Cinematography at Night
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- Night exteriors present cinematographers with a unique challenge. Do you go for hyper-realism or something more lyrical and poetic? This video explores the varied ways cinematographers have represented night on screen. From the grounded, gritty, vérité of The Last of Us - the vast ambience of the dusk-for-night work on Dune - an homage to classic day-for-night in Mank - the creation of an entirely new method of day-for-night capture in Nope - and finally the desaturated monochromatic moonlight of The Northman. We will look at how ultimately the question of ‘What is night?’ can be answered simply - it is whatever is right for the story you are trying to tell. Truly, the sky’s the limit.
//CHAPTERS
0:00 The Last of Us
6:26 Greig Fraser and Roger Deakins
7:53 Dune
8:52 Mank
10:22 Day-For-Night & Scope
11:27 Nope
13:47 The Northman
19:45 Conclusion
//SOURCES
ShotDeck Shot Talk Dune
Team Deakins Podcast - Learning Lighting
Reel Blend Podcast Eben Bolter
Eben Bolter’s Twitter thread covering The Last of Us
FilmLight Micro Salon Paris '23 - Eben Bolter
Team Deakins in Conversation with Greig Fraser
Go Creative Show - Dune
Mank| Scene at The Academy
Go Creative Show - Mank
Behind the Magic: The Visual Effects of Mank
Mank VFX Breakdown - Artemple
TIFF Hoyte van Hoytema and Jordan Peele on Nope (2022)
MPC - Nope VFX Breakdown
GoCreativeShow The Northman
The Northman VFX Breakdown | BlueBolt
#videoessay #cinematography #filmmaking - Krátké a kreslené filmy
Hey Eben here, the DP of the TLOU episodes mentioned. I just wanted to say thank you for such a thorough and inspiring analysis, I'm genuinely touched to be referenced alongside so many of my heroes.
Wow, this genuinely just made my year! I really appreciated all of the coverage you posted on Twitter about your process in helping to develop the look of the show. It was particularly interesting to hear about your process of giving freedom to the actors - especially during the piano scene in episode three, which is absolutely stunning. I know you’ve talked about being inspired by Conrad Hall’s emotional connection to the characters in a scene, and I definitely can feel that in your work. I certainly share your admiration for his work, and I am really inspired by what you do. So grateful for this comment!
Even I also thanks to "From the frame" you did amazing job amazing analysis, amazing explanation, amazing research
Thank you so much ...❤️🎥
Has to simply be one of the best, well researched and we'll presented video on this topic.
Wow, thank you for this comment!
@@fromtheframe Well, capturing night or recreating it in camera is certainly nice, but is what you say really what we are looking at?
For example 13:20 13:47 That is simple edge lit day for night in a horrible quality. Where is the helicopter in the original shot, where are the clouds coming from?
I could have done a more subtly defined shot in a higher quality in front of a cheap Chinese greenscreen with a canon t3i and Magic Lantern. I know YT compression is bad. But it isn't THAT bad. So where is the justification for 65 mil and raping an Alex 65 into infrared here?!! Clear sky! Even in infrared. Next to no definition in the actor and bloody sky replacement. If you shoot CGI, man up to CGI. And you don't tell people they caught "Night" on camera here. And that next shot is even worse.
One of the most memorable night scene was not in your doc. It is in a Spielberg film, i think it was ET, where a group of men is searching a forest at night with torches and dogs. Perhaps not natural, but in cinema, natural is crap. Suspended disbelief is here at work. For that moment I was in that forest. Avoid the uncanny valley, by not trying to be realistic in cinema. It never works. Cinema is not reality and it follows different rules.
I sooooo feel the "hard light = moonlight" instinct. I caught myself shooting like that and realized it didn't make any sense, but it looks so right
You choosed exactly the four night cinematography scenes that made me think a lot about night cinematography in the last year and you made a video about night cinematography using those four scenes as examples. Its conforting to know that i'm not alone. I think the technique that they invented for Nope is by far the best at recreating night as we see it, but the way they did it on The Northman gets very similar results and its seems to be a lot easier and cheaper.
Yeah, each of these films had pretty well documented BTS content, so that made it a little easier. It's interesting that Nope and The Northman were two films trying to recreate how our eyes actually perceive moonlight and yet each looks so different.
That scene in The Last of Us jumped out to me and I immediately wanted to know how it was shot! But I never found out....
This video is amazing. I'm obsesed with night cinematography!
This is quality!!!
Thanks!
Best CZcams video I’ve seen in years.
Nope is so good at being accurate, reminds me of night as your eyes get used to less and less light
Another great video! Very well researched. Portraying night in film is one of the most interesting aspects of the cinematographic process. I love that they all look different and everybody has a different perspective on what night looks like.
I went down the rabbit hole with my short film and ended up doing a day for night. It was one of the most formative experiences I've had in terms of lighting. I would recommend anyone interested in this to try for themselves.
One tip I have if anybody is interested in this is to try shooting below the native ISO of the camera. That gives you more dynamic range in the shadows, which allows you to have deep blacks that are noise free.
Thanks for the video!
here before this channel pops off. super informative video and makes me feel better that professional, established cinematographers also get nervous for night shoots. great job !
Thanks for the support. It's definitely comforting to hear that night shoots scare both Deakins and Fraser as well.
This video was so concise, consistently informative and eye catching. It made me late for work. Thank you for this! I already know I’m going to pretend I’m a cinematographer when my rod vision kicks in at night.
First time seeing this channel, and as an aspiring (hopeful) future cinematographer, I am now obsessed!
This is one of the most comprehensive, well presented, and well edited videos on a topic that I've watched. And it's the first video for the channel! I'm subscribing and I hope your channel grows exponentially. It certainly deserves to with this production value.
Thank you so much!
Great video. Absolutely brilliantly put-together. Will come back and watch again when I have time to slow down and take it all in.
Awesome, thank you!
this is an amazing breakdown and such a thorough examination with so many sources explored and explained. creating genuine discourse, this is probably one of the best video essay videos on motion pictures I've seen on CZcams. please keep this content coming!
1917 beautifully shot night on screen …. One of the best and very realistic visuals
Fantastic job putting this together! One of the best video essays I've watched in a long time.
This is a genius break down. Thank you for this and all the hard work that must have gone into it!
This is quality work. Hope the channel blows up. And soon. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to more. Best wishes.
Much appreciated!
This is one of the best videos I have ever seen on this topic. Keep doing what you’re are doing please!
Awesome video! I hope your channel grows. I'm attempting to get into filmmaking and lighting is one of the most difficult things to get a handle on, so videos like these are gold to me.
Thanks for the support! Yeah lighting is definitely hard to grasp. I highly recommend American Cinematographer Magazine or British Cinematographer Magazine for their in depth breakdowns and lighting plots for recent film releases. They also tend to post the articles on their website about a month after the magazine release, so that is also an option. Both of those sources have been invaluable to me as I continue to learn about the craft of cinematography.
This was surprisingly excellent. Really learned a lot about a topic I thought I already knew quite well.
Glad you found it helpful!
amazing content guys, keep posting. thank you
This is an amazing analysis. Thank you so much
This is such a great video on lighting and cinematography in general. I'm glad I found this video on my feed. Looking forward to more 🙌
Really appreciated the explanation of how our eyes process light at night, will definitely take this into consideration when coloring night scenes!
so wonderfully put together. thank you.
That was beyond brilliant, instant Subs!
This video is so well researched! I've gotta say that Nope looks the best.
Brilliant work! Thankyou for this great breakdown
Amazing video! This was incredibly well done.
I myself am a fan of the harder lights night for night look. I feel like clarity is super important. The night scenes in some movies are so dark and lacking in contrast that if there's even a tiny bit of ambient light in the room you're watching it you can't tell what's going on. While watching Dune 2021 I even unplugged the LED lights in the back of my tv because it made it hard to see what was going on. I think my favorite night for night is Lord of the Rings. Hard and blue back lights with a softer front light. It's not true to life but it feels perfect for what they're conveying. Nope is definitely my favorite day for night look.
this is such a gem of a video
Fantastic video and breakdown. I watch A LOT of filmmaking videos on YT and you presented so much information and insight that is brand new to me.
Good start with your channel! Very very good video. Need more like this. Thanks a lot!!!
I've watched this multiple times becauese there is so much to learn from this video. It's so well researched and put together. I'm shooting a night scene next weekend, and I'm deffo goijg to be using some of techniques in this video. It's comforting to hear that even Deakins gets nervous before night scenes lol
Thank you for doing this, it almost feels like cheating that we get this for free!!
Wow, that's such high praise. Good luck on your night shoot and thanks for checking this video out!
I gotta say, this was incredible. I absolutely love how you dissected each scenarios process to reflecting what they visualized for Night. Well done!!!
Thank you!
What an amazing video!! Hope this channel grows.
Thank you!
Incredible breakdown, thank you
Great vid. Thank you for the attention to detail. Truly appreciated.
Thank you for watching!
Wish I'd have watched this BEFORE I shot out the night scenes for the feature I'm on. Thanks for giving me a bunch of concepts to think about!
great video!
Thank you!
Excellent essay about this little known topic. Subscribed and keep up the great work!
Awesome, thank you!
Great video!
excellent video
What a great video! Definitely subscribing and hoping for more (I was secretly hoping the channel would already be full of videos :P)
That was great.
Wow brilliantly put together video. The best on this topic I've ever seen. Thank you
Thank you!
Great video. Well done
Wow, thanks to CZcams for recommending this channel. What a discovery and what a video, holy shit this was great! Superb.
I'm loving this 😍 🙌 ❤
Great Video, perfect timing. I have been planning to practice my Night Exterior lighting.
Glad you found it helpful.
My favourite night time scene in a movie is probably from Ryan's Daughter. There's quite a few night time scenes, but the one where all the villagers are rescuing cargo from the storm stricken sea is incredible. A scene that I will never forget.
I haven't seen Ryan's Daughter, but I'll have to watch it now. Thanks for the recommendation. Freddie Young is definitely a good pick!
You're definitely going to blow up, very informative!
Appreciate the support.
Thank you for this awesome video. it must've taken a lot of work which is much much appreciated.
Definitely took some time trying to figure out how to explain concepts like scotopic, photopic, and the purkinje effect. Thanks for noticing the hard work!
What a magical channel!
Thanks for watching!
Great variety, film examples, and depth, a must watch for the ‘no film school’ crowd 🎥💜
Ha! I majored in film and never really learned about this. I learned a lot from ASC magazine and British Cinematographer magazine. Certain subscriptions give you access to their entire back catalogues, which are an absolute wealth of information.
Cool! I’ve had an AC subscription for years, it’s invaluable🎞️
amazing i am looking for more videos on cinematography.
Great job on this video!
Thank you!
Instantly subscribed
thank u sooo much for this video i going to watch this again soo much to learn
Thank you! Glad you found it helpful.
great video. reminded me of the channel every frame a painting. ☺️
This is the best cinematography at night video I've seen and I've seen a lot on youtube, but this perspective was much needed. Surprised by the low sub count wow, won't be long till you're sky high that's for sure haha, you gained another sub just now.
Thank you so much for the encouragement. It means a lot, especially since I'm just getting started.
great video 👌
Amazing video, please do more cinematography deep dives like this
I will probably do more cinematography deep dives in the future, but also plan to focus on the filmmaking process more broadly as well. Thanks for watching!
superb thz for making this. we r learning so much from it. ❤
My pleasure 😊
Really good and interesting aproach!
Thanks!
Very nice video :)
great video! really enjoyed it:)
Glad you liked it!
Keep up the good work!
Thanks, will do!
Love your videos. How did you get the audio graphics for the voice?
such a good video
Thanks!
interesting 👌🏻
Amazing content, I really hope you grow on CZcams.
I appreciate that!
My all-time favorite is still The Lord of the Rings-Peter Jackson nailed the fantasy of nighttime blue tinting while still showing full action so that detail wasn’t lost. It shouldn’t look like it works, high fill lights lighting up the actors all over, but it does. So many good fantasy light choices in those movies.
Subscribed!
Thanks!
LOTR: The Two Towers. The battle of Helm's Deep is imo the standard of night battle scenes.
See it's not just us, the weather here is weird which is why we talk about it so much 😂
Can you guys do an episode that describes "The one Shot" technique used in films. Specifically the scene in the show True Detective episode 4.
I seldom comment, but I had to commend you on this video.
Lol. I make a living as a DOP. You’ve totally nailed it. Welcome to my hell. 😂
I personally prefer the kind of "stylized" hard backlight like it can be seen in Game of Thrones earlier seasons. I believe it's easier (meaning with less budget) to accomplish then soft light as you only need a few very strong lamps on a crane high up and far away, but to my eye that looks really "cinematic". For the close-ups I believe they just took a bounce or big area light as a fill which kind of destroys the continuity but imo the average viewer doesn't care about details like that. But in the end it's just one of many choices to be made on how to tell your story the best way.
Certainly agree that hard backlight can be a great look. Thanks for watching!
Subbed! Now figure out the white noise on your audio. If you need a mic I'm sure everyone will pitch in so you can buy one
This was awesome and super-insightful, just reduce vocal fry if its on purpose. If not, I'm sorry for complaining.
the vocal fry is so excruciating
Sorry if that ruined the video for you 😞
Since around 2013 DPs have only illuminated scenes not lit them. Actors are less important than the background and when they are lit most of their faces go dark. And that comment is about day scenes. Night scenes like those shown here are so dark all one can hear is the dialogue. We used to call this radio. It is an insult to the actors and shows no trust in them to carry drama.
In the old days night scenes were lit to give the IMPRESSION of darkness, not a literal missing of information. That means for a hundred years audiences understood that they were seeing night and easily accepted that. That was when lighting tried to emulate the great painting masters - just imagine if Vermeer or Rembrandt hung a canvas of black paint and called it art.
I maintain that DPs have become lazy and their overuse of only a few soft sources is a reason that movies aren't as important as they used to be. I know that - for me - if I see a trailer where the cinematography was not worth doing well, I will reciprocate and not care about seeing that movie.
Oh, by the way - this also applies to today's TV long form photography.
Only 750 subs?
Why wouldn't u talk about Blade Runner 2049? Literally the pinnacle of night life and Deakins' first Oscar win......
🦒
The laas tofus
Won’t be watching the last of us because of its lgbt propaganda.
great video!
Thanks!
Great video! This is very educational. Hope you can do a video on mirror shots one day.
Thanks for the support!