Ok, so the scene is going to be in the woods at night, i have 2 can lights and a 1000 work light. i can get the lights to the woods, but the scene is going to be of me sitting on a log with torches on the sides of trees for light, i was thinking to actually light real ones but then i thought maybe its possible to add the light in post of what it would look like? I need some advice on this any help is appreciated!
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new short, need lighting help in post
- Thread starter peter917
- Start date
You can't add light in post. You can make certain areas brighter (increasing noise and decreasing quality) but you can't add light. You could shoot it at a brighter part of the day, and make everything else darker, but I wouldn't suggest that.
As a DP, I cannot reccomend enough getting it right on the day rather than leaving it all for post.
As a DP, I cannot reccomend enough getting it right on the day rather than leaving it all for post.
It's feasible to add the torches in post. Even if your camera isn't locked off, you can motion track the torches in... but... you'll STILL need the main lighting on the scene to flicker.
You can do the flicker in post two ways:
1) The crappy way is to add a duplicate track of video on top of the first layer. Reduce the opacity to maybe 10%. Add a color correction filter to this second track and then time this filter to flicker... maybe one cycle every 24 frames or so, but NOT consistently 24 frames. If it's too consistent it will look mechanical. Getting the timing right will take you a while to do. The coloring is easy, though. Just slightly dim, then slightly orange, dim, then orange, etc.
2) There is a better way to bring in flame flicker in post but it gets technical depending on what software you're using. What ARE you using?
I heartily agree with, Jay Rox, though. You should try to create the firelight on set. You can either use a real campfire off camera. Or you can aim a light (with an orange gel) AWAY from the actor and toward a crew person holding a reflector. The person shakes the reflector and thereby bounces the flickering light toward the scene. If you don't have a reflector, you can make one with cardboard and foil. This could be noisy, though, which is especially problematic for the actor's close ups.
If you're choosing to use CGI strictly because you need the immolation to look instantaneous, you should realize that there are ways to shoot this sequence where you use real torches on the trees and through clever edits, you can make the audience believe the presence and the igniting is instant. However, if you're opting for CGI because of fire safety, then by all means, safety first, production value second.
Shanked
You can do the flicker in post two ways:
1) The crappy way is to add a duplicate track of video on top of the first layer. Reduce the opacity to maybe 10%. Add a color correction filter to this second track and then time this filter to flicker... maybe one cycle every 24 frames or so, but NOT consistently 24 frames. If it's too consistent it will look mechanical. Getting the timing right will take you a while to do. The coloring is easy, though. Just slightly dim, then slightly orange, dim, then orange, etc.
2) There is a better way to bring in flame flicker in post but it gets technical depending on what software you're using. What ARE you using?
I heartily agree with, Jay Rox, though. You should try to create the firelight on set. You can either use a real campfire off camera. Or you can aim a light (with an orange gel) AWAY from the actor and toward a crew person holding a reflector. The person shakes the reflector and thereby bounces the flickering light toward the scene. If you don't have a reflector, you can make one with cardboard and foil. This could be noisy, though, which is especially problematic for the actor's close ups.
If you're choosing to use CGI strictly because you need the immolation to look instantaneous, you should realize that there are ways to shoot this sequence where you use real torches on the trees and through clever edits, you can make the audience believe the presence and the igniting is instant. However, if you're opting for CGI because of fire safety, then by all means, safety first, production value second.
Shanked
i am using after effects cs5 and I changed my idea, I'm going to construct the torches out of cardboard to look like ones in mien craft, so anyone know how i could go about making it look like the torches are the only thing giving off light? i have a 1000 watt work light and 2 clamp lights and i will hopefully have a orange colored gel also by the time i go to shoot.
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