Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Shooting Dark Club Scene With Scarlet

S

Sean Connery Smith

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 26, 2013
Messages
111
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Have to shoot a dark club scene for a music video. Using a Red Scarlet MX, - what is the best process to go with so I do not get a lot of grain. Crank the iso up a bit, shoot with the lowest aperture my lens can deal with.. Or maybe give it more light and then darken it down when I color grade.

I will be using some Contax Zeiss Lenses with canon adapters. 50mm 1.7, 18mm 2.0

Just want to check the proper settings/workflow
 
All of the above...to taste. I would start with your lens and lighting first. Then ISO as needed.
 
Sean, the Contax 18mm is not an F2, it's an F4. Most likely too slow for dark interiors. A 28 f2 may be better. Or a Sigma 18-35 1.8 if you want to go modern.

Consider keeping your compression low - 5:1 - to keep footage as clean as possible

Best of luck!
 
Hi Sean

Firstly don't take your ISO over 800 make sure you've got a good black shade done.

Also, as you suggest light the scene and take it down afterwards. The main thing is to protect your shadows by making sure your left goal post remains clean.
 
Adrian Weinbrecht said:
Hi Sean

Firstly don't take your ISO over 800 make sure you've got a good black shade done.

Also, as you suggest light the scene and take it down afterwards. The main thing is to protect your shadows by making sure your left goal post remains clean.
Click to expand...

What Adrian said!
 
Beware of your eyes becoming accustomed to the dark and then miss reading the monitor or EVF. I have been involved in several reshoots over the years where cinematographers have been caught by this. Trust the histogram or any of the other exposure tools. I also find directors can get caught by this and complain that the images are too bright as their eyes have also become night adjusted. As the required light levels on a set have dropped over the years this issue gets worse. When I get the call it's "too bright" I protect my base exposure by simply dialling the ISO down until everybody is happy.
 
Tom Gleeson said:
Beware of your eyes becoming accustomed to the dark and then miss reading the monitor or EVF. I have been involved in several reshoots over the years where cinematographers have been caught by this. Trust the histogram or any of the other exposure tools. I also find directors can get caught by this and complain that the images are too bright as their eyes have also become night adjusted. As the required light levels on a set have dropped over the years this issue gets worse. When I get the call it's "too bright" I protect my base exposure by simply dialling the ISO down until everybody is happy.
Click to expand...

Great point! Didnt Arthur Albert, DP of Better Call Saul, say he often did same on the series? I believe he setup a LUT so video village always looked darker..as directors kept saying it was too bright!
 
Sean Connery Smith said:
Have to shoot a dark club scene for a music video. Using a Red Scarlet MX, - what is the best process to go with so I do not get a lot of grain. Crank the iso up a bit, shoot with the lowest aperture my lens can deal with.. Or maybe give it more light and then darken it down when I color grade.

I will be using some Contax Zeiss Lenses with canon adapters. 50mm 1.7, 18mm 2.0

Just want to check the proper settings/workflow
Click to expand...

My advice would be to set iso to 800 while shooting then avoid the left goalpost as far as possible, this means fill light. And open up until you see the stoplights turn on (right hand side of histogram) then close down / ND so the stoplights just turns off. Basically "shoot to the right" as far as you can. Possibly leave flashing lights burned out etc. To leave some good exposure in the blacks. Then adjust iso in RCXP to taste so your blacks get black etc.


But I guess you will be shooting wide open and no ND. Still the trick is fill light, if it looks like a normal night club to the eye then there will be trouble, better make it looks like people dancing in a pretty bright room with strobes and lights ontop of it then pull contrast and push down the blacks. = clean no noise dancefloor :)

Dragon LLOLPF HDRx and minimags and lowest compression would be the way to optimize quality.
 
In reference to ISO rating, having done a night time forest scene on MX for a feature. Shoot with fast lenses and keep the ISO low then boost in post, certainly don't go above 800 .
 
Regarding filling the scene with light and then darkening it later, what if there are colored club lights you want to capture as well in the scene? Lighting under the bar, flashing colored lights on the dance floor, maybe decorative colored lighting in various places. If that is the scenario does that mean you have to go with a lower lens since the lighting will probably wash out that color and it interacting with the environment?
What other options or techniques would you suggest?
 
Marc,
My approach is to use a meter to get my base exposure correct, then I make an adjustment from there with my aperture to deal with getting clean blacks. As an example, if my meter gave me an f4, I would shoot the scene at an f2.8 or f2.0/f2.8 split(based upon the environment). As for maintaining the colored lights, are they in the shot or are they a source helping provide illumination? If they are in the shot, they'll usually keep their color if you are exposing a stop or two over metered exposure. If there are sources for illumination, you may have to carry the practical and gelling a fixture that matches the source. Now take into account the f stop on the lens you want to shoot at. Are you wanting more or less depth of field?

There is actually a lot to this, are the colored lights hard or soft sources? What direction are the sources of light coming from? What's their intensity? And last but not least, is there smoke in this environment which sounds like there could be some sort?

And in the end, does this help push the emotional tone of the scene, because in the end, that is what matters most.
 
Keep it at ISO 800 or lower, use the available light (Nice different color club lighting), supplement the club lighting with your own lighting to fill in and give yourself the proper exposure, maybe add a little haze in the air (if a haze machine is available), then grade to your intended look.
 
I had to shoot in a club recently with the dragon, I told them unless they can get lights it's not the right camera. They wanted up to 300fps with no lights.... Struggled getting correct exposure even at 25p. I thought the footage looked rubbish but neat video saved the day. My advice is make sure you get some lights
 
Owen Rennie said:
I had to shoot in a club recently with the dragon, I told them unless they can get lights it's not the right camera. They wanted up to 300fps with no lights.... Struggled getting correct exposure even at 25p. I thought the footage looked rubbish but neat video saved the day. My advice is make sure you get some lights
Click to expand...

Dragon or not, what camera can shoot 300fps as a clean image without lights?

Just fill up the club with a soft top light to illuminate the darkness so you get the exposure right, then pull it back to the right levels in post.
 
Typically 640-800 ISO is best for outdoor situations. You want to keep the ISO around 400. Mess with FLUT a bit. If its too dark light the subject. Honestly a LED light on camera, to fill shadows with a F/2.0 lens @ ISO 400 should give you a decently clean image, then play in post. Cranking ISO on RED MX with a lens that is f/2.8 or slower is just going to give you a lot of noise. It all depends on the lighting in there also.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top