Shoot Bright and Darken in Post ?

[Jorge Alarcon]

Most of the stuff that I film, specially night stuff, I usually film the scene dark because its just more of my style, I really like contrast and on my stuff.

My question is, I spoke to another DP who told me to shoot most stuff a little brighter and then darken it in post, instead of filming dark and brighting it in post.

Obviously I always try to get everything perfect when we are shooting so we don't have to do much in post, but lets just say if we had to pick.

How is it better for the color corrector ? To shoot brighter and darker in post, or to shoot darker and brighting in post ?

 

[Bob Gundu]

Sensors love light. You really don't want to crush your blacks and you don't war to blow your highlights. Within that spectrum, if you keep your exposure closer to the brighter (right side of the histograph) you will get a much cleaner image (less noise).

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

Brightening in post stretches the material and decreases "thickness" and by that precision and fine tuning abilities.
Darkening a brighter material uses a thicker negative with more data, providing more precision.

 

[Jorge Alarcon]

Thanks guys, that confirms a lot of stuff for me.

 

[Marc Wielage]

My question is, I spoke to another DP who told me to shoot most stuff a little brighter and then darken it in post, instead of filming dark and brighting it in post.

That to me is the wisest choice. It never hurts to shoot a test, then try a pass in color-correction to see what kind of range you have. I think it generally helps to fill a little more for digital, knowing you can crush it down if necessary in the final. You naturally have to use contrast to suggest day or night, interior or exterior, whatever mood you're going for. The shadows also help sell the idea of a night scene, and those you have to deliberately place during photography.

My usual saying is, "darker is easy. Brighter is hard."