Day For Dawn

[Al Lougher]

Hey all

I have a scene coming up in my short film that takes place in an alleyway during dawn (or rather twilight). The alleyway (see pic below) is pretty shaded from the sun during the day so am thinking to just shoot day for night with some ND filters and color in post. Would this be more realistic than shooting the entire scene at night?

 

[Scott Crawley]

Is this one of the frames that you wish to capture? Snap a few from the angles you hope to use. It might also be helpful to include a double.

The file says you took this at 10:40AM... so the alley runs roughly N-S, and you want to shoot a daytime hour for twilight... is that right?

At first glance it looks to me like you are better starting after 2:30 or 3PM, but that depends a little upon your preferred angles. If you could include GPS data we could better plot sun position...

 

[BRANDON JAMESON]

Is this one of the frames that you wish to capture? Snap a few from the angles you hope to use. It might also be helpful to include a double.

The file says you took this at 10:40AM... so the alley runs roughly N-S, and you want to shoot a daytime hour for twilight... is that right?

At first glance it looks to me like you are better starting after 2:30 or 3PM, but that depends a little upon your preferred angles. If you could include GPS data we could better plot sun position...

Scott, just sending you recognition for your generosity of time and talent for other REDUsers..BRAVO!

 

[Al Lougher]

Hey Scott - thanks for the info. I guess what I'm trying to figure out is that if everything is in shade, or we shoot when most of the alleyway is in shade, can dawn be replicated effectively without actually shooting at dawn. I'm guessing things to avoid are bright sky and harsh shadows and to ensure camera angles do not include any sunlight (like shooting directly down the alleyway as in the example pic). I've shot night before and lit it differently but dawn/twilight has a different look -- a mixture of day/night but pretty sure that highlights/shadows would be less etc.

Cheers.

 

[Scott Crawley]

Yes, I get it and I think you are on the right track. If you shoot anything but dawn or twilight I would avoid shooting any skyline. I would still be inclined to wait until 2PM+ when the sun is on the other side of the building and not shining on you at all. Any shadows that the sun casts onto your scene will break the illusion because they will be too short. Hard, long, lower contrast shadows are what you want I think.

Oh and if you plan to shoot wet asphalt, any sun on your side of the building will be reflected in your shots, likewise destroying the illusion of dusk.

 

[Al Lougher]

Thanks Scott that all makes sense. I guess we'll go run some tests with that I mind. Maybe I'll post the results back here later.

Thanks again.