Lighting Challenges For the Final Film

 Originally while planning my final film, the nighttime setting of the story seemed to fit glasgow perfectly, as it seems to be dark basically all of the time here. However, there are now some challenges that I must take into account. 

1. Filming in low light

The camera I've been using does not handle low light well at all. I've since purchased a camera that is a newer version but claims to be able to handle low light much better, however I will have to get this repaired before I can use it and verify this, as it was damaged during shipping. This camera also cannot use the lens filters I've purchased, but I knew I was hoping to have a two-camera operation anyway so that won't be too much of an issue. However, learning how to light a nighttime scene in a natural way is going to be a challenge. Since my film is quite surreal anyway, some lighting looking unnatural will be part of my overall aesthetic to be able to see certain details that wouldn't be perceived normally, but I want this to be a deliberate stylistic choice rather than just bad lighting work. I will definitely be looking into the possibility of finding a cinematographer that can help with this. 

2. Summer

After all of my complaining about how dark it is in Glasgow, it turns out that from the end of April to mid-August there is no astronomical twilight. This means it will not get truly dark, and either way the sun will set at 8pm with it being as late as 10pm in august, meaning that the amount of time I'll have to film every day is much shorter than what I'm working with now. This presents two main issues: finding out how to light scenes during twilight and seeing if they will have the right effect, and trying to balance filming schedules for both cast and crew when filming most nights won't be able to start until very late.