Can you make well lit scenes appear dark in Post Production?

[DIY]

I'm working with a GoPro Camera and shooting in CamRaw. Suppose I light the scene well enough for GoPro to capture good details, is it possible in post production to make the scene look like it was shot in low light and how well would it look? Thanks!

 

[Beatlesfan1225]

Absolutely - It's a lot easier to make a scene look dark when it was filmed well lit than to make a scene look dark if it was filmed in... well, the dark. Filming in low light is normally a bad idea, and it's much more difficult to save a video that was shot in low light. It's remarkably easy to darken down a video that's been well lit, and it'll look much better, because you're no longer trying to fight the lack of light.

 

[directorik]

There is a big difference between shooting in low light and lighting
a dark scene.

The problem I see in shooting a well lit scene and darkening it in
post is it could be flat. A well lit dark scenes will have different
levels of light and dark.

 

[knightly]

Film riot just did an episode on this last week. They mention to make sure to light as if it were night time (so the lights are coming from the right directions for the time of day. You'll get a much cleaner image darkening in post (or in camera using the iris/aperture) than if you shot a darker scene.

 

[Nikola Damov]

Absolutely!

Just be careful, if you light it too much it will indeed look flat and the effect will be obvious.

 

[PaulGriffith]

Be sure to practice first to see what it takes. It's totally do-able, but never go in to production relying on VFX you aren't 100% sure you can pull off and know all the steps for.

Also, on an all auto camera like a gopro, be careful not to over expose. Another dead giveaway.

 

[David.rhsc]

There is a big difference between shooting in low light and lighting
a dark scene.

The problem I see in shooting a well lit scene and darkening it in
post is it could be flat. A well lit dark scenes will have different
levels of light and dark.

This.

The important thing to remember is that the human eye is a adaptation machine. If the scene is flat and then darkened, the eye will adapt and "open up" further flattening the scene while writing counter to your goal.

If you look carefully at night scenes you'll notice a few small points of brightness here and there. This forces the eye to adjust to the brightest light level thus perceiving the rest of the shot as intended - dark.

 

[DIY]

Thanks for all the great replies. Going to try it out.

I started a new thread on lighting options here: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?p=363946#post363946 Would love to hear opinions on what bulbs to use to light it. Thanks again!