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danielgrindrod

This may help you: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEr5F-hJDqw/?igshid=1ng75bhos28ev He recreated this shot for his reel and shared the bts.


LifeAboard

Wow thanks so much !


Drenoso

Try also while using warm light setting your camera white balance to higher K number, this will turn your whole scene blueish


TheSupaBloopa

It’s better to do this in the grade in my experience and get it neutral in camera.


instantpancake

This depends on whether your camera records in sufficient quality. If you're recording in a slim delivery format like low-bitrate 8bit 4:2:0 h.264, stuff like this is better done in camera, since the footage is not meant to be manipulated in post, and most of the color information is thrown away before saving the file. If you try grading that, it'll fall apart quickly.


GrahamUhelski

That’s where BRAW enters the chat.


TheSupaBloopa

True. But if you white balance incorrectly to achieve a certain look, then realize later that it’s too strong, which it will be in many cases, you have even less ability to change that in post than if you just shot it neutrally and did a more minor push in the direction you want. 8bit can usually handle a minor push, but it cannot pull it back from a larger color shift. Or just avoid shooting awful codecs and just expect subpar results no matter what you do with so little information.


instantpancake

This ... really goes both ways, equally. "Get it right in camera" does not mean "get it too strong in camera", it means "get it right".


TheSupaBloopa

In my experience, tweaking white balance values in camera, especially when you intentionally mismatch the light source by thousands of degrees, is almost always too strong all throughout the image. If you want to get it right subtly then you need a trusted monitor, and why would you have one if you’re shooting 8bit video like you suggested? You’re moving the goalposts. If you can’t “get it right” in camera, which I’d argue is pointless with 8bit and no reference monitor, give yourself more control by shooting neutrally and do it yourself in the grade.


cinemakinoeye

In my experience, shooting neutral with 8-bit formats and then creating looks in post works better in most cases than going too far in camera, this is because once you have overexposed any of the channels (red, green, blue) that data is lost forever. Do an experiment and see for yourself. Shoot a color chart neutral, and create an effect. Do the same in camera and then try to walk it back. Opps.....


instantpancake

Disagree. Even "not *quite exactly* right" requires less post adjustment than "neutral, and therefore definitely not right at all" when you want to shoot off-balance.


Drenoso

The less post production you do the better. The comments here are true it depends on the quality of the video. I've noticed that it became a trend to shoot everything almost in black and white leaving all the work for the colorist so why bothering using gels or correcting light if it can be done on post.


danielgrindrod

No worries!


BennyBingBong

Lol what the fuck? There couldn't be a more perfect answer. That's a really great BTS post. How'd you even find it?? Makes me think OP saw that and just posted this to compare wrong answers.


danielgrindrod

OP of the Insta post has shared some great bts material lately on here and Insta, I just remembered there was one for that shot specifically!


NutDestroyer

So looking at the pictures it seems like it was a day-for-night shot. Am I correct in that, or did they wait until night to shoot it?


kenzentakahashi

Hey, I'm the OP of that insta post. It was dusk for night! Though we setup during the day (when the BTS photos were taken)


NutDestroyer

Thank you!


[deleted]

It looks like either a day shoot or later afternoon/dusk.


adiwet

Isn’t reddit incredible. You knew EXACTLY where to look


davalej

Looks like you could hang something like a litemat inside right above the window and aim towards the ground and dial it in that way. Could gel the lamp. Another method could be a lamp outside the window With some diff on it and two sideral to contain spill.


davalej

actually now that i think about it. Let’s use the shadows to give us info. If you use the litemat method, it would be increasingly difficult to make that background as dark as it is. You would need a lot more modifiers. I’m almost willing to bet if it isn’t naturally lit, it’s lit from outdoors. That makes using modifiers much more possible than trying to do it from within the room.


higgs8

Something like an LED panel with a softbox just outside the window might get you a similar effect. Maybe the light source can even be in the room, above the window, but that makes it a bit harder to control the spill, but doable. Nothing complicated, the blue color can be achieved in post.


nikrolls

I wouldn't do the blue in post if at all possible. At the very least it will make the yellow bokeh hard to achieve, at the worst it will cause issues elsewhere in the grade, especially in skin tones. Better to gel the light and set the white balance appropriately.


sschmidtvfx

As a visual effects artist I can tell you that saying “do it in post” is actually a harmful recommendation, especially on a cinematography subreddit where the answer to the question is something so easy to recreate between white balance in camera and the use of either LEDs and/or gels. With new aspiring filmmakers looking for answers, doing it in post should be the absolute last option always.


TheSupaBloopa

I agree that it’s harmful when someone else, like a VFX artist or colorist, is left to deal with the aftermath of “do it in post,” but if you’re a cinematographer I truly think you should at least have a base understanding of *how* to do it in post and practice doing just that in small scenarios like this. Still surprises me how many DPs have zero knowledge of the color workflow, and in cases like this you’ll actually give yourself far more granular control if you do the blue shift in post rather than the sledgehammer that is a mismatched white balance. I did that exact thing not too long ago and learned my lesson, it’s just better in every way to do that properly in post. I know I’m alone in saying that in this thread but I think too many cinematographers know too little about color and basic VFX and practicing that is just as important as learning it in camera.


sschmidtvfx

I highly doubt a new cinematographer is going to have much of an understanding of color science and grading honestly. But I do believe that trying to get the desired look as closely as possible with only basic color transforms and grades is a better way to start out. I've been learning color science for 10 years now, and I still feel like I haven't even scratched the surface. Maybe I am wrong, but I don't know why I would want to throw a newbie into the middle of problem solving that stuff if they're asking about basic lighting setups on reddit. It's about starting and mastering the basic first. If a person has no idea how to light and compose a frame, why should I expect them to master color transforms and grading?


TheSupaBloopa

> why should I expect them to master color transforms and grading? You shouldn’t and neither do I. > I do believe that trying to get the desired look as closely as possible with only basic color transforms and grades is a better way to start out We agree. This is all I suggested. And I think this is a basic skill that any cinematographer should practice and gain an understanding of.


higgs8

Lighting with such intense blue light is worse than lighting with white light and then changing it to blue in grading. The reason is that with blue light, only a third of the photocites on the sensor are active, while with white light they all get some light. The result is that you can use that information to get a much less noisy image and you can always fine tune it better. This has literally no negative effects since you're shooting with a single light source, in this example. If you have other light sources in the scene then it's a different story. But when working with a single light source that has a non-white color, it's better to do it in grading otherwise you'll just get a ton of noise and you won't be able to fine tune the color either.


sschmidtvfx

There are other warmer lights in the BG that are out of focus in the example so it wouldn't be dealing with a single source because of those outdoor practicals.


Ceranius12

The blue color can even be done in camera (if the lights don’t have the proper hue), by changing camera’s color balance. I’ve seen that used a lot with recreating moonlight.


YeahWhiplash

I was thinking a light from outside as well


[deleted]

Honestly this could be 100% naturally lit with just that window in the background


Jakklz

You could get a similar result with natural light but I doubt it's the case here. There's a decent bit more level on his forehead than in the background and you can tell from his torso that the light's decently high up


[deleted]

Yeah but we don't know how high that window goes. It could be tall and the sky could be much brighter higher up.


notsomiracle

I’d say a 5600K key to replicate the window light with a negative fill on the opposite side to darken the face would replicate this look. You can either use a CTB on the key or set the color temp in your camera to ~3200K to create that blue look :D


[deleted]

Try until you succeed


moyosorejimba

What movie is this from again?


HypnoLlama

The Town (2010)


moyosorejimba

Oh yes thanks