Shooting a Wedding

Post by **wolf** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 11:18 pm

Hi,

This Saturday I will be shooting a wedding for a friend. I normally just shoot reversal stock, since i am a student with not a ton of money, but he ordered some negative film for me to use.

The wedding will be between around 4pm-6pm, so pretty much around sunset. The wedding will be held outside. He ordered the film from Pro8mm, and bought mostly 250D and a few rolls of 500D. I don't really know much about how this film is, and if it will be the correct film to use in this situation so i wanted to see what others had to say.

Also, what do i need to know about shooting negative film compared to reversal? I have never shot negative before so i don't know if there are any things i need to do differently or watch for. My camera also has a built in 85a filter, this should be turned off correct?

thanks a bunch, i really appreciate any help.

-josh

Post by **Will2** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 11:39 pm

In some ways shooting negative stock will be easier since it has so much more latitude in exposure.

Do you have a good external light meter? Those Pro8mm stocks aren't notched so you'll have to go to manual exposure.

I love 250D in Kodak, not sure about Fuji. The 500D must be Fuji... I'd be curious to see how the grain is in Super 8; I've only shot it in 16mm. Sounds like your friend got the speeds right for what you'll need.

Also remember that high ASA is not a substitute for lighting. You might consider getting a rechargable video light for some close up shots. Lights react differently on film than video, if you're used to video shots with lights getting blown out on screen you'll be pleasantly surprised at how it will look with negative stocks.

Another consideration; you might want to have Spectra do the processing and transfer (they process Pro8mm stocks for free if you transfer with them) because Spectra's quality control seems to be much better.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 ... _Watt.html

http://www.spectrafilmandvideo.com/index.html

Post by **wolf** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 12:14 am

cool thanks for the help.

I don't have an external light meter, only the internal one on my Canon Auto Zoom 518 SV. I might be borrowing a better camera from a friend, but that still won't help me any.

Should a photography light meter work, or do i need a movie film light meter?

Post by **steve hyde** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:11 am

...using Spectra for your transfer is probably good advice. To take full advantage of color negative you've got to follow through with a good transfer. I use FSFT.com - but the stuff I've seen from Spectra also looks pretty good. If it really is sunset (golden hour) and you are shooting 24fps you will probably be shooting between F5.6 and F11 even with the 500 stock because you can shoot that stuff at 250 for tighter grain. When the sun is down or you are in flat light you will probably be shooting wide open or 2.8
F 2.8 and F4 are my favorite lens settings for weddings. Don't be afraid of over exposing your film. When in doubt open up (especially in flat light)

What camera are you using?

Steve

Post by **Will2** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:17 am

wolf wrote:Should a photography light meter work, or do i need a movie film light meter?

A movie one would be best. It needs to take into consideration your film speed and other things unique to movie film.

You can find them on eBay for $15, but I would suggest spending a little money and getting a newer one since those cells can go bad over time.

You will absolutely need one though, so you should order one fast.

Not trying to upsell you, but this is the one I use...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/2 ... gital.html

I used to use it alot more than I do now and found it to be very accurate.

Post by **wolf** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 3:34 am

man, thanks a bunch for all the help, i really appreciate it.

I am not sure of the camera, but the guy getting married might be borrowing a nicer camera from a friend that i will use, if not, i will be using my little Canon Auto Zoom 518 SV. It's nothing fancy, but i have shot many-a-rolls of reversal film on it with pretty good results.

He is also going to either borrow one from someone or rent a movie light meter, hopefully we can find one in Ausin and not have to order one online.

thanks again for the help. Keep the replies coming if anyone else has something to add.

-Josh

Post by **alex-rus** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 3:53 am

Using info from super8wiki.com, you can make notches. Your Canon reads 16/25, 25/40, 40/64, 64/100, 100/160, 160/250, 250/400 ASA (daylight/tungsten).
Using lightmeter not the best output because negative films compensates all discrepancies of internal meter.

Happy shooting!

Post by **Muckymuck** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 11:21 am

Yes, making notches with a stanley knife is very easy as the plastic isn't too hard. I've done it before to put a filter notch in the neg stocks.

I think all Pro8mm stocks are notched the same as Kodachrome, so you would have to cover up the lower notch on your 250D daylight carts with some fairly resistant material to get the camera to meter for 250 ISO.

As for the 500D, I'd just set the filter to the tungsten setting and let the camera meter for 400 ISO.

Post by **matt5791** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:06 pm

I may be wrong, but the last time I used Pro8 film it was notched and worked fine in my Nizo 6080.

I would recommend phoning them to check.

Matt

Post by **AMAT0R** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:30 pm

wolf wrote:I don't have an external light meter

I also don't have (working) external light meter. When I need one, I usually use an SLR camera with fast lens, set on "partial metering" and 1/30 or 1/45 sec. I think it's OK.

Post by **Will2** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 4:37 pm

steve hyde wrote: I use FSFT.com - but the stuff I've seen from Spectra also looks pretty good.
Steve

FSFT does the best Super 8 transfers I've ever seen and I've used every transfer house in the U.S. I can find that does Super 8. It's not simply their machine (which is very good) it's there colorists. They can also give you HD if you need it.

Post by **mattias** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 5:21 pm

a meter for stills will work fine. they just don't have settings for shutter angle and frame rate so you have to do some math. i think the canon has a 150 degree shutter, which means for 18 fps the shutter speed is 360/150*18=43. then your viewfinder prism will take around half a stop, so set the meter to 1/60 and you will get the correct reading. you can verify by using the internal meter without a cart and the filter disabled and see if you get the same reading for 160 asa. preferably using a grey card but any "normal" scene will work.

/matt

Post by **onsuper8** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:06 pm

FYI - Pro8mm stock is notched for the relevant stock.

Post by **matt5791** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 7:42 pm

onsuper8 wrote:FYI - Pro8mm stock is notched for the relevant stock.

I thought so - and errs on the side of slight overexposure if I remember rightly.

ie I believe V200T would expose at 160ASA and V500 at 400ASA

Post by **mattias** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:37 pm

matt5791 wrote:
onsuper8 wrote:FYI - Pro8mm stock is notched for the relevant stock.
I thought so - and errs on the side of slight overexposure if I remember rightly.

ie I believe V200T would expose at 160ASA and V500 at 400ASA

are they notched daylight or tungsten? the highest daylight notch the canon 518 can read is 100 asa. that's more than erring on the side of slight overexposure. even if it's notched tungsten exposing 500 asa stock at 160 is also quite a bit, although most likely not a problem.

/matt