Vihan,
The first low (&no) budget short film event in Iran,
Presents.
In association with
Khanesh institute
and 35mm studio
Natural Lighting Cinematography
Chapter 4
Using the Natural Light
The Position of the subject
Differences between cameras
Contrast
Dynamic Range
One of the things we can do to use natural light,
is to set our sujet in profile view towards source of light
which means our main light is side light to sujet
Like what happens here half of sujet’s face is dark and the other half is bright
Now you see the difference between two cameras
Sony & Canon
with same exposure and same diaphragm
In Sony’s camera frame background is more exposed so the frame we have has less contrast
and in canon’s frame we can see more contrast
knowing the fact that in this camera I set contrast level to lowest  for this situation
One point about contrast to tell you right now is that
if we have a frame with less contrast we can manage to fix it with color-grading in post-production and add it’s needed contrast
But If we want to have a frame with more contrast,
we will not be able to adjust it in post-production
We may be able to do something about it to adjust it’s contrast but it may contain some noise on your frame
so it’ll be  lighter with some noise
so it’s probably for the best to record a less contrasted film
so that we can adjust it later and the whole thing about contrast will just be  about post production
Usually fine cameras are the ones which have less contrast and more dynamic range
Dynamic Range in a camera is an area for light ability and photosensitive sensors
From the darkest to lightest area which is visible in details
You can easily see in details, the darkness in saeed’s face which doesn’t have reflection from this side
But in canon you see those area darker and in less detail
(these monitors are not that qualified, I turn it so you can see better, from this angel might be better you should see it in front to see real frame )
cameras with more dynamic range and less contrast are more expensive
like “Alexa”, “Red“
they have about 12,13 stop for diaphragm dynamic range.
Canon cameras are not really made for cinematography
it’s more for photography
DSLR’s are not suitable for filming
and as you can see, it’s way more contrast in here
also you can have some programs loaded in your camera to have less contrasted film
But in sony camera’s we have such SLOG steps which is kind of alike LOG frames from alexa cameras, with less contrast and light
this frame is actually a very suitable for color editing later
you can also darken bright areas and brighten dark areas
Now we only have one light source
and since we are working indoors, we get more contrast in our frame
Sony camera exposes well right now
you see about dark clothes are even in details so you can even see his coat’s materials
So it gives us a proper picture
As I said you film with less contrast and fix it In post production
Canon’s  picture has a kind of material that seems a bit artificial
but what we see in sony’s frame is more life like more cinematic and softer
Canon‘s picture is more like home videos or ones filmed by handy-cams
But Sony looks more professional
Everything is the same ( lightning etc.)
we’re just watching frame differences
Yes there’s a mount between Sony camera and Canon lens mounted on it
but it doesn’t effect that much
There is something interesting in between if I can match these two cameras and have them on monitor
Everything is the same now, though,
We remember in darkness Sony’s camera worked better
but in lightness you see this side is all white
nevertheless, in Canon, wall's material near door just become visible
You may see now although everything’s  situation is the same In brightness Canon works better and in darkness Sony works better
Which means Canon’s dynamic range is more in over exposes and more lights, and Sony ‘s camera works better in shadows and darkness
let’s just not talk about cameras I just wanted mention the differences
One of the most important duties, I mean the main thing about light, is to make light and shade
A picture with light and shade is more interesting than a picture with no shadow and light, which would be all flat
placing the sujet in a place that has half light and dark makes more attractive picture
(I’ll move one of these cameras on my hand  for you too see what I mean)
You, compare what you see to what I’m showing you right now
tell me which one attracts you better?
compare faces you see in each frame
The result is: a frame which light in it, doesn’t glow from camera side, is light and shade with contrast
We feel salience, like it’s dimensional
When you have your light source closer to camera or, move your camera closer to the light source as I did
you make your frame smoother and you  take it’s  dimension away from it
In cinema we face a two dimensional frame so we might use light to make it seems three dimensional
and contrast actually do this for us
Light and shade do this and turn two dimensional objects in to a three dimensional
Because of that, a light that glows to sujet’s side makes more interesting picture
you may not want to have this kind of contrast
But if there’s nothing to limit you, or you don’t have another idea, in general, this frame is interesting
We were just talking about one source.
Vihan,
the first low (&no) budget short film event in Iran.
