 'naturally' responsive to blue (hence in old photos people look far 'darker', especially if women wore red lipstick... than one would naturally see in color.) But back to digital film... The 'digital' sensor is not like silver, and has more sensitivity to the red and infra red end of the spectrum than either silver based film, or humans... hence the ability to remove the infra-red filter, and have a 'cheap' infrared camera... That fact alone will give a suggestion on attempting to 'emulate' silver based film processes at some level... but the engineers of the various sensor devices have attempted to make the resulting 'response' more closely matching the human eye... (with that in mind perhaps a #25 filter, ' red', would be better, but I've not tried this...).

Anyway, once having evaluated the scene for monochrome, evaluated the 'shadows' and 'highlights' with a meter... and perhaps also the viewing filter... then take the footage... (and blow it like I did a few weeks ago, because I didn't calibrate the rental camera (new to me) relative to effective ISO value of my meter... but I digress...).

Once having done that... then use Channel Mixer in say Final Cut, to then get a monochrome image, and adjust the contribution of RGB to adjust the image to your satisfaction... or at least some acceptable form of monochrome...

As a note, you can also use one of the FC Channel Mixer controls to meld both your color and monochrome images together to get very interesting color muting effects.

------

As a note, I've probably not used a Wratten #90 in 30 years... and for the most part tend to meter with a spot meter to see if 'shadows' are dropping into blackness. or highlights are blowing out into whiteness... Many motion picture people seem to use incident meters to get the light... but that seems to me to presume one knows the reflectivities in the scene, and hence, adjusting for the incident reading 'works'... since I've been into still photography, and 'outdoors', I've tended to spot meter to find the lighting ratio, and adjust from there.
 
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What Ulophot seid....

....and watch some B&W filmes as reference.
Shooting B&W is an art form, much more than in color.

Frank
 
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