How to film in the dark « Videomaker Community Forums

tbird88fornow
Member

im shooting a shortÂ scene in the dark. i dont know how to show all the details in the picture without using obvious light, i heard one person tell me to use a gel for the light, can somoneÂ explain what that isÂ if you know the answer please help

Thomas

Posted 3 years ago #
NewBirthProductions
Member

Shoot in the day time using a night Filter.Â Looks real

Posted 3 years ago #
robGRAUERT
Member

Â Is it supposed to be a dark scene or a night scene?Â

Rob Grauert, Jr
http://www.robgrauert.com
http://command-r.tumblr.com

Posted 3 years ago #
sham
Member

Â As you know, you need light to shoot video. If there is no light (complete darkness), you cannot get a picture, unless you use infra red.

Where are you going to use this scene anyway? In a documentary the unnatural colors you get from using infra red should be acceptable.Â If the scene is to be used is to be used in a feature, you have to "suggest" it is taking place in the dark.Â You have to light only a small area leaving the greater part of the scene in the dark, (what is called "low key" lighting). Underexposing, backlighting and using a bluish balance also help to create the illusion of darkness.

If it is an outdoor scene you could try "day for night".Â Severely underexpose, avoid seeing the sky, use back or three quarter lighting and do your white balance in tungsten light.

Posted 3 years ago #
Coreece
Member

>How To Film in the dark

You don't...

The art of lighting is like grasping an illusion.

basically, proper lighting is hard....in most cases it is a profession unto itself.

Posted 3 years ago #
birdcat
Moderator

VASST has a great lighting tutorial for sale from Victor Milt called "Light It Right" - An outstanding learning DVD and well worth the $$$ if you really need to light a scene yourself.

http://www.vasst.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=&category_id=2&product_id=81&Itemid=57

Bruce Paul
7Squared Productions
http://www.7squared.com

Posted 3 years ago #
butterflyguy
Member

Â Videomaker has a great tutorial on making a film look like it was shot at night, while still shooting during the day.

Posted 3 years ago #
brandon0409
Member

If you watch Heros, the episode while they were having the eclipse was shot during the day while they used a filter to make it look darker.

They did the same thing in Star Trek Generations at the end.

Posted 3 years ago #
Andy D. Hajime
Member

I myself is directing and acting a couple of night scene for a small 20min project. Using a filter would be an option but it need proper adjustment to the setting or the dark scene would look faked.

The difference on filming a night scene in the day and in the night is, the surrounding sound of crickets and silence in the air. In the day, too much additional noises which would make you do extra work just to filter those sound.

For myself, what was taugh by a friend who does professional filming, was to use a huge board, covered it with an aluminum wrapper (make sure it's not crumpled) and using a strong spotlight (probably the big yellow torches).

Flash the light on to the wrapped board, making it reflect the light to the surroundings. It only covers a few portion of the area though, so you got to have additional helper with addition boards and torches to emit lights to areas you want to film.

It nothing much but I hope this information helps those budget film makers who are tight with funding.

Â

Cheers

Â

Posted 2 years ago #
yourvideographer
Member

Alright, I do not like declaring myself as an expert on different subjects, but this time I will on this subject. The reason why I say this because I worked the overnight shift as a News Photographer for years at a TV Station. In the news business, you always had to get the shot no matter what, because you can't just show black and say hear you go. Shooting in the Dark, made me get very creative. I was always looking for where the light was around my subject and plus there were times where I used my gain, but I always got the shot. My producers loved me for that. I will give you some light sources to look for: Street lights, flashlights, car lights, flares, your sun gun or other Photog's sun guns, your light kit, fire, the inside light in your car, cell phone light, the moon, lanterns, emergency lights from tow trucks, police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, and the lights on buildings that light up the outside. You can also use a light reflector to reflect the light on your subject. If I can think of anything else I will post some more. I hope this helps you, Good Luck.

Posted 2 years ago #
XTR-91
Member

Here is a tutorial that tells how to get a fair amount of light, less picture noise, while creating the nightime effect. Nothing fancy, really. Film at dusk and add the right set of effects during post.

http://www.videomaker.com/article/14001/

Posted 2 years ago #
yourvideographer
Member

The light from Fireworks is another light source. Also, there are people that suggest to read books on this subject, but I would suggest to go talk to other videographers, News Photographers, people in the business first to get ideas and then read some books to do some of the homework to. But I believe talking to people who do this all the time should be your first priority and your second priority is to read some books.

Remember the people and publishers who write and produce books, the bottomline is to make money and that is the most important factor for them. So, I would suggest on getting books to go to the library and check them out or do your research and find out what is the one book everybody reads for lighting. Believe me, I have been getting books for how to start a business and there are so many books that just makes your head spin, so I checked out a lot of books from the library and I bought one book from borders. I have taken bit and pieces of the books and applied them. I hope this helps you, Good Luck.

Posted 2 years ago #