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Which settings recommended for a dark short with the GH2?
  • Im not very technical, i trust by my instincts and I am sometimes some confused by the amount of patches so my english isnt very good. But i like council for this.

    In April or May I will codirecting and making of DP in a short i wrote with a friend. The story have some common elements with the novel 'The tunel' of Ernesto Sabato. Its a psychological drama, with elements of noir cinema, thriller, etc. its dark. My intentions aesthetic are closer to the tenebrism of the painter Caravaggio, films like The Godfather, Stay, Gattaca, etc. Palette with predominantly brown-ochre, black and some of red.

    I have this gear in the Panix with TerraQuake: Two cards SanDisk Extreme 16 GB @ 30MB/S Class 10. Lenses FD: 50mm f1.8, 35mm f2, 28mm f2, 80-210 f3.8 & 135mm 2.8. M4/3 glases: Pancake 14mm f2.5 and kit 14-42. But i think need to acquire the pancake 20mm f1.7 have a soft look.

    Thanks by help friends.

    PS: I have the first and probably one GH2 in my country. Everyone told me acquired Canon, so I hope show what can this noble camera.

  • 12 Replies sorted by
  • Sounds like you've got some great visual references to go on there. I love Film Noir myself. Here is a short test I did with Terraquake...14-140mm lens I believe.

  • @Manu4Vendetta Look into Driftwoods "Dark Matter", IMHO it has the best grading capability in dark parts of the image. But you need fast cards to be on the safe side. And Caravaggio – great reference! You'll need to get into very serious lighting AND grading, though.

  • @Manu4Vendetta I asked the same and driftwood says that actually the best matrix for low light is SEDNA.

  • Matter of taste, I suppose. Sedna is great for sure.

  • Honestly, I think that a good lighting setup (spot light etc) is much more important than settings to achieve a Caravaggio-look...you should find online resources about "Low Lighting", "Rembrandt Lighting" etc...

  • I agree with AlbertZ, Caravaggio amazing look is achieved by contrast ( " Chiaroscuro " ) that is light, to get that kind of look you have to get deep and study the sources of light ( some times almost impossible to illuminate like that), and some possible, but definitively amazing Work at lighting. Also color (art), Caravaggio color is very hard to achieve, you have to use especial props with ultra intense colors (and light to get those at full specs) Camera will hold at any setting, is a matter of manual very detailed work. See some examples

    http://www.behance.net/gallery/-Chiaroscuro-Caravaggio-by-Diver-Aguilar-/695176

    Look at the forehead it could be three things a kino, a silk with a fresnel behind or a white flag, but lighting is a must. Unless you find a location with this natural lighting, and just use the times of the day.

    godfather.jpg
    1280 x 720 - 105K
  • It all starts with a black environment for very controlled lighting (normally called a studio).

  • @Manu4Vendetta

    I have the first and probably one GH2 in my country.

    Maybe you're talking about San Marino, because you're not the only one member from Italy in this forum...

  • @rikyxxx Maybe you're talking about San Marino, because you're not the only one member from Italy in this forum... You´re right! Maybe a late one... ;-)

  • What AlbertZ said.

  • @Manu4Vendetta watch here,this is a short doc about Caravaggio lighting setup...you can directly watch how a great DOP achieve the look you want with only a light , flags and a reflector...! ;) Italian language too directly from Caravaggio's country;)