What camera would be best for me when it comes to color grading?

[Josh Bass]

It sounded like he’s willing to pay for an official shoot day there.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh well they told me before that it's workable if I get permission in advance. I was asking about what kind of camera I would need for better ISO quality, if such a large place was lit, and in order to get a more closed aperture, is what I meant before.

Plus wouldn't shooting guerrilla style look more amateur because then you cannot set up lights and equipment compared to non-guerrilla?

[Brian Drysdale]

Unless you've got a big budget you won't be able to light large areas like a car park (nor will you have the time), you can only deal with the foreground, the rest will be available light. Shooting with f6.5 lenses is dumb, so best dropped for this type of stuff, there's no point in putting in high ISOs in a drama because of the noise.

A good guerrilla film maker could probably do a better job than you with the lights at the moment

[Ryan Elder]

But I don't think there is this hard rule that all dramas cannot have higher ISOs is there?

As for dealing with the foreground only, well when the actors are running around a lot, the foreground becomes the background, and goes back and forth there. What if I just hire a DP to take care of all that and the lighting?

As for the aperture, I am okay with a very shallow DOF during action scenes, as long as the audience is. It's just whenever you see it in movies, the action scenes are never shot on a shallow DOF, so if I did, I would be doing something I've never seen done before, and would be something new, as long as that's okay?

But as far the parking garage being too large to light, I said this before, and it was said to me before to still light it anyway, and that I was making excuses.

[Brian Drysdale]

There's no rule, if you can live with the noise at high ISOs that's fine, but what may be acceptable to you may not be to a DP, especially on a large screen. A native 800 ISO is pretty common these days, while some Sony broadcast cameras are 2000 ISO, you can shoot shoot in a lot of places with that, as long you're not using crazy stops.

Audiences are well used to productions shot at f2 these days.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, but as far as shallow DOF, goes are there chase and fight scenes shot at f2 nowadays though?

[Brian Drysdale]

Yes, of course they are, it depends on the nature of the scene.

Some films have been shot at f1.4 for some scenes and that goes back to the 1970s, so nothing new, Kubrick even used f0.7 for more static stuff, Your limitation is the skill of the focus puller, so f2.8 would be more sensible for you. Action scenes tend to be wider shots, so you may not be aware how shallow the DOF is, plus big productions have big lighting rigs, while you don't.

You can light the foreground, but with a large car park you need a lot of lights, a smaller one can be more manageable. Power and running cables will also ne an issue if you;re short of time, I suspect we only saw a corner of what I assume is a car park, so you're not providing enough information for your full lighting requirements.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, it's just what if the actors move from the foreground into the background during the action. That was my concern since it's an action scene where there is going to be a lot of moving around, from background to foreground.

When you say you suspect we only saw a corner of the car park, do you mean that parking garage shot I posted way before?

[Pete Cofrancesco]

This is why I recommended a set a fast cine primes, stay away from the telephoto lenses with shallow dof and use wider lenses, but you don't listen. If you shoot in high gain this scene wont match the other scenes.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

What about the whole lighting the foreground, but not the background, if the actors are moving around a lot and the background becomes the foreground, and vice versa?

[Brian Drysdale]

Talk to your DP about this, the background won't be in darkness, the foreground will just have better modeling than you get with the standard car park lighting, You can use localized spots in areas of interest in the background if need be

You want your film to have a consistent look, so you don't want to be ramping up the ISO between scenes or even shots. .

[Ryan Elder]

Sure. It was also suggested to me that I open up the aperture wide for the master, but then for the closer ups, close it and use more light then.

If that's a good idea. But we would have to make sure the light matches the master shots then.

[Brian Drysdale]

You keep the stop constant throughout the scene for constancy, that's the way you shoot scenes in a drama.

[Paul R Johnson]

If you change the lighting setup between the master and the shots it will never edit together will it! Shadows will be brighter and the hotspots stand out. Do you really have the budget to light this large an area? It's a lot of kit and a lot of power.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay but there are other movies where the aperture looks like it changes from shot to shot, unless it's saying the same, and on those cameras, the change is just more noticeable.

As for lighting, I see what you mean. But let's say I do not like the parking structure, cause it's too big too light. It will have a guerrilla look to it, lighting wise. The other scenes will not have a guerrilla lighting look. So won't think style of lighting look inconsistent with the other scenes then, if I choose not to try to light it?