Hey guys, here is a question for you.


In my next short, I want to have the finished product as a B&W film. But, in order to do that, would you filmmakers recommend shooting in color on the camera and then changing it to black and white to give me more flexibility... or should I just record it in B&W on my GL2.

What about lighting for Black and White? What color hues is recommended to get a good look. Or what about shadowy tones...
Any recommendations I would love to hear about!!!!!!!!!!!

It all depends. If you know FOR SURE that you want to see the final product in black and white, then set your GL-2 to film in that mode. But if you have any uncertainties, then I would recommend filming regularly and then you can decide how you want it to turn out in post.

If you film the entire movie in black and white and you realize that you don't like it that way, you're screwed. The only downside to filming in color and changing it to black and white in post is it could take forever to render. It's all about what you want.

And as for lighting, I can't help you there.

Hope this helped.

"Don't breathe or I'll kill you!"

I say film it in b&w.

Honestly I don't like to watch movies that are black and white, there kinda boring to me. Ya got a nice camera! to me your sorta wasting the color by shooting B&W.

Sorry if i messed with your mind, MAKE IT HOW YOU LIKE IT!

I don't know much about filmaking anyway...(he he)

Yeah don't shoot it in b&w unless there's purpose....

In my opinion, b & w makes the film 'not as good'. Unless used for dramatic purposes.

well I don't think he wants us to tell him not to film in b/w soo..

Are u suggesting that your going to adjust your color's on the camera so it's has a black and white feel to it? I don't think u can get true b/w color on the gl2 can u ?

My suggestion is -- if u have good software with good color correction then film in frame mode with the sharpness really low and film using the three point lighting method. That way when you do go to change it in post you have proper lighting and you won't lose quality when u change it to post... that's what I have experienced anyways.

Hope that helps

If you don't look I'll force you to _=_

do everything in post...the gl2 has a nice set of easy fx, but what if u change your mind? Plus you can do more with brightness, contrast, and maybe add some cool fx in post if you wanted to be selective, and do the cliched red rose in a black and white movie.

Yeah, shoot color now, tweak later. It is always easier to degrade a picture, then to improve it.

Also keep in mind that lighting is often handled differently for B&W. High key, with dark patches might not look so good on color video, but has nice results in B&W.
R. M.

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans

I disagree.

If you KNOW you want the final result to be B&W you shoot it B&W, no questions asked. It's just smarter. That way you know what the end product will look like. Also, DV's greatest drawback (besides resolution) is color definition. In my experience, B&W DV looks better than color DV.

Also, it's really no one's place to tell him he shouldn't shoot B&W.

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I don't want FOP godammit, I'm a Dapper Dan Man.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cyos:
In my experience, B&W DV looks better than color DV.

Also, it's really no one's place to tell him he shouldn't shoot B&W.

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It is really our place to tell him he should or should not shot in B&W. We're all critics thus we have the "place".

In my experience, amature filmmakers shoot B&W DV because they think it's easier to light and handle in editing. No it doesn't look better, it looks cheaper. I have not seen a completely black and white short (that I can recall) where b&w played a role in mood/tone or whatever.

If he wants to shoot b/w let him. It's a great experience and we really do not have a say in if he should or not. If he ask's us the pro's and con's of shooting b/w then yes we can tell him no don't because it looks cheap etc.

Let him learn about the experience of B/W, it doesn't matter if one person thinks it looks cheap it's essentially his film. He asked us tips on shooting b/w not if he should or not.

Just to clear that up.

If you don't look I'll force you to _=_

Yeah, seriously. He didn't ask about lighting or anything. I'm sure if he wants to, he will. For now the question is what to shoot in, B/W or color.

If you know that you want B/W and there's no turning back, then shoot B/W. But you could discover that there's some cool stuff you can do in post that would look nice with color. It all depends on your needs.

"Don't breathe or I'll kill you!"

I say shoot in color and mess with the image in post.

One really neat look is to remove most of the saturation but to leave some color information in the image. You cannot do this if you shoot in black and white.

Another consideration...the B&W DV look while making it look more "filmic" is in my opinion overused. Shooting in color will allow you to try some different looks out for your peice.

-Chris
Studentfilms.com

Ideally I'd say shoot color and convert in post. Reason being that it leaves you the option of targeting certain color channels later on to fudge your contrast. You don't need to haul a bunch of black and white filters around with you (Which you probablly don't have anyway) if you can add heavy red or yellow in post before converting to black and white. The Gl-2 is smart enough to recognize white-balance shifts when applying its own B&W filter, but it's always nice to allow the option of changing these shifts in post (Things often look different in the editing room than they did on set).

I've actually used a Gl-2 to shoot B&W. The project came out a bit flat, but that has more to do with the complete lack of time, equipment and crew than the cameras ability to perform (Viewable here). I actually requested to shoot in color, but was nixed by the producer because of time constraints in post production (Although the editor was on my side after the fact).

Personally, I think it's an excellent idea for students and the low-budgetted to shoot B&W if they feel it can be beneficial to their narratives. It takes color temperture issues out of the equation and forces some often neglected issues of photography to be dealt with (Texture, depth, contrast and motion). Many student and low-budget films look very flat to me.

Some people also argue (Although I don't buy it) that because of DV's 4:1:1 color space, B&W images in the format appear to be of higher-fidelity than color images.

Nota "Doesn't like flat soda either" Mono

I've made scenes in B&W for flashbacks, or other certain "the girl of my dreams" type shots (ya know with the flowing hair in slow motion in the guy's imagination).

Anyway, shoot it in color, then just do B&W in Premier (or whatever you use), WHY? you ask?

WELL, I shot entire movies in color, then took certain scenes and made them black and white, and I'll tell you, I couldn't have been happier. Like everyone else has said, when you do it that way, maybe you can have a red rose in a BW film, or have someone bouncing an orange basketball that stands out. FOR WHATEVER REASON .

Although, if you don't know WHY you'd do something like that, you can go ahead and shoot in BW from the start - but I'll tell you one more thing.


When you convert something in color to B&W in post, whatever lighting you used will WORK, since it's applying a filter. Perhaps if you shoot right from B&W on your camera, you might have to light it differently?

Honestly, I don't know THAT much about your camera and shooting straight into B&W, but what I CAN tell you is that -


chocolate syrup will only pass for blood in a black and white movie

That is all.

Sony TRV950

How do you make a red rose in B&W?

Oh, by the way...

We shot it tonight...actual shooting lasted 4 hours without many wasted minutes.....
8:30 PM - 12:30 PM

Anyways... great shots... really cool shots...
The thing is... I always find myself wanting to redo good shots in order to make them perfect... but sometimes I just have to go on to the next shot... to keep the actors morale high and the shooting on schedule..

That is probably my weakness on the set... wanting to obtain the perfect shot... which in almost all honesty really isnt worth all the time spent on it.... but in my books... its priceless...

Eh... Film On.

I shot on color but I set up the lighting and shadows & such on B&W.

Here is my question that I would love to have answered by tomorrow morning when I start editing.

I want to render my 40minute chunk of raw footage into b&W before I start editing.

Would any editing program (Premiere, Studio 8, IMOVIE) give me a better B&W quality shot after changing it from color.

If not, it would take less time and room just to do it on my PC. But if IMOVIE will give me a better B&W picture, I would be happy to get that from my friend.

Any thoughts on the program that should be used?

Right now it doesn't matter if it's B&W or Color. 5 years from now you'll need to think about
the "why" of it --- it's too early on to care.

"The Man Who Wasn't There" wasn't shoot in 4 hours, know what I mean?

Just have fun for now...

If he was furth er along I'd say, "don't shoot in B&W unless you have a really good reason to do so".

.

i would put the footage to B&W in post. in camera effects on any.... yes any camera significanly reduces resolution, and considering you want to put it out to film you'll want all the resoulution you can get.

quote:

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Originally posted by monodynamic:
actual shooting lasted 4 hours without many wasted minutes.....
8:30 PM - 12:30 PM

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Wouldn't that be 16 hours?

quote:

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Originally posted by LeeMarcotte:
When you convert something in color to B&W in post, whatever lighting you used will WORK, since it's applying a filter. Perhaps if you shoot right from B&W on your camera, you might have to light it differently?

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What?! That's rediculous. You light black & white differently than color regardless of whether you do it in camera or in post. 'The Man Who Wasn't There' was shot in color, but unless Roger Deakins had lit it for black and white it wouldn't have been nearly as effective. Lighting for B&W is different philisophically.

Nota "Bologna!" Mono