cinematography Tinting Windows

[jackdlm]

Not sure exactly where I should put this thread but since it's technically lighting I thought it'd suit here. Feel free to move mods.

I am shooting a film in my school in a few weeks time and we're only allowed in the school until around 10pm each evening. It gets dark around 9pm here, so I need to somehow tint the windows to make it look darker as the film is set in the nightime. I've been looking at window tint but they seem to do the opposite of what I want - make the school look dark from the outside but it doesn't make the outside look dark when standing inside.

So I'm thinking of a relatively low-budget method to darken the windows, and if you suggest black card or curtains then I'm game, I was just wondering if somebody had a different work-around.

Thanks

 

[chilipie]

Do you want the outside to be black or just darker? One problem with tinting is that although it will make the outside look darker, the lighting's still going to be inconsistent over time. Unless you need to see outside, I think it would make more sense to completely block the windows.

 

[jackdlm]

Outside to be darker really to appear as nighttime - or as close as we can. We don't need to see outside much but in the school there are sections which are JUST window so they will be in shot from time to time. Luckily the classrooms have blackout blinds.

 

[Ozhair]

If you have areas that are pretty much just windows, it's going to be a nightmare to black out effectively.

I'd suggest scheduling your shoot to get what you need.

While it's still light, shoot required scenes in one of the rooms with blackout curtains. Around 8:30, no matter where you're up to with that location, move to one of the locations with all windows and start shooting one of the scenes set there. Start with any shots that face away from the windows. By 9pm, when it's dark, you can turn things around and get the genuinely dark windows in shot.

The next day, do the same, picking up the scene in the blackout curtain room where you left off the previous day, then again moving to a windowed location once the lighting starts getting to what you need.

It means you'll be chopping the scenes up and doing them in bits and pieces from night to night, but it's an effective, low-budget solution.

Cheers

 

[NickClapper]

There are couple of things you ought to consider:

Are you wanting to shoot inside, in perfect electric lighting, but just have the events taking place at night?
Or are you wanting to shoot inside, at night and with the light being affected by the time (ie make it look like moonlight...etc.)?

As chilipie says if you only partially block out the light at 4 o'clock in the afternoon then after 9 pm the light's going to look very different. That said if you want to create moonlight then you can set up a lamp that will give you more control over the light, especially if you are willing to progressively alter it as the light changes...

 

[jackdlm]

Yes we're shooting inside with lights on "at night".

I think we're going to have to do that, shoot the blackout rooms first and then when it gets later shoot the rooms with windows - only problem is the make-up and clothing changes. But we'll figure it out.

Thanks