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light for night car shots

S

sikander

hi,

i am making a short horror ......and the entire shoot is in the car and out side in the jungle in night

can you people advice me over the lighting ...as it wold be in country sides proper electricity wont be available do i need a generator or ups and what lighting should i use
please help
 
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You'll need a genie if you are away from a plug...and that will be loud, so be sure to have extension cords and a blockade with blankets to muffle the sound.

As far as lighting, you can get a few battery powered 'bar lights' that you can put on the actors laps or somewhere below their faces out of site--this will look like the console lighting their faces up.

You can also use a small pepper to hit the actors through the window.

And lastly, you can use a light with a red gel on it behind the car for brake lights if the car is put in park and the actors get out. It looks pretty cool, and gives an excuse to light the background in red.

Those are just a few options.
 
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When we shot "Screaming in the Dark" we were able to talk a haunted house park attraction into letting us use their electrically wired and lighted woods at night. Thus all our night scenes really looked like night. We incorporated into the script a generator, though we only used it only for the 'controled sound'. The generator allowed for the explanation when lights were needed to be strong. For several other films, interior car scenes we used 'small' green and red jelled led lights as light coming from dash board. Stronger 'passing' lights were used from the exterior as freeway/road traffic, farm houses, traffic (red/green/yellow) and street lights. We always had a light dictated as the 'full moon'. For other films, night shots we used the head lights of other available cars diffussed by spreading out (and hand held) solid color bed sheets.
Every trick has its plus and minus. Film is more forgiving then video. You can always play a little in post. BUT, planning ahead is a must. Hope this helps.
 
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sikander, if your schedule permits it, consider shooting a lot of day-for-night -- it may be especially profitable if you're shooting in the jungle and there's very little direct sun. Then you can light with reflectors without electricity
 
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As Michael said, battery operated Kinos (fluorescents) on the floorboard or in laps to simulate the glow of the dash lights is probably best bet. You could also shoot some light in with blue gel for moonlight.
 
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Joker B said:
sikander, if your schedule permits it, consider shooting a lot of day-for-night -- it may be especially profitable if you're shooting in the jungle and there's very little direct sun. Then you can light with reflectors without electricity
Click to expand...

If you do shoot day-for-night...make sure there aren't any hard-shadows. If the canopy in the woods is thick and no hard light/shadows get through great...if not, do it on a cloudy day.

Good luck.
 
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thanks for so many advices .........i really loved the idea of shooting with light under the dash board ....shooting in day is not possible as the charm of horror will be lost ...as i want to show
a car without a driver on the road and the actor is getting scared ....in some of my scean the car will also move on its own .....can any one suggest me something with how to shoot a moving car without the driver .....and the actor in the next seat who is getting scared
 
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sikander said:
hi,

i am making a short horror ......and the entire shoot is in the car and out side in the jungle in night

can you people advice me over the lighting ...as it wold be in country sides proper electricity wont be available do i need a generator or ups and what lighting should i use
please help
Click to expand...
Advice: Get a DP! This is not for the director to try to handle.
 
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Director of Photography. Doing it yourself will only get you so far. You've asked about lighting for complicated scenes. They may not sound complicated to you, but inside of car, and night lighting is complicated. One think you will learn about filmmaking is it is a group of professionals that work with you to attain your vision. For some reason it takes newbies awhile to realize this. If you don't know what a DP is I will venture to guess you haven't even thought about professional sound.
 
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Ah, that was gonna be my big bit of advice, getting a DP.

It's definitely not something you need to be pulling your hair out for, and getting a DP should be relatively easy if you've already got the rest of the pieces in place. If you don't have the rest of the pieces in place, then take a deep breath, do your homework and just keep at it.
 
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If you don't know what a DP is, I recommend you get a few books on filmmaking, and start the process of familiarizing yourself with who does what, techniques, jargon, and the overall process of making a film.

Grabbing a camera and shooting a film without any knowledge of how it's done isn't going to lead to a very pleasing outcome. Or you can just get some people that DO know their way around a set, and follow their lead.

:) Good luck.
 
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Woah, why all the discouragement? Sikander, are you making a professional film to distribute around the globe and compete at festivals, or are you and some friends wanting to make a cool horror movie to show in each others' basements and learn how to make better and better films? Because if this is just a fun and sincere hobby you probably don't need a dedicated DP just yet. With these leads and some further research, and doing test shots and using your own judgment, you can probably figure out how to attain or approximate your vision, learn a whole lot (especially what not to do next time) and have an enormous amount of fun. Don't let us intimidate you from trying to attain your vision. This is a great resource for asking questions and getting leads, and now you've got some, so keep up the research and let us know how the shoot goes.

One book I'd recommend is The Digital Video Production Cookbook which shows amateur filmmakers how to create some pretty sophisticated visual effects with just a single light.
 
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I didn't feel like we were discouraging him...hmm...

I do agree with Uranium...he gives very good advice--just get out there and shoot a film! But first...as I mentioned previously...read a few books on the process of filmmaking. This can and will save you major headaches in pre-production, filming, and post-production.

Have fun.
 
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M1chae1 said:
If you don't know what a DP is, I recommend you get a few books on filmmaking, and start the process of familiarizing yourself with who does what, techniques, jargon, and the overall process of making a film.

Grabbing a camera and shooting a film without any knowledge of how it's done isn't going to lead to a very pleasing outcome. Or you can just get some people that DO know their way around a set, and follow their lead.

:) Good luck.
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if i had to read books and make films then i wouldnt have asked for help here .....and i am not a professional filmmaker buddy so i am asking advices from you professionals .
 
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Uranium City said:
Woah, why all the discouragement? Sikander, are you making a professional film to distribute around the globe and compete at festivals, or are you and some friends wanting to make a cool horror movie to show in each others' basements and learn how to make better and better films? Because if this is just a fun and sincere hobby you probably don't need a dedicated DP just yet. With these leads and some further research, and doing test shots and using your own judgment, you can probably figure out how to attain or approximate your vision, learn a whole lot (especially what not to do next time) and have an enormous amount of fun. Don't let us intimidate you from trying to attain your vision. This is a great resource for asking questions and getting leads, and now you've got some, so keep up the research and let us know how the shoot goes.

One book I'd recommend is The Digital Video Production Cookbook which shows amateur filmmakers how to create some pretty sophisticated visual effects with just a single light.
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thats cool and thanks uranium .....uranium you look wise to me can i mail you my script and can you please help me out .....rest i can discuss on mail
 
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I'm far from wise, and I'm not a DP so I probably wouldn't be able to help with your technical issues...my advice is to get as much advice as possible but eventually dive in and shoot it. Shoot it, edit it, see what you get. Learn from your mistakes, learn from your triumphs, rinse, repeat...
 
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It's not discouragement from my end, experimentation is cool for sure, but sooner or later filmmakers learn they need to start hiring crew, so my advice was to hire sooner than later. If he has no idea what a DP is, the he has no idea what 3-point lighting is. If your goal is to be a DP then never mind. If your goal is to direct, then work with a DP and other crew/friends that know a thing or two. Cheers.
 
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