Having an idea and a visual look in mind is one thing. But to actually go in and make it happen is another. A lot of my scenes require darkness. To be honest, only one scene is in daylight. Other than that, all are dark and grey to create the mood that I’m going for.
My initial plan to achieve these goals was to get a “TikTok tinted light” to create a blue tint without having to play around with colour grading. And an artificial light source with two black fabric sheets to create a dark room vibe. I also opted for shooting at midnight or at dawn for scenes that required a blue tint. Well, I quickly realised when I started to shoot my film that lighting was a problem.
The footage from the first shoot had a lot of noise. So I looked into ways to fix it. I got two tips from my research. Change the ISO or use lights. The ISO was no help and the artificial light was too bright so it wasn’t suitable for the dark vibes that I was going for. But with further research, I realised that there are things called “Theatrical Gel Sheets” that exist and it would help a lot with the artistic look that I’m aiming for.
But it was too late to get them so I improvised. I got a black and blue permanent marker and a couple of plastic notebook covers that I haven’t used yet (TMI: since I’m more eco-friendly now so I don’t protect my notebooks like I used to and don’t even use physical notebooks anymore, most of my notes are digitally take on my iPad). I coloured the sheet in black and proceeding it by making a blue sheet as well. Folded it so the colour would be even more solid and created my own, DIY version of gel sheets.
I then stuck them on the light, a major risk that I have to take because there was no other choice. And I was given a blue-tinted light that I was looking for. But the noise still didn’t go away. So I stuck with it! It’s a creative choice that I’m willing to keep. I might find ways to edit it out but for now, I’m sticking with the noise.
