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How did they shoot this shot?

H

harmonica44

If you fast forward to 1:38 in, in the example, thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4C3G3mOQwY

As you can see there is a lot of wide shots with a lot of movement and close up shots with a lot of movement too. How did they cast light on their actors? Did they use reflectors from far away and moved the reflectors as the actors moved, and that made it look natural?
 
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I agree with Walter, I don't think they used anything extra light wise. It's a super flat image and everything is lit evenly, it's all overcast sun.

A reflector can't be used when overcast because you can't bounce soft light any measurable distance. Some cameras may have a filter, if anything probably just a UV or some ND depending on what lenses and thr speed of film they were using. I didn't see a scene where a Polarizer would work (you do know what they do, right?) and it would just take light away.

Shooting on an overcast day is really, really easy. Landscapes and backgrounds aren't as pretty but you're actors are well lit and no shadows to worry about.
 
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Okay thanks. Wouldn't using a polarizer or something like that have helped though, looks wise? I mean it is quite flat, even for a cloudy shoot. Or are filters and polarizers only good for sun? It's hard to test it where I live since the sun has been out all the time lately.
 
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Well I have tested one, and it sort of moves reflections around as far as I can tell. There is still light on a cloudy day though, so I thought it might be useful for that. So if I want to shoot on a cloudy day, wide shots, reflectors or filters will not be useful at all, to light a certain way?
 
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Here's something that might help you on your journey: There is no one way to do anything (well, generally ;)).

They could've stopped their lenses down to f/8 or used an ND 0.6 to get to f/4. They might've been shooting on 250D and needed to open up to f/2.8 or they may have been shooting with 500T with an 85 filter, and only needed to open up to f/5.6.

A polariser wouldn't have helped much and cut two stops of light unnecessarily, but if you wanted to use one for a certain look or effect, then there's no-one stopping you from using one.
 
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Looks like daylight, maybe a reflector or two.

Chances are, if you're looking at an exterior shot from classic Hong Kong Kung Fu flicks, it's probably natural. They tended to be a bit low budget, and the budgets that they do have are often put into crazier stunts.
 
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Honestly, I dislike the look but they could've easily used ND filters. It's hard to knwo without having been on set. It also seems like they may have a softening filter in some shots. A Classic Soft or similar. Wouldn't be surprised
 
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