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Home: Video University Forums: Tech Q & A:
Shooting Black & White for Digital

dansen
User

Aug 21, 2005, 1:37 PM

Post #1 of 6 (848 views)
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Shooting Black & White for Digital	Can't Post

I'm just wondering if anyone here has ever shot a black and white feature film, short, music video, wedding video etc... How do you go about shooting it with your camera, taking into consideration lighting etc?

Or do you simply "cheat" and change the image from colour into b&w when editing?

Thanks.

adtr
Veteran

Aug 21, 2005, 1:58 PM

Post #2 of 6 (846 views)
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Re: [dansen] Shooting Black & White for Digital [In reply to]	Can't Post

I have considered it with the Z1 because it comes with a preset for b/w. I think I would still prefer to shoot in colour and convert in post because I am used to doing that with Photoshop and would like to use the same techniques.

Colvin Eccleston
manchesterweddingstudio.co.uk

mvmaker
User

Aug 23, 2005, 10:25 AM

Post #3 of 6 (827 views)
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Re: [dansen] Shooting Black & White for Digital [In reply to]	Can't Post

The question you have to ask yourself is how commited to doing a b/w film or you really? Sure you can shoot in color then convert in post but you miss out on the best of shooting b/w. LIGHTING! You can play with shadow and light with a far more dramatic look than lighting for color. Yet if you light for b/w you more than likely are not going to have a correctly lit color scene.

There is a lot you can do in post now so "fixin it in the mix" is not so scary but recreating lighting for b/w that was shot in color is not one of them. Well at least it wouldn't look natural. So shooting in color then converting is not true b/w filming.

videobear
Veteran

Aug 23, 2005, 10:30 AM

Post #4 of 6 (825 views)
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Re: [mvmaker] Shooting Black & White for Digital [In reply to]	Can't Post

I'm in agreement with mvmaker on this one. Lighting is critical, especially in the film noir genre, which is what B&W mostly seems to be used for these days. You won't be able to see whether your scene is giving you the tonal values you want if your eye is distracted by color.

And no, I haven't shot a B&W piece with video; I'm in love with color, and noir isn't my bag.

Regards,
Doug Graham
Panda Productions

dansen
User

Aug 26, 2005, 1:10 PM

Post #5 of 6 (779 views)
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Re: [videobear] Shooting Black & White for Digital [In reply to]	Can't Post

And how different is the actual physical lighting involved between shooting for colour and shooting for b&w? You just have to make sure you're making shadows and getting your noir look?

videobear
Veteran

Aug 26, 2005, 3:40 PM

Post #6 of 6 (777 views)
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Re: [dansen] Shooting Black & White for Digital [In reply to]	Can't Post

That's a big part of it. But you also need to look at the scene in B&W. Many colors, for example, look the same in B&W.

Regards,
Doug Graham
Panda Productions