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Grainy footage at night

H

Hazel Block

Hey!

Does anyone know any solutions to reduce grainy footage at night time ? I have a low light setting on my camera but when i turn it on it's not a great quality image. I might considering buying some flood lighting but the whole point is the make the scene look like it is at night, so i need a little help.


Thanks very much,
Aaron
 
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Adding light is the only solution. Cameras capture light, every "Low Light" solution sacrifices image quality to get an image.

The grain is the same as distortion on a guitar, turn up the gain too far and the pristine quality that the electronics should provide will overdrive and lose fidelity.
 
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You're best shooting on an overcast day and using available light (no shadows). Also try not to show the sky, that's usually a dead giveaway. What is the scene? If it's on a street make sure the street lamps are on, if you are showing cars, make sure the headlights are on... things people forget because it is actually daytime.
 
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indietalk said:
You're best shooting on an overcast day and using available light (no shadows). Also try not to show the sky, that's usually a dead giveaway. What is the scene? If it's on a street make sure the street lamps are on, if you are showing cars, make sure the headlights are on... things people forget because it is actually daytime.
Click to expand...

I would like to film in a forest...it would be better and safer to film in day light and possibly a night screen in a bedroom.

A forest might be difficult though because of not getting enough light already in day light.
 
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I would argue that strong sun would cast shadows that would look like more convincing moonlight when color graded in post. Moonlight is a hard light source that reflects the sun's light (blue). It's often shown as more blue than it actually appears in real life.

Night time has no ambient lights, so there is alot of shadow with obvious light sources. Overcast would suggest ambient light. So shoot in sunlight with the sun to one side of the actors to illuminate the side of their faces (key light). There will be no fill (unless you want to see the rest fo the faces - depends on the mood of the scene). Push the contrast and lower the brightness to emphasize the shadows and make the light less intense (you'll have exposed for the lit portions of the faces as normal). Color cast the whole image bluish (this can be done in camera by lowering the exposure and setting the white balance to indoors, but it gives you no options later in post).

The rest of the data from IT is absolutely important, lights on where lights would be (cars, houses, etc.), don't show the sky.

Watch lots of movies with night scenes, almost all are done with tons of light pouring onto the set. Note where the light sources are (based on shadow placement) and note the colors of the light. Indoor lights will be driven orangish in these images usually as well.
 
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fair enough.

Hazel, if you were to find a scene that has the look you're going for (or some reasonable facsimile thereof), we could dissect a way to get that look for you.
 
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Check this filter out:
http://dvdreamtime.com.au/77mm-cool-day-for-night-filter-p-3847.html

PS. The reason I like it overcast and without shadows is I like the look of it stopped down so it is still very dark, whenever I can tell it's day for night (which means it is not good day for night) it just looks like a bright day stopped down. But I have never shot day for night, so can't say much more on it.
 
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