"You Have To Underexose"

[Aswald]

Interesting Interview.....

 

http://www.dpreview.com/interviews/4663212665/interview-with-three-time-oscar-winning-cinematographer-emmanuel-lubezki?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=generic&ref_=pe_1822230_187673810_dpr_nl_195_8

 

Sorry, typo in the title. "You Have To Underexpose"

 

Edited March 25, 2016 by Aswald

[Guest thiswayup]

...Ok: 

 

1. Nothing new here

 

2. The way you've presented this will possibly mislead people...

 

The guy is NOT saying that you should underexpose in general!

 

What he is saying is that if you have a scene outside of the the dynamic range of your camera and the highlights are going to blow, then you have to expose so that they do not blow, even if it leaves the rest of your scene underexposed. Which is complete and utter orthodoxy. It's even part of the Expose To The Right methodology - which is where you attempt to OVER expose as much as possible to maximize sensor information, because the important highlights define the limit of the possible.

 

...And in this case the interviewee was very clear that the important highlight that drove exposure was the actor's face - even though it obviously wasn't the brightest thing in the scene - look at the snow! And he talks about letting the sky blow.

 

If this is new to anyone, then they should read a standard intro like this, rather than thinking this is a revelation of a new Ultimate Secret Photo Ninja Technique and trying to puzzle it out from the interview:

 

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-exposure-techniques.htm

 

The good news for people who don't want to do get that technical is that the scene metering mode in the camera will usually get things right. And if you set the viewfinder to show actual exposure then you'll know when it is going wrong and you can just use the EV dial. Just watch for things you care about turning into detail-free masses of glare and use EV to stop it - that's all that this is about.

Edited March 25, 2016 by thiswayup

[quincy]

One of the best interviews I've ever read.

And The Revenant was, to me, the best cinematographic experience in years. I was amazed by the smooth camera movement, the wide-angle shots, the long takes, the sun in the frame and just the beauty of the composition throughout the whole movie. So much that I will have to watch it a second time for the story.

[Aswald]

One of the best interviews I've ever read.

And The Revenant was, to me, the best cinematographic experience in years. I was amazed by the smooth camera movement, the wide-angle shots, the long takes, the sun in the frame and just the beauty of the composition throughout the whole movie. So much that I will have to watch it a second time for the story.

Agree with you.

 

The movie had me gripping onto my chair. The bear attack scene was....remarkable.