Why Movie Directors Avoid Overcast Filmmaking
Cinematography can be a confusing subject for a non-technical director. There are f-stops, shutter speeds, ISO ratings, and foot candles involved, so it can get overwhelming. Often a director has a trusted cinematographer that handles this part of the filmmaking for them. This person knows the gear and techniques and the director goes along with their opinions.
Early on a movie director will learn from this person to avoid cloud cover when shooting on-location. As much as I feel you should just trust a cinematographer's advice, it is important to know the reasons why you should not shoot under clouds.
Frequent Color, Intensity Changes
Clouds are not of a single uniform size or consistency. Different clouds vary from each other and within the body of one cloud the effect of sunlight going through will be different. The color of the light when it strikes a subject you are filming may be different from the subject next to it because one shaft of light goes through a different cloud or part of the cloud. Not only can the color be changed but the most obvious thing will be the intensity. One cloud may let most of the light through while another can make it seem like sundown.
Level Of Diffusion Changes
Aside from color and intensity, clouds also affect the quality of the light. Clouds will not let harsh light through, all light that goes through a cloud will be diffused. The problem is that each cloud (and possibly each part of a cloud) will diffuse at a different level and those clouds move. So not only will different objects in your frame have different amounts of diffused light, that light will not stay on that object for long. This can give your picture an eery affect that will likely detract from what you want.
Random Shadows And Bright Light
Clouds moves and change the light, but they also block light. So even if you are good with the idea of the color temperature, intensity and diffusion changing at random throughout your shoot, you may not like the idea of light turning off and on. Depending on conditions you could have a situation where it seems like a strobe light is being pointed at certain subjects in the frame. Also as opaque clouds move overhead, sooner or later rays of light will come through untouched by the cloud blowing out your exposure.
Could Start Raining
You may have no choice but to shoot it whatever way you can, clouds be damned. If you are undaunted by the artistic havoc clouds can play on your footage, you should care that they foretell possible harm. Not always, but often, clouds are a precursor to rain. I do not need to belabor the effect rain can have on your production: equipment, hair styles, fragile fabrics, landscapes. So even if you can brave the clouds, you probably do not want to risk the rain doing irreparable damage.
I like knowing the why behind the what. Now that you know why you should not shoot under clouds you can make your own decisions that fit the film and that may include going against conventional wisdom. You may like the weird effect it gives your footage or just want a cool production story to tell afterward about how you braved clouds, rain, sleet, and spent lots of money replacing equipment.
Do you have any experience shooting under clouds? Was it a good idea? Did you notice any other odd effects from it in the finished footage?
thanks alot! great!!
www.nyfa.com
I think it also has to do with location and type of camera. I know that in Texas, we were actually encouraged to shoot on overcast days. We used 16mm or video, and the clouds down there are mostly like a blanket. Our shots are consistent, without having to worry about shadows and the position of the sun. (it gets so bright and hot down there anyway)
That sounds like a rad situation actually.
If you have clouds that don't move much then you get one big silk over your scene which will give you a nice blanket of diffused light. No worries about time of day, color temp, or even intensity.
I've been to Texas before. It can get hot.
Inconsistent clouds can also mess with the rhythm that the scene and the actors are trying to assert.
I read somewhere that any rhythm with intervals within 10 seconds qualifies as being perceptible. So if the clouds are moving slow enough, no perceptible change in the scene's timing will occur.
I also heard from my friend that if the position of the sun and the elevation of the clouds were known, as well as the rhythm present in the form of the clouds, and the rate at which the clouds passed, then theoretically the subtle change in light could work for the scene instead of against it, i.e. help establish the rhythm of the scene.
But he told me that was all highly speculative.
I live in western Washington, therefore... T__________T
Mon cœur attend en vain, car les rayons du soleil.
—E
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