Filming at night

[Carnage7p]

for night shots, use very soft very diffused light with some blue gels over the lights. you would probably want to use steel blue or three quarter ctb. you can get soft lighting by making a homemade chimera.

[BrownCowStudios]

That is a possibility. Though I'd probably recommend a 1/4 or 1/2 CTB gel on the key. Only the key should be soft and diffused. Make your backlight really hard and put a full CTB gel on it. White balance BEFORE you put any gels on your lights though. Then find some creative way to light the background (experiment with hard and soft light for this).

[theChad]

Another thing you can try is shooting either very early morning or at dusk.
But for sure experiment and observe what lighting is really like at night. Take pictures and everything.

[UFProductions]

If it's a scene where detail all around is important (background, foreground and subject must be well lit) I would consider doing a day for night, shot at dusk (magic hour) on an overcast day using a graduated filter on the sky. Watch the "night" scenes from Jaws (opening sequence and fishermen on the dock) to see just how nice this looks.

[Raptor]

at the very least, three-point lighting

Actually, when shooting at night, three point lighting probably isn't the best solution. The shadows are much more apparent at night, and should be rich. Your best bet will probably be to neglect using a fill, using a soft, diffused key, and a strong backlight. Of course, you'll need to experiment quite a bit to get the look you're going after. Balance (or if necessary gel) your lights to 5600k, but white balance to 3200k.

Good concept on teh white balance, some cams also use a WB shift, move it slightly to the blue range for the same effect. If you have to shoot day for night, use a graduated ND filter to dull out the bright sky, and slightly, underexpose the scene, this will give you a darker more subtle look to start with in post. Any time you are lighting a scene at night, have a reason. Decide what the source of the light will actually be - is it supposed to be a street lamp ( 2600 - 3200 k ) or the moon - closer to 6000k The only time a fill will look really natural is if shooting on sand or snw, and then, assuming you have selected an appropriate position for the key light, the surface will provide a natural looking fill. Vegetation will also produce some fill on a brightly lit scene, such as under a ful moon, but make sure there is low vegetation visible in teh shot, then use very subtle fill lights with a 1/8 green gel. Back lighting is important to separate the talent from the background but should be very diffuse. You want the harsher shadows, but you also need some definition behind your talen.

[OutcastJiob]

Okay, this thread is a bit old, however, I've now seen a day-for-night technique that (seems) to work quite well. I haven't tried it myself as of yet, but here we go: http://www.effectlab.com/tutfullmoon.php.

That's got to be one of the best I've seen. Not sure what's with the glowy bars around the tops of the buildings, but hey, make sure your footage doesn't end up having those and you're set.

And of course, I still advocate shooting at night. But if you can't, take a look at this instead of just lowering brightness and adding a blue tint!

[Rulestress]

Besides whatever you may do with lighting or filters, try this.
If you have a car parked nearby, turn it's headlights on.
If you're shooting near your home, turn the lights on inside, and any porch light that may be visible. This will help your day for night shooting look very real.
Be careful not to let your car's batteries run down tho'.

[XhuntedoverlordX]

The scene is actually set around a campfire. Would having that fire pose a serious problem to filming?

[Rulestress]

You may want to attach a blue lighting gel in front of your lens.
Try shooting near sunrise or sunset, tho the shadows may be wrong.
And, if it's a night time scene with a campfire, if you had a lit flashlight/torch lit, (used as a prop) that may help the illusion of nighttime.

[Rulestress]

You may want to attach a blue lighting gel in front of your lens.
Try shooting near sunrise or sunset, tho the shadows may be wrong.
And, if it's a night time scene with a campfire, if you had a lit flashlight/torch lit, (used as a prop) that may help the illusion of nighttime.