The Jean-Jacques Beineix look - how to achieve it?

[cinemafou]

Hey guys,
I have some experience in directing but not too much experience with color grading or how to achieve some certain look (or film it the right way to achieve this certain look).

I am wondering how to achieve the "orange days" and "blue nights" look. This look is present a lot in early Beineix films. What do I have to do before filming? What do I have to do after filming? How are the lights placed? How do I prepare such shots in general?
The look I'm looking for is present in this Beineix film Betty Blue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VtI68QAGts
Check the first few minutes to see what kind of grade he uses in the day time and from 6:00 onward check the night scenes (especially 6:50!). Can somebody explain how is this grade built?

Also check his first film Diva from 1981. (this scene is happening early in the morning tho) and some screenshots on second link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqbj9zEb8cI
http://screenshotworld.blogspot.com/2007/07/diva-1981.html

So, how do I achieve such "Beineix" look? His colors are very strong. Huge part of his films are also mise en scènes. He uses red, green, blue, yellow and cyan a lot in his films (he is a pioneer of Cinéma du Look btw - check on wiki). Costumes are in this colors and also locations. I am a huge fan of Beineix and I would like to understand how to prepare and film shots to get this type of look. Sorry for my english, hope you understand what I'm trying to ask and that the questions aren't too hard.

So in short, how do I prepare the shots (lightning wise, in DSLR...) and how do I grade them to achieve this look? Thanks for futher help guys!

 

[ChimpPhobiaFilms]

Hello there new guy!

When you are shooting interior shots, use CTO and CTB gels on your lights. CTO (Color Temperature Orange) will add a warmish look to the scene, and CTB (Color Temperature Blue) will do the exact opposite. For exterior shots, adjust your camera settings to perhaps get a warmer look, then push that look farther in post. What I mean by "push it father in post" is that you should add some yellow, orange, or red to the footage to give it a warmer feel. You should also consider shooting at golden hour, a time when the sun is rising and setting, giving a nice golden glow over everything. Try pushing the contrast too.

For the coolish outside look, add some blues to the footage and darken things up a little bit.

Wardrobe, props, and sets should have plenty of rich reds, oranges, and yellows. Some hints of blue and green would greatly compliment the dominant colors as well.

 

[cinemafou]

Hello there new guy!

When you are shooting interior shots, use CTO and CTB gels on your lights. CTO (Color Temperature Orange) will add a warmish look to the scene, and CTB (Color Temperature Blue) will do the exact opposite. For exterior shots, adjust your camera settings to perhaps get a warmer look, then push that look farther in post. What I mean by "push it father in post" is that you should add some yellow, orange, or red to the footage to give it a warmer feel. You should also consider shooting at golden hour, a time when the sun is rising and setting, giving a nice golden glow over everything. Try pushing the contrast too.

For the coolish outside look, add some blues to the footage and darken things up a little bit.

Wardrobe, props, and sets should have plenty of rich reds, oranges, and yellows. Some hints of blue and green would greatly compliment the dominant colors as well.

ChimpPhobiaFilms, thanks for the warm welcome and reply! I just discovered this forum and already like the community here

I have some new questions for you:

1. What kind of stock light would I need to use those filters on? White light, yellow light, neon green light? I'm guessing that there is a bit of color wheel in the play here in style of neon light + CTB = turquoise light?

2. After applying CTO's and CTB's, according to what should white balance then be set? To the type of stock light I'm using or custom white balance (what looks best on screen + the image i want to get?)?

3. Someone told me that the nights should never be black, so you have to light the dark areas up a bit, so they have some kind of color, is that true?

4. Do you consider (from the video) nights in Betty Blue warmer or colder? To me they seem warmer, just like the daylight parts of film even though they are kind of blue. Diva morning walk scene is kinda cold, at least to me.

5. You said "For the coolish outside look, add some blues to the footage and darken things up a little bit."
By that, do you mean that I should film with lights that have CTB on and then in post add a bit of blues? Or I should film without CTB and then just add some blues in post?

Sorry for so many questions, but your answers and new knowledge really give me a push to creativity hehe

Thanks!

 

[wheatgrinder]

to cameras, film and digital,
sunlight is blue
tungsten lights are orange


You can buy tungsten bulbs that are daylight balanced.

This is a film \ video thing, not an eyeball thing. 10 minutes with your camera and playing with White Balance and shooting various lights sources will teach you everything you need to know.

Experiment 1)
Set camera white balance to "indoor" or "tungsten" press record.
Point the camera at an old fashioned light bulb, then a florescent light, then out a window.
Play back the footage. Notice the "color" of the different light sources.

Experiment 2) (change one variable in experiment 1)
Set camera white balance to "outdoor" or "sun" and press record.
Point the camera at an old fashioned light bulb, then a florescent light, then out a window.
Play back the footage. Notice the "color" of the different light sources.

Now more hands on. Buy some CTO and CTB (change to orange and change to blue) gels. Rerun each experiment but this time put CTB gels on the tungsten lights... see what happens.

 

[ChimpPhobiaFilms]

For most of your questions, I recommend you just experiment and play around with lighting and filters until you've come up with something you like.

3. Someone told me that the nights should never be black, so you have to light the dark areas up a bit, so they have some kind of color, is that true?

It depends on what camera you are using. For example, shooting with DSLR's at night can result in noise.

4. Do you consider (from the video) nights in Betty Blue warmer or colder? To me they seem warmer, just like the daylight parts of film even though they are kind of blue. Diva morning walk scene is kinda cold, at least to me.

Generally warmer.

5. You said "For the coolish outside look, add some blues to the footage and darken things up a little bit."
By that, do you mean that I should film with lights that have CTB on and then in post add a bit of blues? Or I should film without CTB and then just add some blues in post?

Perhaps with filters, with color grading, with both, or with neither.