Low Light & D.O.F. Adapter

[electro]

Hello, I'm getting ready to shoot the last few sequences of my horror film, which takes place at night. (preferably)
There will be CG elements (creature) added in later. (I am shooting on the HV20 also, incase there's any confusion)

Here are some of my main concerns.
I've shot the begining of the film with the adapter on, and would like to finish with it. Would this be un-wise for night shooting?
Would it be better to just use the bare camera to get the most light?

(I'm shooting in a dark remote location, so lights are going to be hard to use)
(Except, for one sequence by a campfire.)

That was probably confusing, but i'd like your opinions, because you're more experienced with low light shooting.

so, any thoughts are helpful.

[twoneil]

You will lose light with the 35mm adapter, but you also loose some benefits such as circular bokeh & obviously the shallow depth of field.

Though, I think it's not that bad using a 35mm adapter at night.
You will see more video noise (w/ gain) but that's about it.

[mattias]

I agree, it's probably better to use the adapter. However you will need lights regardless, no light means no image. /matt

[Duke]

Shoot with moderate light (avoid shadows that are a give away) then darken and color towards blue in post. That way you can avoid the gain.

Duke

[electro]

thanks for your thoughts!

I figure i'll drag some small lights to the location, and shoot a bit before dark.

thanks again for the replies.

[RicanJoe]

You can always shoot day for night. (just avoid the sky!). Here is a nice lengthy guide that can help you.

"Shooting "day-for-night," of course, means recording night scenes in daylight. It's done all the time because casts and crews tend to be less grumpy in the afternoon than at midnight and because lighting a large night exterior takes a truck full of lights, a honking-big generator and more bucks than you have for your whole show. In the halcyon days of black and white movies, day-for-night was easy because a red filter on the lens pumped up the cont..."

Read the rest here (http://www.videomaker.com/article/10368/)

[Kyleman]

Yeah like they filmed the "night" shots in 28 weeks later, were actually filmed in daytime.

[electro]

thanks again!
I've decided to shoot DFN, but I think lighting will still be a problem, even with that tutorial.