Moonlight Fakery!

[roseberry guitars]

Went out with a elderly friend of mine for a mid-day photo trip. He's

86 and doesn't get around very well but once in a while we head out

to find something to waste some film on.

 

He used to work in film and newspaper photography so is a wealth of

info on old techniques. He was telling me a simple way how he would

fake moonlight when working as a camera man in old westerns. He had

an assortment of different filters when using color film but says his

favorite technique was to shoot around noon when the sun was in a

simular location as the full moon would be, use a polarizer to remove

any glare (something about the moon light doesn't have the same

reflecting properties as sunlight...I'll have to ask him more to

clairify that) and to underexpose 2 +/- stops.

 

So, thought I'd give it a try. It's got that "Western" theme as we

were hanging out at a local homestead when the topic came up.

 

Not sure where I stand on the results so thought I'd run it past you

guys for comments.

 

Minolta Autocord, Autopol, Fuji Velvia film, Underexposed 1.5-2 stops.

[roseberry guitars]

Second attempt.

[roger_smith4]

I think your shot is great. I'm amazed that underexposed Velvia was scanable at all as it's such a dense film to begin with. Quite nice.

 

My suggestion would be to expose it properly and then darken it in photoshop, which should make it easier to scan and give you more control over the results.

[jbq]

That doesn't do it for me. My eyes don't see color under real moonlight, except maybe for a blue-ish glow.

[bj_bignell]

It's pretty good, but I would suggest that it's not blue enough. I remember watching a Clint Eastwood movie (probably "For a Few Dollars More"), and there were some 'moonlight' scenes that really looked just like underexposed film with a blue filter. Maybe try adding some very light blue filtration, or adjusting this after scanning.

 

Now I'm tempted to try... Fun stuff!

[nicolas_douez]

That's what the French movie makers call 'nuit americaine" effect. <p>Francois Truffaut even realized a movie what was titled <i>La nuit americaine</i>, starring Jacqueline Bisset - a movie in the movie, whose subject was the film industry and its love affairs.<p> Yes indeed it's an old trick mainly used in western movies nightscenes. <p>One of the first times it was used, it was in <i>The most dangerous game</i> (<i>Les chasses du comte Zaroff</i>) in the thirties, a black and white adventures-horror cult movie.

[skygzr]

I've seen this effect numerous times. And it true, we really don't see much color at night, even under a full moon. Ideally the image would be desaturated a little.

 

As for polarization...hmm. Reflection ususally introduces some polarization (which is why polarized sunglasses are good at eliminating glare from water or windshields). I'm not sure if moonlight is polarized or not. I recall using a polarizer on the moon through a telescope to darken the sky, but I don't know that it had that much effect on the moon.

 

The other widely used nighttime efect is the light that turns on in the bedroom after the couple turns out the light. It usually looks like a light shining through the window, and it's often as bright as the light they just tuned off!

[glenn_thoreson]

For B&W, you can use the same technique with a red filter and slight under exposure. To get the sky really black, you can stack a red 25 and a polarizer. You can go out for lunch during the exposure, as it's 5 stops or so longer. I would just like to figure out how to fake star trails at high noon. Welding sparks ????? Ha!

[awahlster]

I beleive it was the "MOODY BLUES" who said

 

"cold Hearted Orb that rules the night

 

Removes the colours from our sight.

 

Red is Gray Yellow white,

 

But we decide which is right."

 

from "Nights in White Satin" The Album "Days Of Future Passed"

 

One of the most popular Rock and Roll songs of all time.

 

And which is an illustion

[charles_stobbs3]

I agree, too much color in the foreground. And by the time the moon is high I think you would see a black sky.

[skygzr]

The moonlight-illuminated sky is blue, not black.

[jay ott]

If this was just an experiment to see how well you could fake moonlight, then you might try again but also shoot a real moonlit scene for comparison.

[tom_holum]

FYI, in America the technique is called "day for night," which is also the translated American title for Truffaut's movie.

[charles_stobbs3]

You may se a little blue around the moon but the horizon is black.