How Cinematographers Set Their Exposure

[@devomk]

I'v never heard more simplistic explanation of the things that i wanted to start with. Sir, you just deserved +1 subscription

[@davidmultimedia2024]

Excellent video! It is important to mention that the ISO itself doesn’t affect the actual exposure of the sensor.. but using it forces you to under or overexpose the sensor, resulting in DR shifting. You should see it like this : Base ISO = Normal exposure (with more or less the same amount of DR above and under middle grey). As soon as you set the ISO "under" the base value, you are then adjusting the other true exposure parameters accordingly, so it tricks you to “overexpose” your sensor (shifting the DR towards the shadows). When setting the ISO “above” the base value, you are monitoring the image with added gain, so it will trick you to “underexpose” the sensor (shifting the DR towards the highlights). When shooting RAW, ISO does absolutely nothing to your footage (just a monitoring tool), but it will affect how you’ll set the true exposure parameters (Aperture, Shutter angle, ND filters, and of course the actual light control).

[@photorooster8865]

The more experience you have the faster finding your exposure becomes. This is why its good to start shooting day one when you get your camera out of the box. Take note of your settings and shoot away. It's just a digital recording so lather rinse repeat, shoot evaluate then erase and keep honing your skill.👍

[@Lensman64]

Invest in a light meter and less important color meter if you can afford it. If you are shooting stills (applicable to film) without question learn the Zone System (Ansel Adams/Fred Archer) which, with practice and experience, you can apply to your in camera meter for virtually flawless exposures. Learn to visualize in B&W tones. You will never regret it. I learned the Zone System when I was first starting out and I've had my Luna Star F for over 30 years. Do not trust your on camera screen no matter how good you think it is. Also learn how to read the scopes. Above all learn about your tools and how they work and the rudiments of photographic theory if you want to grow as a photographer. Very nice video.

[@monsieurgolem3392]

Gossen meters?...if yours still works properly good for you.

[@kiribundi]

The one thing that might have been useful is how a DIT can create a LUT that makes everything darker while preserving the highlight levels. That allows the cinematographer to properly shape the shadows and to avoid underexposure.

[@tristenmoles7933]

Deakins does this alot!

[@campbellgray7553]

The addition to this is also actually live grading on set and reducing mid tones approx 1/3rd of a stop to preserve detail despite the LUT - this means you are always slightly overexposing which is very helpful for dark shows.

[@yetanotherbassdude]

Fantastic video! Really useful to have the whole process broken down step-by-step like this, and I never knew about the false colour imaging software but it looks really useful! One thing I'd add from my experience with shooting stills on film is that, at least with most negative film stocks (as opposed to positive slide films), they do indeed handle overexposure really well as you said, but conversely they also handle underexposure *much* worse than most digital sensors. Film emulsions need a minimum amount of light hitting them to record any information at all, so any areas of the image below this threshold will be blank, just like clipped highlights are with digital sensors. That means you have to completely reverse the way you light and expose for film when compared to digital and always be erring on the side of overexposure and exposing for the shadows rather than the highlights as you would with digital. Definitely worth bearing in mind for anyone starting to work with film after working entirely with digital previously. It definitely caught me out when I started experimenting with film!

[@janriggert]

00:30 I would note that exposure is not directly affected by framerate. Its affected by shutter. It doesnt matter if I record at 25 fps or 50 fps if my shutter is 1/100s.

[@flipnap2112]

I bought a 16mm film camera and started shooting footage. amazing how on film you can easily over expose and still have plenty of latitude, where as digital is the exact opposite.

[@MaheshPatra-hi6ic]

Well .. got to know only recently? Anyway

[@disco.jellyfish]

Although modern digital cameras definitely have caught up, when recording in RAW (which is the digital equivalent to recording on analog film). You can easily overexpose your whole scene by 4 stops, on some cameras even 5, without loosing any detail. Sometimes this is even a reasonable thing to do on purpose to retain better detail in the low lights, if you dont need as much detail in the highlights. You can also underexpose but from my experience not as much. 2 stops underexposure without loosing detail is the limit for what I have used so far. At 3 stops you kinda start to see something was tampered with.

[@executerdelta]

I think it’s also important to say to try to use the native ISO value as much as possible to get the least amount of noise and the highest dynamic range the camera is able to capture!

[@authenticNL2]

I heard that some cinematographers shoot at 1600EI for more noise though

[@bngr_bngr]

Modern digital cameras don’t work that way.

[@executerdelta]

@@bngr_bngr How do they work then?

[@lorenzbuhler6114]

@@bngr_bngr what do u mean, like EI and noise aren’t correlated?

[@emilthilsing]

depends on the shooting situation. if you're shooting for a dark look where a large portion of the image falls into almost complete black, it's usually better to shoot at the lowest possible ISO since those lower value ISO tend to preserve more dynamic range in the shadows.

[@traviswallace]

The indebted help this channel has been to so many filmmakers across the world is one that deserves the highest appreciation. Thank you, team.

[@cllgscreative]

Damn, I know all of this stuff but didn't know how to use it. Especially the bit about stopping down to an exposure you like then calculating NDs to get there. It almost like I've been using a flathead to pry things open without realizing it's a screwdriver as well. Thanks homie!

[@perrin_films]

Clear, precise, in depth information. Thank you. I value the work you put into this channel.

[@AuspiciousOncologist]

These videos are a super helpful primer! Very well edited, to the point, and informative. Have gleaned a ton of useful info I otherwise might have had to learn through trial and error.

[@rajatbanerjee3413]

Extremely crisp with elaborations done in the most convenient way ..

[@wildobson]

This has been really really great. The subject matter is broad even though focused on Cine cameras. Theres some technical terminology and details for me to get an understanding of, but also they WHY it works or doesn’t work, allowing me to make up my own mind on tools to get the job done and the tone to set. 2 thumbs up!

[@rodroyo]

Thank you for thr video. This is one of the most important basic videos to be seen for all aspiring cinematographers that are being trained online. Great work. Its perfectly and clearly explained. Regards from Palma de Mallorca.

[@mrdfwproductions]

Seriously thank you for making this video. It helped me understand the reasoning behind lighting for different results.

[@imDonDiestro]

I think it’s important to note that a lot of the time, “moodier” shots are actually exposed brighter than what we see in the final product to give the colorist more room to color. In post they’ll bring the overall brightness down a few stops to achieve the moody/darker look that we all end up seeing. Batman is an exception though. They shot that dark af lol.

[@Killllian]

You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it. Molded by it. I didn’t see the light until I was hired to shoot dune. By then, it was nothing but BLINDING!

[@markconnelly1806]

That was mentioned in video. Expose for accommodating for light and color changes in post.

[@NuparthChaudhry]

Your videos are amazing, in depth yet easy to understand, I've come across a gold mine, please keep creating videos

[@elsiadajew9694]

Truly from the bottom of my heart I thank you for this video! You've helped a lot!

[@samuelalzate6452]

In middle of the night, I gotta tell you something: "¡You, and all your videos are so amazing!" Never leave this dudeeeeeeeee

[@NEVERAGAIN007]

Thank you for such an amazing informative and simplistic explanation on this. New sub. Just brilliant 🔥🔥🔥

[@killderrodrigues6958]

Bro, thanks for this vide, it was so easy to understand with this very clear explanation. Please, do not stop doing this content, will be helpfull to teach all of us get great results as filmmakers!

[@PeaLoop]

I’ve learned so much about filmmaking from your channel 🙏🙏

[@kevin.delacruz]

I just moved from youngling to jedi knight in terms of camera knowledge. Thank you so much In Depth Cine. This information is exactly what I needed to truly understand how to frame on camera.

[@Helmersson88]

The best pedagogic video I've seen about the subject. Well done! Thanks!

[@saif_visuals]

Great video, I like how you told the nd filter exposure thing at the last!

[@phokar5255]

Great video. Please make separate video on adding artificial sources to bring up exposure after exposing for natural sources (like windows during day). Or "room tone". Sometimes I fear that adding artificial sources to bring up shadow is going to look sourcy.

[@deep2112]

this explanation was all I was waiting in these years, Thank you so much🤗

[@MiaogisTeas]

The aperture is also affected by the T-stop of the lens. That's why it's labeled T on the ARRI lens you've used as an example. The T-stop is a better indicator of the light the lens will allow through to the sensor, which will also affect the DOF, whereas the aperture is made up of many factors, including the embouchure or front lens element. There used to be lenses that would allow you to adjust the T-stop independently of the aperture, however, they're a specialized bit of kit that you can replace with ND filters and the equipment between your ears.

[@untraditionalfilms]

As always love the videos. So informational and comprehensible.

[@csilt]

Just a quick note about your ending point. It seems to me that a lot of newer folks seem to have the impression that shallow focus is more "professional" or "cinematic" looking but I tend to disagree unless there is a specific reason or purpose behind it. Take Steven Spielberg for example. A lot of his shots exhibit extended depth of field which in his case helps tell the visual story he is trying to convey. His movies speak for themselves, they look amazing! Just a little food for thought..

[@sevenrulesproductions3037]

Soooo helpful! I hated cinematography theory, but this cleared my mind, 🙏🏽

[@CSquare324]

Great information and content as always! Thanks.

[@AvatarRishi]

Love your videos IDC! Even if I know the topics, a good explanation is a wonderful review to stay on top.

[@b_cinematographer]

I'm guessing the IRE scale is from 0 to 100 is this the case with REC709? Because in Slog3 it is 0-94 and in S-Cone Tone 0-109. So it varies depending on the image profile we're working in right? BTW. I love your channel

[@426Studios]

Yes it depends on what color space you use. There is also the neutral grey that needs to be considered because every profile/color space has different neutral grey. Slog3 has 41IRE for it's neutral grey though most cinematographers overexposed to 1.5 stops because at native ISO of 640, the noise floor seems to be at around 10 or 11IRE so on post, when the exposure is adjusted, the noise floor will also be pushed down to below 0 IRE

[@Longdayvlog]

Very well-explained video. Thank you very much!

[@strummedia4068]

A lot of “ dark” scenes in movies are actually shot quite bright and brought down in post to look dark. The last mad max movie’s night scenes were all shot in the sun. It’s called Day for night

[@jfkjfk-om3mv]

totally right! even those dark sceens are dark by colourist. as a dp u have to provide as much data for post also having a pre-LUT would be wonderful but often happens that u dont have that privilege.

[@TapijtReiniger]

I read somewhere that SmallHD introduced a new False Color tool in their new on board monitors which can seamlessly work together with your light meter. It was developed by Ed Lachman, ASC. I haven't tried it yet but from what I've read it makes the traditional false color system obsolete since the new one is based on T-stops and not EV

[@LaceyFilm]

That's the EL zone exposure. It's great, but it only works with a log image. It won't allow you to see where the exposure is on your LUTed image, which may not be ideal.

[@TapijtReiniger]

@@LaceyFilmwell your LOG is the only thing which really matters right? It doesn’t matter if you clip/crush in your LUT based image if the LOG image still has all the detail.

[@LaceyFilm]

@@TapijtReiniger it depends. If you're going to do a lot of grading then a healthy log image is essential. If you already have a LUT that you want to work with it may be better to use standard false colour with that.

[@pierrezapata90]

What a valuable wealth of knowledge this video is! Well done!

[@orlandojonesphotography]

This is such a great video. Thank you so much for sharing. Definitely subscribed 👍🏾

[@tss3393]

This video is an absolute game changer! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[@GlobeHackers]

well organized explaination that pretty much covered it

[@movieman925]

This is one of the best videos I’ve seen thing all of these topics together , it finally clicked for me

[@GerzaaHD]

At the end when you mentioned the correct exposure, do you mean the exposure you want your shot to be exposed at? Also when we use filters to drop back down to say T/2 is that what all filmmakers do to have a shallow depth of field with the exposure they want?

[@aaronthecameraguy]

In terms of directors using the same aperture for a project, does this typically change for say wide shots to close ups? I would image most wides are shot around f/5.6 - f/11 and close ups f/2.8 - f/4.0.

[@DialloMoore503]

Filmmaking is so technical that working with cameras can be intimidating. That’s why I tell people that PROFESSIONALS know what they’re doing. I’m a director that actually likes to operate the camera, but the stuff about lenses, filters, ISO, and aperture is hard to retain.

[@warren9762]

nobody uses f/11 in movies, guaranteed.

[@campbellgray7553]

Hi, often you set the apeture for the character of the lens. Arri DNA LF you often shoot between T 2.8 and T4, otherwise they get soft below T2.8. Often for VFX shots on long lenses you'd use T5.6, 8 and 11 to get more depth of field to help out the 1st AC focus puller. So it really depends on use. An extreme close up might be T2 if the lens is fast enough and only a tiny piece of the face needs to be in focus.

[@rodrigovieirafilmes1472]

Eu sou do Brasil , mau consigo entender direito o que vc fala! Mas ainda bem que sua animação no video ajuda demais !! Obrigado estou aprendendo muito !!

[@KristophTy]

Awesome Video... Well Explained... I will be studying/referencing this video ALOT... Subbed!

[@ReadytoChop]

It’s entirely ok to crush shadows, assuming you want black in that region of the final image. Erring towards exposing for the highlights tends to be the best look associated with cinema, but that depends on the intent of the creator. You must remember the the print film stocks would crush shadows pretty heavily so that projection would not look as flat as it would with out it. This is a look we associate with many classic films. Again, there are exceptions.

[@johannesdberg]

First of all I really admire your work! I have a big problem and cant find a solution and wanted to ask you if you can help me. I have watched 20+ KZbin videos on that topic bought some learning material on that subject and looked it up in several books but i still cant find a good answer. I would love to ask you if you have any idea. My problem: I will shoot an short film where there are scenes indoor and outdoor. For the Outdoor scene there will be a shot from below into the actors face in bright daylight with the sky in the back. I learned a few ways how to expose but I dont know which way to use. 1. Using ETTR (Exposure to the right) for every scene and bring back the skin to the right IRE in post. I learned that this is wrong by someone who seems to know his stuff because the skintone will be different in every Shot. 2. Using a greycard/false color and expose the skin always the same way. The problem with this, the sky will probably clip and that will look really unprofessional. 3. Using something in between with flase color. I would use false color to have a lower limit for the skin tones. And if the background is very bright I will go down with the exposure until i hit that lower limit. 4. Using something in between using a grey card. I would expose for the grey card and if the Background is very bright i will underexpose 1 stopp and let parts of the background clip. Which of these ways would you use or is there a even better way that i missed? I really need help with this thank you so much!

[@markconnelly1806]

Expose for background and use lights on main subject

[@donwhitman1118]

This video was so helpful. Thank you!

[@Steinthedude]

Great video, however one thing I am missing is the subject of exposure in camera vs grading. I feel (also depending on the camera) it is best to expose to the right and bring things down when color grading but I have been told this kind of changes the look a bit. Would you say it is better to make the creative choice in camera or to get the most detail and expose to the right?

[@GeorgeJohnsonJackofAllTrades]

It depends. I only expose to the right when I see a need to counter the introduction of noise into the image. You'll need to know your camera to decide.

[@Steinthedude]

@@GeorgeJohnsonJackofAllTrades Thanks!

[@jay_elias__]

This was really, really handy! Thank you for this! I definitely learned something valuable today!

[@MesaVerdeProductions]

Very very well done video. Even though I had a good idea about exposure some things taught here were helpful :)

[@entylerly]

I've always read that a good rule of thumb for shutter speed is to double the frame rate. In your example the FPS is 24 but the shutter is 180. How did you come to this number and what are the results of that specific example?

[@marekbohdan]

Shutter speed (1/48 [s]) is not shutter angle (180 [deg.]).

[@TinLeadHammer]

180 degrees is half of the full circle 360 degrees, meaning a frame is exposed for half the time it is sitting in the gate. Half the time for 24 fps is 1/48 s. Half the time for 30 fps is 1/60 s. Half the time for 60 fps is 1/120 s, but it is customary to use 1/60 to avoid choppy look.

[@Eyeofkamau]

That us shutter angle, not shutter speed. 180° shutter angle equates to 24fps at 48shutter speed and other frame rates with their ss doubled the rate

[@kingdeekshith6576]

Superb explanation

[@HolyHenry-u2u]

Great and helpful! Thanks a lot.

[@brunobilandzija1823]

awesome as always!🍀

[@yashkamat1880]

THANKS!! HIGHLY INFORMATIVE!

[@EtherealVisionYT]

Amazing video. Thank you🙏

[@tubeman1983]

Amazing explanation!!! Bravo! Cheers :)

[@dekidyeuklides7400]

brilliant explanation!

[@raimondogenna7912]

Thank you for this. Love your channel!!!

[@pawelpolanowski1991]

Love your videos! Great work

[@JohnnyMcMillan]

Excellent video!❤

[@chusetor]

Amazing!!!! Thanks so much.

[@troytstewartful]

Thank you, very helpful

[@ChrisSantini]

Really informative video! thank you

[@TinLeadHammer]

You cannot grade if there is no info. The issue of gamma profile has been completely omitted, but a cinematic gamma curve allows to approximate film response even on an 8-bit camera. It seems that this tutorial assumes shooting in RAW.

[@warren9762]

Well if you don't shoot in RAW what are you even doing lol

[@Newt211]

Thank you very informative!

[@CloudCraftStudios]

This should be the very first video they show in every film school around the world.

[@fnv870]

I'm learning more about the cinematography field. I have a question though. It would be helpful if anyone can answer it. How are stops determined? Like how much aperture is one stop? Sorry in advance, This might be a stupid question.

[@pawebaran3601]

Stop is when expousure changes two times. For example iso 100 to iso 200 or 180° to 90° shutter angle. In aperture it would be from f4 to f5.6 for example

[@fabriciochiarella]

@@pawebaran3601 that's not correct. there's 2 stops between f4 and f8.

[@pawebaran3601]

@@fabriciochiarella Well, I know. But thats some gourmet shit going in this theory because when I close from f4 to f8 my image darkens the same as when I go from iso 200 to iso 100

[@fnv870]

@@pawebaran3601 Ah I see. Thanks for the info! Appreciate it!

[@marekbohdan]

@@pawebaran3601, you are wrong. f/4 to f/8 is 2 stops (EV). f/4 + 1 stop (EV) is f/5.6. Please look at 12:10.

[@homenrico]

Awesome video! Really useful

[@b991228]

Does each stop of light exposed from black to white result in progressively reduced range of tone and color with digital? Would you get more detail if you do your editing then finish by lowering the exposure?

[@berkertaskiran]

Yes. Since it's often a log curve and we prefer to preserve more stuff in shadows and midtones, you get less dynamic range to work with at highlights. That is unless you work with 16 bit linear which most don't. That's why you expose to the right. Buuut... exposing to the right isn't very professional especially on a feature film and can cause a lot of problems. But this doesn't really have anything to do with editing, per se. As long as you don't process your original footage you can grade whenever you want. Note that ETTR will cause issues if you have overexposed highlights. Those will remain white, unrecoverable. So you have to be careful not to blow out the highlights.

[@MaxKissler]

The only correct answer would be: Always light and expose properly, meaning don't blow out your highlights and don't crush your blacks, so you or your colorist can go for the look you want in post.

[@archetype0]

Amazingly done

[@sondp]

What film is this? 5:41

[@HamoLive]

how does frame rate affect exposure?

[@MareckiTV]

If u capturing movment u need to use shutter speed of doubled number like prroject in 24 fps 1/48 shutter speed or 50 fps? 1/100

[@OnTrack_media]

really useful, thx

[@joegamer6914]

Great video

[@charlieweston2292]

Even if you do film so highlights blow out it’s pleasant to take the edge off in editing after. A reason why people like 35Mm film a lot because it can do this naturally or be easier to do this after

[@oluwaseunolaoke1588]

Thanks a lot ❤❤❤

[@sethjepstein]

Excellent video

[@ersaloj]

Thank you!

[@workingwiththelight3119]

Thank you 🎉

[@sammorganmoore]

Seems that you demonsrate accurately that most cinamatographers dont really understand digital capture. Digital capture has an S-N ratio and steps allocated to a stop change of light. To bring the best fidelity from a camera one must expose with an understanding of these two factors and nothing else. Any mood or darkening can be added in post and seen onset with a suitable LUT.

[@GeorgeJohnsonJackofAllTrades]

Great video. I agree with everything you said but I'm afraid your explanation of log and LUTs may confuse some viewers. Of course, explaining that point could be its own 13 minute video. I would just point back to your earlier rule about not trusting the monitor. The in-camera LUT is only there to help the non-cinematographer director understand what the final picture could look like ;) The false-color and all the other tools you mentioned work just the same. Use them.

[@sxperduper]

You’re such a W KZbinr

[@DEADIKATED]

Great Video Thanks!

[@joecal2360]

Exposing for highlights is one of the stupidest concepts in contemporary cinematography. Guys, go back and watch any Stanley Kubrick. The highlights are massively blown out all over the place, so much so that the halation splatters halfway across the frame, and it all looks GLORIOUS. I mean, I get why protecting highlights became a thing, in the olden days of the first dv cameras that made everything look like the Blair Witch Project if you didn't keep the highlights under clipping. But we're well past that now. Highlight clipping looks fine. You have my permission to clip away to your hearts' content. And on that note, it's hilarious when I see youtubers talk about highlight rolloff, showing a sample frame and cooing, "ooh, look at that highlight rolloff, smooth as butter", as they point to an area of the frame with NO GRADATION. Goodness gracious, it's the blind leading the blind around here. Comment below if you want me to rant some more about the rampant underexposure endemic to modern film.

[@Gibberish1983]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who absolutely despises this modern "dark" look for the sake of making it look "cinematic" lol, people do not trust or follow their instincts anymore as to what looks like it fits the story and overall feeling of a scene. It's really dumb.

[@aparnadutta6487]

What's role of light meter

[@airindiana]

I think one thing that can trip up people is looking at a moody film on Davinci say and seeing where the exposure sits, seeing it’s dark, trying to do that themselves in camera and then wonder why everything looks muddy. Take Batman. You’re looking at display referred. It is highly unlikely the cinematographer ever exposed the image that dark. It’s why BTS of dark and moody horror films always appear lighter than the final product. They expose more then bring it down in post. It gives more latitude rather than trying to bake the image that low down from the sensor.

[@binuserkaf]

THANK YOU!

[@Micah__]

Nothings worse than watching a movie that’s primarily dark like The Batman on a ips tv with an abysmal contrast ratio.

[@wetravelfordream]

Wonderful video

[@ConradSpoke]

I feel considerably less stupid after starting and stopping my way through one of your excellent lectures.

[@FrancescoPaggiaro]

Pure gold

[@MartinV.]

Great Video!

[@siddxartxa]

One day I will definitely become someone who creates beauty through a lens or screen. One day. Thank you for your work, creating these videos! Greatly informational and interesting.

[@مصطفىمحمد-ص5ح]

amazing video