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Shoestring budgets can help creativity! But be careful where you try to save – here’s an example – A friend got the job of recording an orchestral film score for a Bollywood film. But the budget was below tiny! As in a few thousand! At first he thought of going to somewhere cheap but at that time, places that were cheap did not have really good musicians who could bang out a score in a couple of hours. Then there were the travel costs, so he sat down and started crunching the numbers. The CHEAPEST method was eight musicians in one of Abbey Road’s smaller rooms for just two hours and then padding it out, using samples. Location shoots can get very expensive very quickly! They also involve compromises and bodges and can lead to a “This will have to do!” attitude. i.e. a lesser product. A studio can be the cheapest and easiest place to film and it can also be a barn somewhere and a few sheets of plasterboard. I would try to find a friendly farmer with a barn he can let you use for a few days and build a room there where you can control everything to do with light – especially for B&W!
I hear you! However we do not have the skills, time or experience to build our own set. I love the idea though, but I think in this case we will have to shoot on location. It’s my friend’s apartment though so no payment needed besides a pizza of his choice haha
Your idea of using mirrors to lessen the falloff should help. You might want to try silver stipple and a lighter diffusion, such as a brush silk, which will make the source a little softer but somewhat directional. A heavy diffusion near the window will tend to spread the light wider. The light level imbalance can be reduced by pulling stop but it could also be nice that things fall off into deep shadow away from the windows. That really depends on the scene and the location and impossible to make a judgement from here!
Ohh interesting, the idea of using brushed silk vertically sounds like a good way to soften the light while not spreading the light too much horizontally onto the white walls.
I’m often reminded while listening to your podcasts that it’s always about telling a story, which I agree with. It’s very easy getting carried away when you get so few opportunities to prove yourself that you want it to look good, but then lose sight of the story.
As much as it is intuition, personal taste and style that goes in to telling the story through the camera I find it hard finding my own voice. How to translate the story to the picture you’re capturing. I was wondering if perhaps you could elaborate more specifically about your process how you make those decisions on set and even in prep?
I know I strayed away from the topic a bit but the thought hit me and would love to hear if you’ve any musings about finding your own voice behind the camera?
@dmullenasc: Well, surely that depends on context. If a cinematographer says they prefer a 35mm for mid shots then that will look very differently on a Super 35 sensor as opposed to a Full Frame sensor.
My assumption was that because crop factors are used to calculate what the comparative focal length would be on a Full Frame sensor that would be the standard. But I was unsure, that is why I was wondering.
@jimmyzjam: Yeah. Empire of Light and 1917 was filmed on the Alexa Mini LF (Full frame). Blade Runner 2049 on the Alexa Mini (Super 35).
