Utilizing the sun to shoot day for night is a common practice. But how can you avoid fighting the shifts in natural light to shoot a night or day sequence with just one setup? Let’s find out!
For the film-savvy among us, Day for Night is a 1973 French film directed by François Truffaut. But the production-oriented folks of the group see day for night as a technique to shoot in sunlight but grade the image as if it were night.
However, fighting the ever-evolving sunlight, or moonlight for those shooting on Sony, can be an uphill battle that would have your production scrambling to finish your pages for the day.
Here’s where Rob Ellis comes in. By using one lighting setup at night, Ellis was able to shoot a morning scene, and a moonlit night scene by simply adjusting his white balance and the color grade.
The Breakdown
As seen in Ellis’ video, the scene was light with two lights. One for ambient soft light, and the other for direct sunlight/moonlight.
Author: Yaroslav Altunin
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
