night-scene in postproduction?

hey guys, I always see some of you respond to a question about a scene that may need low or dim lighting. The respinse tends to be "film in normal light, then make it night in postprod" or soemthing to that effect.

I always just said to myself "haha yeah I know how todo that", well i just tried it and umm...I don't know how to. I figured you would just mess around with the brightness and contrast effect panel (AE 5.5).

Earlier today, I tried making one of my clips into a night scene using that method, but it just looks sucky after I do that, and now looks as if its a poorly done daytime shot....

Any help is, as always, greatly apprectiated.
thanks in advance all


EDIT: And nice job to whoever won the Forum art contest! i just noticed and it looks great!

 

try douplicating the layer and set the transfer mode to Multiply or go through and try other transfer modes that make the scene look darker

 

Add a blue tint to everything and darken it a bit.

There's a little more to it, but not a heck of a lot really.

M. Scott

 

make your layer a 3-d layer and add a light to the scene that is blue with a hint of purple. Mess around with the settings.

 

cool, thanks for the replies guys!

 

You should really be using Adjust -> Color Balance combined with brightness contrast settings. Using the color balance you can control your tints in the highs meds and lows which will allow you to darken things but maintain high lights and mid tones so you can still see your actors.

 

I would like to see more films shot at night actually. Far too many films have tried, and in my opinion failed at creating a believable night scene during the day. The only person I've ever seen do it well was a lad working on a movie about the Apple Company. His name escapes me. Can someone remember his name? He did a great job. Anyway, best idea is to color key the sky and make it dark blue/black and then change the tint and such.

 

Wasn't it E-Wing?

 

It was indeed ewingsquadron.
or Ewing-squadron as Nikki thought it was pronounced (after J.R. and Bobby )

 

Film FX has a great plugin that does day for night and looks great!



SWmaster

 

hmm..whats the link to this "Film FX" and how much does it cost..hehe
thanks again for the replies all!

 

Just FYI... all the night shots in Cast Away were shot during the day and made to look like night in post.



~DK~

 

You would be surprised at just how many night time shots in major films are actually shot during the day (provided they arnt on a sound stage). When you can convincingly turn day to night in post then why not use the available light of the sun instead of having to pay out the wazoo to rent massive lighting rigs to light night time shots.

 

Day-for-night (which this technique is called) is definately the most convenient method of getting quality night time shots, especially in remote locations. But you can't simply tint the footage blue and mess with the contrast... If you have some roto-artists working on your project, it would be very beneficial for you to roto-out the main actors in the forground of the scene, and then create darker settings for the objects that appear in the background, with a sort of gradient going to the darker in the mid-ground.

This is similar to the technique they used in Cast Away, however, in a few of those shots, they simply shot Tom Hanks on a greenscreen so they didn't have to roto him by hand.

Also, if your night scene involves water, be sure to add "glints" of light bouncing off the water to simulate the effect of moonlight bouncing off the waves.

--t.toe

 

hmm, just gonna bump this up so swmaster can see it again, I'd like to hear some more about what he suggested

 

Ok here is the webpage. Film Fx

I will try to post up a test of what it can do in a little while.

I don't have the newest version but my version is still great!



SWmaster

 

Mmm only $500 for the Film FX plugin set =/

 

I haven't been able to do it for an indoor scene of mine. Supposedly, it was to look like the moon was illuminating the room through a skylight. My location was actually a building that had a skylight and I figured I could use the sunlight through it and turn it into a night scene. By tinting it blue and darkening it, it doesn't actually make it look like night. Somehow, you have to keep the contrast/colours very similar, but darken the shadows and soften the highlights. It was very difficult for me. Outdoor scenes might be different, though.

 

Ok here are a few tests.

Tests

Tell me what you think.





SWmaster

 

those look pretty good! what version do you use, maybe i can find something on ebay.
You said you used film FX right?

(if anyone has any links to somewhere that might sell and older version cheap, its appreciated!)

 

I just added another video that shows before and after. I actualy made a matte of the sky and rendered some twinkling stars in its place. I used a few more techniques for the lightsaber picture.

Oh yeah, Its version 2.2

SWmaster

 

Kinda off topic, but that looks almost exactly like my house behind the guy...
Except mine's red.

anyway, very cool looking. I think I'll have to try something like that out!

 

cool, thanks alot, ill see what i can find!

 

Well your night version is WAY to dark. I suggest standing out side, especially in a populated area and taking a look around. You can actually see quite a bit even at night. And for the purpose of film/video it should be even lighter, especially on your subject. You couldnt see the subjects face or any reall details except the glowing socks. And it was way blue. Though that particular incarnation of the effect might work great for fake black light =P

 

Yes you would be surprised at how many actual films actually shoot their night scenes in the day. Take a look at "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" for example. About 1/4 or more of the movie takes place during the night but it was actually all shot during the day.