open sea, night, full moon and the pdx 10 at DVinfo.net

Lambis Stratoudakis · March 8th, 2004, 10:00 AM

For my short film that I am planning now I need to shoot some scenes in open sea. Because I will not have access to lights I want to ask if the PDX 10 capable to shot in the night with moon?
The scenario is: open sea, night, full moon, sky with stars. I will do the shot in my island Crete, Greece between Juni-Juli.
What I need is the silhouette of a diver with the reflections that the moon cast over the sea.
Colors & contrast can I fix in post editing.

But I was wondering if the will be any smear problem or anything else?
Because I am living in Sweden now I cant test the scenario.

Boyd Ostroff · March 8th, 2004, 02:24 PM

Have you seen this and this? Should give you some idea of the full moon, a star, reflection on the water. They are both shot at 1/60 sec using only the fire light and a cheap little flashlight as fill on the face. Also this and this which were shot at 1/30 sec after sundown in pretty dark conditions on an overcast night with no moon.

There is noise evident in all of these however. You might further reduce shutter speed to 1/15 sec as long as you don't mind the effect. But you are certainly going to be pushing the limit of the PDX-10 for this. All the examples above were tweaked in post as well, but that tends to accentuate the noise (grain). You'll have to be the judge as to whether that is acceptable.

I don't think you will see any problem with vertical smear, or at lest I didn't have a problem with it.

Lambis Stratoudakis · March 8th, 2004, 03:19 PM

Hej Boyd

Its is grainy for me. I need clean shots. So maybe it si a good idea
to rent a sony 170 with a anamorfic lens for one or two days.
Do you think that the sony 170 will do the job?

Lambis

Frank Granovski · March 8th, 2004, 03:29 PM

Quote:

its is grainy for me. I need clean shots

Of course it will be grainy. Lack of light will do that. A PD170 will do a little better, but using a 16:9 adaptor on it will probably steal more light. How about using a film cam, with higher speed film? Oops. You'll get grain with that too. :-))

Perhaps rent a DSR570; good low light, true 16:9.

How about just using your PDX10 during the day with a blue filter? You'll have the lux but the night effect.

Lambis Stratoudakis · March 8th, 2004, 03:36 PM

Film Camera!! Off cource that will be the ideal solution but I have not the money to rent a flim camera and a special Unterwater house . It is very very expensive.

But I was thinking if I ad the light of a UV light (Divers use to care arount this lights at nightdives) maybe I can light the scenery Unterwater and with this I have some intresting shoots and more light for the PDX10.
Later in postediting I can mask the dark parts and take away the noice. If I manage to shoot the diver without noice everything else is not a problem.

Lambis

P.s. do you know where on the web i can see some footage with blue filter?

Frank Granovski · March 8th, 2004, 04:21 PM

Oh, it's for diving. Yes, go with a light.

Everytime you watch a night scene on TV, you will notice slight shadows and a blue tinge, if you look for them. These are examples of the use of a blue filter, or blue lighting. So you don't have to look for an example on the web.

Mike Moncrief · March 8th, 2004, 04:27 PM

Hello,

It is going to be difficult to get the shots described in camera..Is the camera locked down?? (and hopefully calm seas if from a boat) you could shoot the person in the water at say dusk when the light is low, but not dark, and then add the moon and sky after in post.., adjusting the water shots to match more to the night color and light..I know Artbeats and some other stock footage houses have some pretty darn good shots of the night sky with a big old full moon hanging low on the horizon.. You could shoot the main character in the water and try to composite them together as best as you can..even going as far as to reflect the moon in the water to help sell the shot..
Just some ideas to try to help..

mike

Mike Moncrief · March 8th, 2004, 04:29 PM

Hello,

Ooopps, I just read that it is Unerwater shots?? yikes that changes things..Now that makes the difficulty factor a whole lot higher..
Mike

Lambis Stratoudakis · March 8th, 2004, 05:08 PM

Not all shots are underwater. But I can borrow from a friend a UWhouse for the PDX10.

You are right. Filming in dusk and ad the nightsky later.
Becauce ocean have a very "easy" horizon i dont think that it will be a problem in postediting.

I was trying now and some days to find a Day to Night trick with avids Color correction. Its not easy but it is posible.

I will post soon the resultats.

Maybe a combination off all thsi thinks, (Dusk, Blue Filter, UWlight ...) is the aswer.

Lambis

March 8th, 2004, 10:00 AM	#1
Lambis Stratoudakis Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malmö, Sweden, Crete, Greece Posts: 49	open sea, night, full moon and the pdx 10 For my short film that I am planning now I need to shoot some scenes in open sea. Because I will not have access to lights I want to ask if the PDX 10 capable to shot in the night with moon? The scenario is: open sea, night, full moon, sky with stars. I will do the shot in my island Crete, Greece between Juni-Juli. What I need is the silhouette of a diver with the reflections that the moon cast over the sea. Colors & contrast can I fix in post editing. But I was wondering if the will be any smear problem or anything else? Because I am living in Sweden now I cant test the scenario.

March 8th, 2004, 04:27 PM	#7
Mike Moncrief Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: orlando florida Posts: 426	Hello, It is going to be difficult to get the shots described in camera..Is the camera locked down?? (and hopefully calm seas if from a boat) you could shoot the person in the water at say dusk when the light is low, but not dark, and then add the moon and sky after in post.., adjusting the water shots to match more to the night color and light..I know Artbeats and some other stock footage houses have some pretty darn good shots of the night sky with a big old full moon hanging low on the horizon.. You could shoot the main character in the water and try to composite them together as best as you can..even going as far as to reflect the moon in the water to help sell the shot.. Just some ideas to try to help.. mike __________________ Mike Moncrief mikemoncrief@gmail.com www.themikemoncrief.com

March 8th, 2004, 04:29 PM	#8
Mike Moncrief Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: orlando florida Posts: 426	Hello, Ooopps, I just read that it is Unerwater shots?? yikes that changes things..Now that makes the difficulty factor a whole lot higher.. Mike __________________ Mike Moncrief mikemoncrief@gmail.com www.themikemoncrief.com

March 8th, 2004, 02:24 PM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Have you seen this and this? Should give you some idea of the full moon, a star, reflection on the water. They are both shot at 1/60 sec using only the fire light and a cheap little flashlight as fill on the face. Also this and this which were shot at 1/30 sec after sundown in pretty dark conditions on an overcast night with no moon. There is noise evident in all of these however. You might further reduce shutter speed to 1/15 sec as long as you don't mind the effect. But you are certainly going to be pushing the limit of the PDX-10 for this. All the examples above were tweaked in post as well, but that tends to accentuate the noise (grain). You'll have to be the judge as to whether that is acceptable. I don't think you will see any problem with vertical smear, or at lest I didn't have a problem with it.

March 8th, 2004, 03:19 PM	#3
Lambis Stratoudakis Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malmö, Sweden, Crete, Greece Posts: 49	Hej Boyd Its is grainy for me. I need clean shots. So maybe it si a good idea to rent a sony 170 with a anamorfic lens for one or two days. Do you think that the sony 170 will do the job? Lambis

March 8th, 2004, 03:36 PM	#5
Lambis Stratoudakis Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malmö, Sweden, Crete, Greece Posts: 49	Film Camera!! Off cource that will be the ideal solution but I have not the money to rent a flim camera and a special Unterwater house . It is very very expensive. But I was thinking if I ad the light of a UV light (Divers use to care arount this lights at nightdives) maybe I can light the scenery Unterwater and with this I have some intresting shoots and more light for the PDX10. Later in postediting I can mask the dark parts and take away the noice. If I manage to shoot the diver without noice everything else is not a problem. Lambis P.s. do you know where on the web i can see some footage with blue filter?

March 8th, 2004, 04:21 PM	#6
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	Oh, it's for diving. Yes, go with a light. Everytime you watch a night scene on TV, you will notice slight shadows and a blue tinge, if you look for them. These are examples of the use of a blue filter, or blue lighting. So you don't have to look for an example on the web.

March 8th, 2004, 05:08 PM	#9
Lambis Stratoudakis Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malmö, Sweden, Crete, Greece Posts: 49	Not all shots are underwater. But I can borrow from a friend a UWhouse for the PDX10. You are right. Filming in dusk and ad the nightsky later. Becauce ocean have a very "easy" horizon i dont think that it will be a problem in postediting. I was trying now and some days to find a Day to Night trick with avids Color correction. Its not easy but it is posible. I will post soon the resultats. Maybe a combination off all thsi thinks, (Dusk, Blue Filter, UWlight ...) is the aswer. Lambis