cinematography Questions for those who know about shooting on film...

[liezl]

Hi everyone!

I've just got a few questions I'm trying to get cleared up for a student production that we're shooting on 16mm.

1. The director wants the colours to be quite saturated (but not over the top). Is there a certain film stock that has this quality? Or should this just be done in post?

2. There is an exterior night scene in the script; however, shooting at night in our exterior location (remote bushland) is highly impractical and dangerous. We thought we could shoot day-for-night, but I'm not really sure how that works. Do you guys have any suggestions?

3. 3/5ths of our shoot will be outdoors (in the bush), so we were planning on ordering 3 rolls of daylight stock and throwing on a filter (80A?) when shooting the interior scenes. This will work, right?

Thanks in advance for the help, guys!

 

[directorik]

Hi everyone!

I've just got a few questions I'm trying to get cleared up for a student production that we're shooting on 16mm.

1. The director wants the colours to be quite saturated (but not over the top). Is there a certain film stock that has this quality? Or should this just be done in post?

Shouldn't this be covered in class?

The answer isn't a short one is why I ask. Films stock can
offer different qualities - not know what, exactly, the director
wants there is no way to suggest stocks. Saturated colors on
film is often done with filters and often done in post. Again,
no way to offer any suggestions without knowing exactly
what the director is looking for. Are you the DP on this project?

2. There is an exterior night scene in the script; however, shooting at night in our exterior location (remote bushland) is highly impractical and dangerous. We thought we could shoot day-for-night, but I'm not really sure how that works. Do you guys have any suggestions?

Shooting day-for-night on film is very, VERY difficult. People
with decades of experience get it wrong all the time. You can
use a blue filter, avoid the sky and any shadows and it might
be acceptable. You sure have set the bar high for your first
16mm project.

3. 3/5ths of our shoot will be outdoors (in the bush), so we were planning on ordering 3 rolls of daylight stock and throwing on a filter (80A?) when shooting the interior scenes. This will work, right?

It should, But that's a gross generalization. What stock are
you using? Is it rated for the 80A filter? Are you using a
negative stock or a reversal?

 

[chilipie]

3. 3/5ths of our shoot will be outdoors (in the bush), so we were planning on ordering 3 rolls of daylight stock and throwing on a filter (80A?) when shooting the interior scenes. This will work, right?

Depending on your lighting budget, I might be inclined to shoot on tungsten balanced film and use a filter outside - you might need the extra light for your interiors. (Roger Deakins shoots almost exclusively on tungsten film partly because of this.)