Shooting While Snowing - Probably a Dumb Question

WillStart

WillStart

Active member
This question is aimed more for the experienced filmers in M&A (you guys know who you are), and I'm sure I could find an answer on Google but I'd like to hear what you guys have to say.

I don't film while it's snowing very often due to the fact that I am lazy and don't like standing outside being cold and wet, but I love slow motion shots of people walking through snow where the snow is nice smooth and it just looks like an epic winter wonderland. However, since I am lazy, I don't practice these shots very often.

So here is my question to you guys: How do you get shots like that? Is it better to shoot with a high shutter speed or a low shutter speed? On the one hand, high makes sense so that you can capture the snow. On the other hand, low makes sense because you will get some nice smooth motion blur to avoid it looking jittery. So what do you guys think works best?

Also, can any snowfall be made to look smooth? Or does it have to be falling very slowly?

Kind of a noob thread but I've never really taken the time to figure it out and I'm very curious.
 
Would be interested in this info too! I'm going to mess around with slow mo shots all week.. Haven't really experimented :)
 
In other words, you simply want pristine slow motion footage of snow falling?

For the slow motion, its about finding the preferred "sweet spot" in terms of shutter speed. Too slow, and the you will get frame blending/ghosting. Too fast, and it will look too digital and processed. I find 1/120 (or 1/125 for DSLR) to be a great shutter for 60p and 30p.

On the composition end, snow flakes take kindly to telephotos. Flakes in the out of focus foreground/background will become huge semi-opaque hazy circles, and the ones in focus will really pack a punch.

Make sense?
 
word, thanks a ton.
i usually shoot around 1/125 at 60p when shooting skiing and such, so you usually keep your shutter speed the same no matter what you're shooting (assuming you're shooting at 30p or 60p)?
and yea that telephoto thing makes a lot of sense, i'll have to give that a shot.
 
I have been shooting shots like this at 1/125 and they have turned out nicely so far. I find that it really depends on speed of snow as well as distinguishability of the flakes if you know what i mean.
 
Yeah, it's entirely preference. Most people strictly abide by the 180º shutter rule, but eff that noise. I like it at 1/125 for 30p/60p, and 1/60 for 24p.
 
I'm a rookie when it comes to this sort of thing, but I read somewhere (or maybe it was in one of Phillip Bloom's videos on Vimeo) that multiples of 1/125s shutter speeds should be avoided due to high noise when using Canon's 7D specifically. Do either of you shoot with this camera, and have you noticed this in any appreciable amount?
 
This is more or less what I was referring to (albeit completely inaccurately), but if I recall correctly, 160 itself IS a non-native ISO. I believe 100, 200, 400, etc. are actually the native ISOs, with an exposure reduction to get numbers like 160, 320, etc. Whereas numbers like 125, 250 are derived from increases in exposure from the native numbers.
I'm new to the DSLR video scene, and my understanding of the 180 degree rule is unclear, but I'm not sure how I crossed my lines on these topics.
 
180 degree rule is that to get the best looking footage, it's supposedly best to shoot at a shutter speed that is approximately twice your frame rate. i don't really follow it that much.
luckily, i shoot with a T2i which has all native ISO's, so I don't have to worry about which are native and which aren't.
 
thanks!
i mean if the light is good i'll stick to the rule, but if i need more light/less light and i have a certain depth of field in mind, then i would much rather change shutter speed than change aperture.
there are other filmers though who will stick to that rule no matter what. it really just comes down to preference
 
stupid idiot video noob question of the day. how do you guys follow these shutter rules when its super sunny out? stop down to like f22? Because then you are gonna have diffraction problems arent you?
 
Just don't follow shutter rules. The shutter rules are for "film like" look so if you're not trying to get that (aka shooting with a minimal dslr setup or consumer hd camera). I rock anywhere from 1/120 to 1/500 depending on the lighting, been trying to keep it at 1/250, i used to rock 1/1000 and 1/2000 sometimes.
 
Throw an ND filter on there, and stop down to ~f/8. It usually gets me a solid exposure.

Don't get me wrong though, just because I don't follow the 180º rule specifically doesn't mean I am sporadic with my shutter speeds. I strictly abide by 1/125 for slow motion and 1/60 for 24p. Anything more or less looks bad in my opinion.
 
Just to piggyback on the other posts:
It depends on what kind of "look" you are going for. If you are going for a film look, then the 180 degree rule applies. So, 24 fps, 1/48 shutter, 30 fps, 1/60 shutter, (or as close as you can get it depending on the camera) 60fps, 1/120th, etc.
If you want more of a staccato look, and are not planning on manipulating speed in post, then a much faster shutter speed is necessary. For example, the entire storming the beach scene in Saving Private Ryan was shot at 24 fps and 1/96th shutter speed to create that look.
If you're looking for more motion blur - a "dreamy" look - then a shutter speed slower than 180 degree can be used.
I've also heard, and experimented with, plug-ins like Twixtor. If you have a higher shutter speed it seems to respond much better to slowing down footage.

 
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