Rick Wise
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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You are teaching yourself well. Of course there is no one answer since the “right” lighting depends on the story. You imply a tough bar scene, so a film noire look probably works very well. Most of these variations have too much warm fill light for my tastes. A very light bounce of the bluish key into the shadow side would be my preference, or, no fill at all as in one of your versions.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
And don’t forget shutter angle….. That too, on some cameras, can be adjusted to eliminate or create flicker. Takes a camera with a true shutter that is variable…..
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
If the lenses you are using are RX lenses, they are adjusted for the prism and for the smaller shutter opening. The prism chews up 1/3 stop of light, and the shutter opening another 1/3 stop.
As always, tests highly recommended. They can reveal all sorts of problems, including the light meter being out of calibration.
You might want to check out my post about using a light meter on video shoots in the lighting forum.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Ahhh, it’s a dark day indeed when I have to disagree with my very esteemed colleague, Todd Terry. It’s my experience (50+ years….) that if you have to err with negative stock, it’s “better” to err toward over-exposure rather than under. (With video, it’s the opposite.)
But getting it right is best….. At ISO 50, 24 frames/second, with the sun 3/4 full on the subject, here in Oakland CA at 4:00 in the afternoon, May 6, 2017, the f/stop would be around f/11-16 split; completely back-lit, f/4-5.6 split. If you meter is telling you f/22 I suspect that either you have an extremely bright sun, or your meter needs to be recalibrated. Or possibly the following:
You don’t specify if you are using a reflective/spot meter, or an incident meter. At whatever you point your reflective meter, the meter will give you a reading that ends up exposing that object as middle gray/ Zone V. Perhaps you are pointing a spot meter at a Caucasian’s skin; Caucasian skin is generally Zone Vl. So opening up a full stop from the reflective meter’s reading would get you roughly correctly exposed “white” skin. If the sun is directly behind the camera, f/22 opened to f/16 could be OK. Of course, it’s rare you would want to position the camera so the sun is directly behind the shooter; flat, flat, flat.
As for the image looking “dark” in the viewfinder, that’s an unfortunate function of most film cameras when they are stopped down to anything over f/11. Because of that fact, I always did my best to keep the f/stop below f/11 by adding polas.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Many thanks for getting back to me. I do have a quad desktop. But you may have identified the real problem: only 8 GB of RAM. So maybe it’s worth it to upgrade to 16 BG, rather than buy a whole new computer, much as I think I’d prefer an i7. Perhaps that’s not so important. This i5 is rated at 3.0 GHS.
I’m pretty sure there are only two RAM slots, or else there are 4 but currently filled with 2 GB each, so I’d have to throw away what I have, or so I think without really knowing….
The system is 64-bit.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Superbly put and right on point, Todd. (As always.)
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
The key to making this effect work is to find a transfer house that transfer at any speed you specify. Back when Orson Wells did it, he had to use an optical house, printing frame x frame. I suppose one could do something similar in post, 100% digitally.
Some day, Todd, when you want to throw a couple of hundred bucks into an experiment, get 100′ of 7213, borrow a 16mm Arri with speed control down to 3 fps, shoot a test, and transfer. Well, maybe more like $5-600….. It’s so much fun for me to spend your money.
Still, could be fun for you. I marvel at how you like to experiment in all sorts of ways. These days, all my experimenting is done with stills, digital stills. Just had my first exhibit in Berkeley, last Friday, at the Garage Gallery. By just about any measure, a success. The Gallery was packed. Sold 9 prints the first evening. While these pictures seen on the internet have only faint echoes of their impact in the flesh as metal prints, you can check them out:
Things: https://rickwisedp.com/things/0daigg5vxlowk4lh2cz12q99gys9bj (click “next to navigate to the next picture; click on my name to go to the home page.
Time-Flows: https://rickwisedp.com/time-flows/68vjspoam9381a4mdg60im3cgrbhrb (same navigation methods)
If anyone is interested and in Berkeley over the next 3 weeks, the Gallery is at 3110 Wheeler Street in Berkeley, one block East of Shattuck and three blocks South of Ashby.
Hours are:
Four Friday Evenings, 6:00 to 8pm
1/6, 1/13, 1/20, 1/27
Three Thursday Afternoons, 2 to 4 pm
1/12, 1/19, 1/26Also cheerfully opened by appointment, garagegallery2008@mindspring.com
I’ll be in and out during regular hours on some of those days, and definitely present for the last day, Jan 27, 6:00-8:00 PM. Come on down!
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
No, there is no stutter. Instead a sort of dissolve between frames. Try it some day. You’ll love it….
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
In camera, you can ‘t get the effect. BUT you can do so with a good tape-to-digital house. I did this a zillion years ago: shot 3 fps in camera and then transferred to tape (we didn’t have digital then,) also at 3 fps, essentially duplicating each frame 8 times. Orson Wells did this a really long time ago for the opening of Macbeth (I think, pretty sure.) I was stunned by the look, which is why I tried (successfully) to duplicate it.
Your Bolex won’t go slower than 8 fps, so I think you need to rent an Arri that can do 3. Or, shoot a test at 8 fps, transfer at 8 fps, and see if the results work for you. I suspect they will not have enough smear, but much depends on how large in the frame is your subject (s). If you are shooting close-ups, 8 fps might work just fine.
So you need the right camera and the right transfer house. Probably a bit pricey…..
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Many thanks! In the mean time I’ve discovered that my Dell Inspiron 660 has only a 220 watt power supply. The card your recommend needs 400 watts. Another similar one I found needs 300 w. Looks like I’m stopped dead until I can buy a better computer — probably not worth it to both change the power supply and add a graphics card. Grrr….
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com