How To Shoot Day For Night? at DVinfo.net

Joseph Andolina · January 2nd, 2006, 03:13 PM

Can someone instruct me on the best technigue for shooting day for night? I'm using the XL2, 24pn at shutter 1/48, -3 Gain. It is a exterior shot of a Bar. And another of a resident's house. Is it something more so achieved better in post as apposed to trying to acheive in camera using the ND filter in camera? any advice would be much appreciated.
Joe

Bob Thompson · January 2nd, 2006, 10:39 PM

Joseph,

You will need to shoot with sunlight so that you can have shodows, underexposure the shot by a couple of shots, you may need to shoot with the tungsten setting so as to obtain a "blue feel" . Inside the bar, place tracing paper (frost) on the windows and direct some strong lights towards the paper.

Hope this is some help

Georg Liigand · January 3rd, 2006, 08:20 AM

The overall look certainly has to be done in post. For example Magic Bullet for Premiere Pro comes with a day to night effect which does it pretty well.

Frank Moss · January 3rd, 2006, 08:35 AM

thanks for that info... *pulls out note pad and scribbles furiously*
great question.

Nick Jushchyshyn · January 3rd, 2006, 08:35 AM

Best to shoot at dusk, rather than mid day, so you can still have day light levels to work with, but still have lights and neon signs on. If you shoot mid day, you will have a VERY difficult time getting the lighting to look "correct" in camera OR in post. The best day-for-night conversions are a combination of in-camera technique and post processing.

If the camera is stationary, you can easly do a day-for-night conversion using a digital matte painting to really punch up the lighting in areas where there is no character movement. If you have matchmoving tools, this can even be done with a moving camera.

I would highly recommend shooting actual night-time still images of these locations using a good digital SLR and various shutter speeds to gather reference images of how these places really do look at night.

Joseph Andolina · January 3rd, 2006, 08:26 PM

thank you all for all this invaluable info to my question :) Much appreciated!!!

Will be trying your suggestions...

Joe

Richard Hunter · January 5th, 2006, 02:50 AM

Hi Joseph. I just saw episode 2 of "4400", the one with the park vigilante. That must be the worst day for night shooting in modern times. It looks like it was shot in bright sunlight with clear blue skies, and then had a brutal curves effect applied in post. Whatever you do, please don't copy that one!

Richard

Bill Hamell · January 5th, 2006, 04:09 PM

A thought for discussion…
What about waiting for an overcast day? Then shooting day for night.

Bill

Larry Huntington · January 5th, 2006, 04:19 PM

I got good results from shooting at dusk, then setting my white balance to "the light bulb" which gives it a bluish tint, then setting my ND filter to 1/32.
It worked great, and although I could have colored it in post, the more you can do in camera I feel the easier it is to work with in post. In post I did lower the black levels and tweaked with the color a little. Worked great for my XL2.

Joseph Andolina · January 5th, 2006, 05:45 PM

As far as "overcast day"...well I might be in luck since here in WA State, "Overcast" is a way of life during this season :)

Once again, thanks for all responses to my question. Love this forum!!! Great is an understatement to say the least.

Joe

Rick Betancourt · January 7th, 2006, 11:06 AM

Hello Joseph,
Here's a clip that I produced for a promo that had to occur at night. It was shot in the BLAZING sunshine in early afternoon. (it was hot!). I basically shot it normally, making sure I had enough detail in shadow areas, which will help in post. I then just did the day for night effect using only the color-corrector in Final Cut. Setting up the scene with a true night shot of the city-scape, as well as a full moon, crickets, auto headlights on, etc are important details to remember to assist with the nightime illusion. Hope that helps!
Rick

Here's the clip:

http://carolwoodproductions.com/eventpromo.html

Andrew Todd · January 20th, 2006, 07:11 PM

i dont like day for nite.. its allright for shots that dont include the sky but for anything with a background that would include sky the resulting video will look very fake. check out the example above.. the day for night works for most of it except when they were getting out of the car because you can see the well lit sky in the background.. that particular shot would have been better off by throwing alot of light on everything around.. then using the day for nite changes in post.. it would give you the dark nightime look but still have a realistic looking background

Zach Anderson · January 23rd, 2006, 07:40 PM

This thread really intrigues me. I notice in some movies "Crash" that they kept the dome lights on. Has anyone experimented with adding different color dome lights?

I feel this thread needs to stick around for a little bit. Any comments on the glow feel in "Collateral" in the taxi?

Matthew Nayman · January 23rd, 2006, 08:22 PM

A lot of people dont do what looks real, but instead do what looks good. If you really want night time shots, in an urban area, make sure to throw in some red back lighting, as Mecury Vapour lights (street lights) will NEVER colour correct on video. Check out the highway scenes in Collateral. They are tinged red. It slightly suggests night to the audience. Blue is excellent for day for night, a nice dark congo blue.

If you want to see how they did the best day for night I have ever seen, watch the extra features on Castaway with Tom Hanks. All the night time shots were shot day for night.

very cool.

If you look around at night, you will be hard pressed to find any hard shadows (from moonlight). Overcast days with even lighting are good. And if you can not show the sky (too much ambient light) it looks better.

January 2nd, 2006, 03:13 PM	#1
Joseph Andolina Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Everett, WA Posts: 178	How To Shoot Day For Night? Can someone instruct me on the best technigue for shooting day for night? I'm using the XL2, 24pn at shutter 1/48, -3 Gain. It is a exterior shot of a Bar. And another of a resident's house. Is it something more so achieved better in post as apposed to trying to acheive in camera using the ND filter in camera? any advice would be much appreciated. Joe

January 3rd, 2006, 08:35 AM	#4
Frank Moss Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: St. Louis, MO. Posts: 26	wow guys... thanks for that info... pulls out note pad and scribbles furiously great question. __________________ -- Frank Moss nine 13 media http://nine13media.net/

January 3rd, 2006, 08:35 AM	#5
Nick Jushchyshyn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA Posts: 548	Best to shoot at dusk, rather than mid day, so you can still have day light levels to work with, but still have lights and neon signs on. If you shoot mid day, you will have a VERY difficult time getting the lighting to look "correct" in camera OR in post. The best day-for-night conversions are a combination of in-camera technique and post processing. If the camera is stationary, you can easly do a day-for-night conversion using a digital matte painting to really punch up the lighting in areas where there is no character movement. If you have matchmoving tools, this can even be done with a moving camera. I would highly recommend shooting actual night-time still images of these locations using a good digital SLR and various shutter speeds to gather reference images of how these places really do look at night. __________________ Nick Jushchyshyn Matchmoving, Compositing, TD imdb

January 5th, 2006, 04:09 PM	#8
Bill Hamell Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Mystic Ct. Posts: 477	A thought for discussion… What about waiting for an overcast day? Then shooting day for night. Bill __________________ Cinematographers Bring Shadow To Light

January 7th, 2006, 11:06 AM	#11
Rick Betancourt New Boot Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 8	Day for Night in Post Hello Joseph, Here's a clip that I produced for a promo that had to occur at night. It was shot in the BLAZING sunshine in early afternoon. (it was hot!). I basically shot it normally, making sure I had enough detail in shadow areas, which will help in post. I then just did the day for night effect using only the color-corrector in Final Cut. Setting up the scene with a true night shot of the city-scape, as well as a full moon, crickets, auto headlights on, etc are important details to remember to assist with the nightime illusion. Hope that helps! Rick Here's the clip: http://carolwoodproductions.com/eventpromo.html

January 2nd, 2006, 10:39 PM	#2
Bob Thompson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 340	Joseph, You will need to shoot with sunlight so that you can have shodows, underexposure the shot by a couple of shots, you may need to shoot with the tungsten setting so as to obtain a "blue feel" . Inside the bar, place tracing paper (frost) on the windows and direct some strong lights towards the paper. Hope this is some help

January 3rd, 2006, 08:20 AM	#3
Georg Liigand Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 214	The overall look certainly has to be done in post. For example Magic Bullet for Premiere Pro comes with a day to night effect which does it pretty well.

January 3rd, 2006, 08:26 PM	#6
Joseph Andolina Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Everett, WA Posts: 178	thank you all for all this invaluable info to my question :) Much appreciated!!! Will be trying your suggestions... Joe

January 5th, 2006, 02:50 AM	#7
Richard Hunter Trustee Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Lipa City Batangas, Philippines Posts: 1,110	Hi Joseph. I just saw episode 2 of "4400", the one with the park vigilante. That must be the worst day for night shooting in modern times. It looks like it was shot in bright sunlight with clear blue skies, and then had a brutal curves effect applied in post. Whatever you do, please don't copy that one! Richard

January 5th, 2006, 04:19 PM	#9
Larry Huntington Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Grass Valley, California Posts: 350	I got good results from shooting at dusk, then setting my white balance to "the light bulb" which gives it a bluish tint, then setting my ND filter to 1/32. It worked great, and although I could have colored it in post, the more you can do in camera I feel the easier it is to work with in post. In post I did lower the black levels and tweaked with the color a little. Worked great for my XL2.

January 5th, 2006, 05:45 PM	#10
Joseph Andolina Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Everett, WA Posts: 178	As far as "overcast day"...well I might be in luck since here in WA State, "Overcast" is a way of life during this season :) Once again, thanks for all responses to my question. Love this forum!!! Great is an understatement to say the least. Joe

January 20th, 2006, 07:11 PM	#12
Andrew Todd Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Saint John, CANADA Posts: 633	i dont like day for nite.. its allright for shots that dont include the sky but for anything with a background that would include sky the resulting video will look very fake. check out the example above.. the day for night works for most of it except when they were getting out of the car because you can see the well lit sky in the background.. that particular shot would have been better off by throwing alot of light on everything around.. then using the day for nite changes in post.. it would give you the dark nightime look but still have a realistic looking background __________________ video : xl2 / letus35xl / bogen 503 photo- canon 1dmkII - bronica etrsi

January 23rd, 2006, 07:40 PM	#13
Zach Anderson New Boot Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 5	This thread really intrigues me. I notice in some movies "Crash" that they kept the dome lights on. Has anyone experimented with adding different color dome lights? I feel this thread needs to stick around for a little bit. Any comments on the glow feel in "Collateral" in the taxi?

January 23rd, 2006, 08:22 PM	#14
Matthew Nayman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 917	A lot of people dont do what looks real, but instead do what looks good. If you really want night time shots, in an urban area, make sure to throw in some red back lighting, as Mecury Vapour lights (street lights) will NEVER colour correct on video. Check out the highway scenes in Collateral. They are tinged red. It slightly suggests night to the audience. Blue is excellent for day for night, a nice dark congo blue. If you want to see how they did the best day for night I have ever seen, watch the extra features on Castaway with Tom Hanks. All the night time shots were shot day for night. very cool. If you look around at night, you will be hard pressed to find any hard shadows (from moonlight). Overcast days with even lighting are good. And if you can not show the sky (too much ambient light) it looks better.