lighting I can't get outside daylight to be bright enough without lighting.

H

harmonica44

I can't light outside cause I don't have permission. I also wouldn't have time. I am about to shoot the last scene for my short film, hopefully if the actors will all show up and it all goes according to plan. But where I live daylight is not currently bright enough to light my camera lately. There is a good amount of grain. How much grain could I stylistically get away with, if I want to make it look professional as possible for a newcomer?

Here's a test shot, of what daylight looks like. I shot it with the shutter at 50, the aperture at 4.5. cause I have to zoom in from far for the shots I want, which causes a decrease in aperture. And I shot it with the ISO at 800. I also shot it set on 'tungsten light', to make daylight look blue for moonlight, since I'm doubling for night. Too much grain? If so, how do I get rid of it during daytime, without being able to light? I can only hope that it will bright enough when I shoot the scene that day.

http://youtu.be/_Aeamuk_dRQ
 
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Okay thanks. For the faking day for night scene though... I had to shoot half of it in day, but the sun went down during shooting, cause of some delays we had, and I ended up having to shoot the rest of the scene at night. It turned out well cause I was able to shoot it under streetlights, that gave us enough lights, without having to resort to lighting without permission. So will I be able to put both the scenes shot at night, with the scenes shot at day, and make them match and both look like night in After Effects?

Another thing I forgot to do which I was told on here, was shoot at 60fps under fluorescent. I had in on 50fps for the tungsten light scenes before, but forgot to move to 60fps for the fluorescent. It seems to look fine though in playback, unless I am not seeing the what happens when one does that.
 
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harmonica44 said:
So will I be able to put both the scenes shot at night, with the scenes shot at day, and make them match and both look like night in After Effects?
Click to expand...

You have the footage now, try it and see.

As for the shutter speed, that's what you set to 60 not the frame rate of the lights flicker. If they aren't flickering then you're fine.
 
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Depends on the fluorescent lights... newer balasts don't have the same problems as older ones that cause color to shift between green and purple as they pulse current through the gas inside the tube.
 
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In this are a few day-for-night sequences.

Begin @ 14:30 or there abouts, the D4N begins @ 14:44.
It appears a nice overcast day helps a bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H09xnhlCQU

Another one from 19:13 into 19:15+.
Note the absence of shadows on the ground.

At 29:15 are some for real night--for-night shots. :P


I know you're wanting to complete this bank robbery sequence inside, but a nice overcast day outside might help average or flatten out the highlights and shadows, which shucks and jives with what was in that Shoot Your Friends/Corridor Digital semi tutorial. (More like a suggest-orial).


PS. If you bother to watch this "award winning" short, be sure to note the wretched audio.
Good Lord.
(And not "of the Rings" kind).
 
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Well I wonder if it would match cause I would need to know if I have to reshoot it. On the night shot the sky is all black, and the only light is from the streetlight. You cannot see the actor's clothing and it is all pitch black. However in the day shots, you can see all of the actors clothing. So I guess I should I black out the clothing in the day shots to match?
 
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I dunno.
I can't see anything from here.

Just open up your editor, pop in one night scene you've shot and one day scene from inside anything you've shot, snip them both down to five second shots, put four each alternating end to end, and then monkey with the color filters to see if you can get the two to match up good enough for government work.
Let the whole 40sec sequence run.
If anything catches your eye you know it will others' as well.

Double your pay for the overtime! :lol:
 
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Okay thanks. The shots will have to last longer than five seconds because of what happens in them. As for the shots, shot under white flourescent light by accident, I will have to redo them I think because they are just too grainy, to be able to tell what's happening. I didn't want to use the AWB because if it's set to auto, the camera will change white balances if I pan the camera, and the action scene, had a lot of panning.
 
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harmonica44 said:
The shots will have to last longer than five seconds because of what happens in them.
Click to expand...
No they don't.
You're NOT editing for content.
You're editing for a test.
It doesn't even matter what's going on in the scene, only your ability to match/mate different lighting conditions to something acceptable.

NIGHT --> DAY --> NIGHT --> DAY --> NIGHT --> DAY --> NIGHT --> DAY
5sec ---> 5sec --> 5sec ----> 5sec --> 5sec ---> 5sec --> 5sec ---> 5sec

Who cares WTH's happening shot to shot.
Does it all geehaw?


harmonica44 said:
I didn't want to use the AWB because if it's set to auto, the camera will change white balances if I pan the camera, and the action scene, had a lot of panning.
Click to expand...
Yep.
Sounds about right.

Next time I imagine you'll be on the lighting situation a little better, eh?

GL
 
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I still wasn't able to finish the last scene. After going through it, there is a problem. It gets so dark it's black and will have to reshoot that small section again. Should be done soon, if no other problems arise!
 
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Yep.
Been there. Done that.

I guess that's what makes the external monitors for your camera so popular! :)
(I'm playing with a weenie little consumer camcorder - not an option. Waah.)

It does take a certain amount of time in the saddle to "see this" knowing your should "interpret it as that" for later.

Looks great on the screen.
Looks like poop on the computer.

Niiiiiiice.
 
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Yeah. Maybe in the future I'll get an external monitor. Or I can overlight, and just bring it down in post if necessary for future shoots. Or why don't they invent cameras to look how they do on bigger screens?
 
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harmonica44 said:
Or I can overlight, and just bring it down in post if necessary for future shoots.
Or why don't they invent cameras to look how they do on bigger screens?
Click to expand...
Nah, remember - you're supposed to flatten out the lighting when you record so that there are fewer overexposed blowouts and underexposed shadows. It gives your editing software more data to push one way or another.

And no one wants to pay for better quality little monitors.
 
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My rule of thumb for shooting outside in daytime is - bring the in-camera light meter to the center of the scale and step it down one step, to get a bit darker. Otherwise all the shots look overexposed :-S i know it is not a correct light meter, but it works for me :)

PS. and just incase, if you'll be asking how do you bring in-camera light meter - press on shutter release button half way, wait for a second and the light beter will pop up at the bottom of the screen.
 
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Sometimes though the meter, says it is just right, but it is a little darker to the point of grain, then it should be. So the meter is off sometimes, and not reliable it seems.

Why can't I just remove the grain after bringing the brightness up? Once I get my new computer I will see, but wonder if I should just set a date to reshoot it now, and get it over with.
 
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