[Simeon Bezuidenhout] "if I shoot day for night, will I still be able to create the film noir look?"
Yes, you might... especially considering that many of the "film noir" era movies
did utilize a lot of day-for-night shots.
That's a tricky animal. There's plenty of bad day-for-night work, but some
good, too. I was really amazed the first time I watched the DVD extras from the movie "Cast Away," and seeing how much of their "night" footage was actually shot right in the middle of broad daylight. But they did it and it worked beautifully. Usually full sunlight was their key, later used to simulate moonlight as a key.
One of the things you're
supposed to consider when lighting night shots is the question "Where is this light supposed to be
coming from?".... whether it be moonlight, headlights, campfires, flashlights, or whatever. In theory, every illumination should have something that
could be its source. However, last night I finally got around to seeing "True Grit" (really good, by the way), and there were lots and lots of nighttime exteriors that, if you really analyzed the frame, had lighting that really had no practical source on location. But it worked very well. Then again, Roger Deakins could light a scene beautifully with one eye tied behind his back.
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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