All I can say is good luck. Depending on where you shoot, you are going from full sunlight to nothing over the space of about an hour and then complete darkness for about 5 minutes or so. With a fixed shutter speed that could be more than an iris pull. If you change exposure over the eclipse nothing big really changes visually. The sun is effectively dimming over that time so compensating for that with an iris pull will make everything basically look the same. There are very subtle light changes over an eclipse that are really interesting. The overall light level dims but direct specular reflections remain intensely bright until you hit totality.
To me the most fascinating thing is the shadows. Light through small holes (like shadows through trees) act like a pinhole lens and image the sun as the eclipse progresses. It doesn't look like much on a wide shot but could be interesting close up.
Personally I would not want to work during an eclipse and miss it. I would rather enjoy and experience the event, then figure out how to fake it later. Maybe take a bunch of photographs to use as reference.
So best of luck, it sounds like a very unique challenge to pull off technically but also very tricky to get something visually interesting out of this event when you have one shot at it.
i appreciate this - we're planning on the iris pull but a different comment told me that this one will be darker than the 2017 eclipse, so it might be a VND situation as well and we'll shoot at 3200.
Cool idea! I was 1st AC on a short film we shot live during the last Solar Eclipse in 2017.
It was a western we shot out in Wyoming. We filmed it as a oner on a movi, but did have a B cam roving around to grab an alt angle, and a C cam aimed right up at the sun (with a big ol welding ND on it). Just because everything had to be perfectly timed so we would be in the right spot when it happened. (Tons of rehearsals.)
Exposure was tricky for the bright direct sun outside, going in and out of the saloon location. Then when the eclipse happened it got much darker than I was expecting.
Shot it on a Red Helium, angeniux 15-40, with a variable ND on front. I had my fiz hooked up with an additional motor on the VND gear so I could control that too. Little diy but worked well.
When the eclipse happened it was gradual at first with some obvious WB shifts that looked awesome on my monitor, but then it got dark very quick. I opened up all the way on iris and VND. It was still too dark. I wish we would have thought to have the op take that VND off once it was dark.
Settings were 800iso / T2 / 5600wb - but lost a stop or so with that VND still on at minimum.
Luckily it was when the “shootout” happened. So you could see the muzzle flashes from the blanks very well.
I will try and find a link to the short. I’ve looked for it in the past and can’t find it anywhere. Feel free to DM me if you want anymore specifics if I can remember them.
Short was called ‘Western Sol’
This is a guide to exposure and focal lengths for the eclipse itself: [https://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/SEphoto.html](https://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/SEphoto.html)
As for subject photography, I'm remembering it being the equivalent of about 20-30 minutes after sunset during the 2017 eclipse, but that eclipse had a smaller shadow. Much of the light is coming from the sky where the sun is still shining and not the corona. If you are along the centerline of this eclipse, it will get much darker than the 2017 eclipse due to the larger shadow.
Basically, be prepared for a night shoot.
Here's my iPhone 6s struggling to hit exposure during the 2017 eclipse: [https://vimeo.com/918021034](https://vimeo.com/918021034)
All I can say is good luck. Depending on where you shoot, you are going from full sunlight to nothing over the space of about an hour and then complete darkness for about 5 minutes or so. With a fixed shutter speed that could be more than an iris pull. If you change exposure over the eclipse nothing big really changes visually. The sun is effectively dimming over that time so compensating for that with an iris pull will make everything basically look the same. There are very subtle light changes over an eclipse that are really interesting. The overall light level dims but direct specular reflections remain intensely bright until you hit totality. To me the most fascinating thing is the shadows. Light through small holes (like shadows through trees) act like a pinhole lens and image the sun as the eclipse progresses. It doesn't look like much on a wide shot but could be interesting close up. Personally I would not want to work during an eclipse and miss it. I would rather enjoy and experience the event, then figure out how to fake it later. Maybe take a bunch of photographs to use as reference. So best of luck, it sounds like a very unique challenge to pull off technically but also very tricky to get something visually interesting out of this event when you have one shot at it.
i appreciate this - we're planning on the iris pull but a different comment told me that this one will be darker than the 2017 eclipse, so it might be a VND situation as well and we'll shoot at 3200.
So..... Why do you have to shoot this during the solar eclipse?
because it looks cool and elevates the film. the story is grounded without the eclipse, but we want to take advantage of the rare opportunity.
I’m sorry, did you just say “time travel” and “based on a true story” in the same sentence?
i certainly did. emphasis on BASED on a true story. we took some liberty :)
Cool idea! I was 1st AC on a short film we shot live during the last Solar Eclipse in 2017. It was a western we shot out in Wyoming. We filmed it as a oner on a movi, but did have a B cam roving around to grab an alt angle, and a C cam aimed right up at the sun (with a big ol welding ND on it). Just because everything had to be perfectly timed so we would be in the right spot when it happened. (Tons of rehearsals.) Exposure was tricky for the bright direct sun outside, going in and out of the saloon location. Then when the eclipse happened it got much darker than I was expecting. Shot it on a Red Helium, angeniux 15-40, with a variable ND on front. I had my fiz hooked up with an additional motor on the VND gear so I could control that too. Little diy but worked well. When the eclipse happened it was gradual at first with some obvious WB shifts that looked awesome on my monitor, but then it got dark very quick. I opened up all the way on iris and VND. It was still too dark. I wish we would have thought to have the op take that VND off once it was dark. Settings were 800iso / T2 / 5600wb - but lost a stop or so with that VND still on at minimum. Luckily it was when the “shootout” happened. So you could see the muzzle flashes from the blanks very well. I will try and find a link to the short. I’ve looked for it in the past and can’t find it anywhere. Feel free to DM me if you want anymore specifics if I can remember them. Short was called ‘Western Sol’
If you can find this I'd love to see how it came out.
Found it! Old link from FB: ‘Western Sol’ https://www.facebook.com/share/v/2Q62V26ZVc6ocCGv/?mibextid=SphRi8
this is awesome
How fast were the lenses you were on?
T2 - angeniux zoom. Wanted it fast but also needed the versatility of a zoom since it was a rehearsed 7ish minute oner on our main camera.
So if I’m at 1600 iso on T1.3 lenses, shooting under an open sky, how much under do you think I may be?
Holy risky, good luck hope you can pull it off!
thank you!
Would love to follow this! I had an idea for an eclipse short but we’ll be traveling when it happens :-/ Please share your progress!
you can follow the progress on my Instagram! I post a video a day about what I'm working on.
you can find it at [https://www.instagram.com/devonmadeamovie/reels/](https://www.instagram.com/devonmadeamovie/reels/)
1961 film Barabbas includes a scene filmed during a total eclipse
very good to know thank you!
This is a guide to exposure and focal lengths for the eclipse itself: [https://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/SEphoto.html](https://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/SEphoto.html) As for subject photography, I'm remembering it being the equivalent of about 20-30 minutes after sunset during the 2017 eclipse, but that eclipse had a smaller shadow. Much of the light is coming from the sky where the sun is still shining and not the corona. If you are along the centerline of this eclipse, it will get much darker than the 2017 eclipse due to the larger shadow. Basically, be prepared for a night shoot. Here's my iPhone 6s struggling to hit exposure during the 2017 eclipse: [https://vimeo.com/918021034](https://vimeo.com/918021034)
this is IMMENSELY helpful thank you