Every filmmaker knows how tricky it can be to film night scenes, especially outside and more specifically when capturing wide scopes and vast landscapes with no available lighting. That’s exactly where the director and writer Jordan Peele showed his mastery in the spectacular sci-fi horror feature “Nope”. In fact, a significant part of its story takes place after dark. So, the cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema came up with an original approach to handle these kinds of sequences, essentially reinventing the old “Day-for-Night” trick. The film’s story follows the Haywood siblings. After the mysterious death of their father, OJ, and Em try to hold the family business together, only to find that something is definitely off in the skies above their horse ranch. Eventually, they discover an extraterrestrial that lurks out at night and decide to gather evidence on it. How to make this eerie story work visually? In the ASC Clubhouse conversation, Hoyte van Hoytema sits down with James Whitaker and takes us through the process, explaining cinematography tricks for the night scenes. If you want to learn from the master himself, please watch the whole interview on MZed.com. Hoyte van Hoytema on the left with James Whitaker on the right. Image source: the ASC / MZed Why shoot Day-for-Night? “Day-for-Night” is a well-known and established filmmaking technique. For practical considerations such as budget and scheduling constraints, it is often necessary to film night scenes during daylight hours. But it’s also a solution when you need to capture scope. Hoyte...
Published By: CineD - Thursday, 30 March, 2023