Filming Outside

I am planning to film at night and I want it to appear to be late at night.
According to the BBC, the problems with filming at night includes:

• Someone can injure themselves or someone else due to fatigue
• Reduced visibility can affect time and risk
• Night working on location can increase the security risk
• It may cause a disturbance to the general public

The BBC outlines the General Controls:

• Give the team as much notice as possible about working at night.
• Consider the journey times and travel arrangements of the cast and crew.
• Ensure safety critical activities are scheduled appropriately (e.g. don’t have higher risk work such as stunts at end of night).
• Consider accommodation, taxis and arrangements for transport; these may need to be offered.
• Consider a health assessment via a questionnaire if the night working is to be regular.
• Keep access clear of equipment and cables.
• Ensure that access and egress routes are adequately lit and that cables are properly managed.
• Identify any potential risks to personal safety at the location.
• Make the police and / or other relevant authorities aware of your recording intentions if necessary.
• Contact the Corporate Security Team and liaise with the police if you require further security advice.
• Consider the length of time and the location of the sequence if the recording may be contentious to the local people or area and the need for security (see pre-vetted list).
• Ensure arrangements for vehicle parking will be secure.
• Think about the need for working lights at location and unit base ensuring they do not dazzle drivers.
• Inform the cast and crew of any particular hazards.
• Keep noise levels to a minimum in public areas. If significant noise is likely liaise with the locals/the local environmental health officer to make them aware and help manage it.

A way to overcome the problems and hassle with filming at night time is to film at dusk, either during sunrise or at sunset. At this current date-12th January 2017- sunrise is at approximately 8:00AM and sunset is at 4:06PM. In the editing stage for the production, I will have to edit the brightness and saturation to make it appear at night time. I will complete some test footage before, comparing dusk and night filming.

Reflective Comment

The research has allowed me to gain a better understanding of filming when dark. The term 'golden hour' is a term for the sunrise/sunset, it is apparently the perfect period for filming as the sun does not cause any inconvenience. I will use this research for my test footage to compare the quality and credibility of filming at sunset rather than night.

Artificial Lighting Tutorials

Credit to mediacollege.com, which includes tutorials for different aspects. I will refer to this website during the production of the film as it is very helpful.

Light is the "raw material" for creating visual images. Everything related to vision is related to light. Whether the medium is still photography, motion film, video or computer-generated images, light forms the basis of everything you see. The information 

Three Point Lighting

This uses three lights, the key light, fill light and back light.
The key light is the main light; it is the strongest and has the biggest impact. The light is placed to one side.




The Fill Light is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key light. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. 




The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting, its is used to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines. This helps separate the focus from the background and provide more of a three-dimensional look.