WB to simulate moonlight?

[Ben_B]

I can't agree here. In film school back in the day we shot a test with this in mind. The issue is we think of moonlight with a blue tint to it because the other lights around us are warmer when we see the light. Technically yes, moon light isn't that color, however filmmaking is in the business of manipulation and when we watched a true representation of moonlight vs a theatrical representation it was more clear to the audience that it was in fact moon light and not some outside light. Now I'm sure over the course of the years a realistic setting may become more desirable and understood on the screen but I'd be surprised if it happened in the course of 6 years. And in the end it is after all about the artistic decision to do such a thing. If it is the desire to make something authentic and not so much theatrical then by all means go for it.

Yeah ok, then white balance for the lights and do it in post I say.

But I would consider the color temperature difference if I were you...moonlight is not going to be nearly as blue as daylight...I say white balance for white and then make it just barely blue in post...not the underwater crapfest that is the photoshopped screen grab from my film (incidentally named Moonlighting, yes like the crappy show with Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard from the 80s, and yes it is a noir with a private investigator, shutup, it's for a college audience we don't know about that show ) above.

 

[PaPa]

because blue has always been associated with night time, and it looks pretty

 

[Ben_B]

because blue has always been associated with night time, and it looks pretty

There are lots of films that have night stuff and do not utilize blue and they're usually better off for it.

Urban night is more of an orange and I would think of forested night as straight white. Blue usually smacks of conations of day-for-night even if it's shot night for night IMHO.

 

[PaPa]

There are lots of films that have night stuff and do not utilize blue and they're usually better off for it.

Urban night is more of an orange and I would think of forested night as straight white. Blue usually smacks of conations of day-for-night even if it's shot night for night IMHO.

Oh for sure, I'm not saying one is better, it really depends on the flavor of the film. When you look at fantasy films, sci fi's or thrillers, they generally use the blue, where as films that would be considered more realist don't use the blue influence.

 

[ThereIsNoLimit]

Here's what I'm not understanding? Why the obsession with Blue?

Moonlight has a color temperature of 4100k, vs 5000-6500k for daylight....therefore it should be warmer (in typical language where blue is cold), not that cold daylight blue...and if moonlight was actually bright enough to light a scene by, and you white balanced for it (which you would do) it would appear white anyway....so seriously...what's with everyone talking about blue?!

Put some lights up, white balance for them...the end. What matters is that you light the scene in a believable way so that the diegetic source is moonlight and that it makes sense for the audience. The light should be white unless you're creatively wanting something else....but I don't see why blue would be what you want...moonlight is warmer than daylight, and you'd be white balancing anyway....shouldn't you want your scene to be white....

If you're doing a white scene than the only point gels have is if you're using different kinds of lights with different color temperatures...but you're not....so just throw your lights up in a believable way, white balance it, and shoot it...tweak in post if you want, but why go for blue? Is blue the look of the film? Are you doing it in post for other scenes? If so do it in post for this one.

Moonlight may not really be that blue but: "The most sensitive wavelength for rods is 505nm (blue-green). Thus, blue-green lights will generally look brighter at night than red lights."

http://www.aoa.org/x5352.xml

And full moon is something like 0.027 FC so yeah, slightly blue may actually be the way to go if you want realistic.

 

[Nitsuj]

Oh for sure, I'm not saying one is better, it really depends on the flavor of the film. When you look at fantasy films, sci fi's or thrillers, they generally use the blue, where as films that would be considered more realist don't use the blue influence.

That is my point. I guess I should add that I'm more of a horror/sci-fi/fantasy guy and the tests we were doing were for a Sci-Fi flick I was doing. It has to be taken into context of the genre and setting I guess. Personally I find the realist approach boring but that is my taste.