The Hurtlocker

[4knewave]

Just recently watched the Hurt Locker after reading the article in the AC magazine. They shot on S16 with Fuji stock (cant remember what one). There were many scenes where the soliders were running in and out of shade into sunlight and the exposures were pretty consistent. They weren't going in and out of trees but more of light then shade being casted by a building etc. In these type of situations how dark do you let your shade go and seem natural/detail? Is 3 too much (it seems a little unnatural during the day to let the shade go that dark?) I feel 2 under would be best and you can always bring it down.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

It just depends on the look you want, and also the balance of sun to shade in the shot -- the more you are in the shade, the more you can open up.

With a desert setting, you can often get away with playing the sun side one-stop overexposed even in frontal lighting because it makes things feel hotter that way, so the shadows are not too dark at that point.

In general, 3-stops under is dark-looking, 4-stops under is near black, but 2-stops under is fairly visible.

If I am shooting in backlight, but it's a higher backlight, toppier, I usually split the exposure, so it's maybe 1.5-stop over on the sunny side and 2-stops under on the faces. But if the sun is lower and the backlight is more of a halo, I may only underexpose the shadow side by 1.5-stops. Generally you'd also expose the shadow side slightly down, otherwise they don't look like shadows. If most of the shot plays in the shade, I may only underexpose by 1-stop, but that depends on the hot spots in the frame, and the mood I'm trying to create.

Some people like to shoot desert stuff very silhouetted with very dark shadows.