Skin tones appear using False Color on Blackmagic

Hi everyone,

I'm using the Blackmagic Video Assist 12G and trying to get more confident with False Color, especially when lighting faces.

I’ve seen the Blackmagic false color chart — but I’d really appreciate general advice on:

1. How to read the color bands practically (e.g., pink vs green vs gray for skin)
2. What to aim for on the key side and fill side of a face
3. How others use it for matching shots and controlling contrast

I am a newbie DoP and am just trying to build good habits using what I see on the false color display.
Any tips from people who use this monitor during lighting would be amazing.

Thanks!

…”I’ve seen the Blackmagic false color chart — but I’d really appreciate general advice on:

1. How to read the color bands practically (e.g., pink vs green vs gray for skin)
2. What to aim for on the key side and fill side of a face
3. How others use it for matching shots and controlling contrast

…

False colour provides you with a great tool to judge your exposure. Zebras also can be used to note where in your scene you may be in danger of clipping. Except for specular highlights, you may not want anything to clip. Clipping can occur in any or all colour channels. Some cameras like the BMPCC4K have colour pots on the camera monitor that indicate if there is clipping of the red, green, and/or blue channels. False colour clipping is less well-defined as the transition to red false colour from yellow false colour may not be clipping in all channels, but it’s a warning you may be clipping. As you know clipping means loss of any detail and is generally to be avoided.

Judging faces is sometimes challenging if you have a lot of other things going on in the frame. It’s not all about the face. For example you may be trying to avoid clipping of the highlights by stopping down the iris or you may want to retain details in the shadows by opening up the iris.

Generally people try to have light-coloured skin look pink and dark-coloured skin look green. But I usually shoot with light-coloured skin looking green and adjust in post using DaVinci Resolve. In post you can always bring up the shadows and the light by a stop. If your monitor face looks good without false colour, you have a good exposure. When you really want to have more shadow detail, a light grey face will still be recoverable in post as you balance the exposure zones.

Key light and fill light ideally should not be radically different light levels, a face could be light grey and a fill could be green and you’ll be fine in post. If you want a film noir look, you’re going to have more contrast and maybe have your highlights look pink while your fill is a darker grey. You can light key and fill fairly evenly and apply the increased contrast in post. But you do need to have your captured footage showing say a stop of difference.

So no one-size-fits-all as the correct exposure is art, not science, and the captured footage is only the first step while the ‘correct’ exposure and colour is determined by you in post.

Hi everyone,

I’m shooting on the Sony FX3 and recording externally in Prores HQ to my Blackmagic 12g . I’m using False Color (via my Blackmagic Video Assist 12G) to expose skin.

Thanks for your reply.

How much leeway do I really have in ProRes HQ for skin tone corrections?

Is it safe to expose a little under (green/gray) or should I stay tightly within pink?

Would you recommend a more conservative approach since I’m not shooting RAW?


Thanks in advance — just trying to build consistent habits around false color exposure while keeping post flexible.

—Rakesh[*]

... am just trying to build good habits ...

Test everything... and do so at a dedicated time in advance of any filming (hope we can still use that word.)

Rick gives some good accurate advice. Just keep in mind the false color metering is a consistent metering of the light. However you may need the exposure of the skin to be such that it will give you the results desired.

Have an image in mind.
Set it up and light it.
Get it into the camera.
Work it in post.

Of course there will be variations in all of this but key is to plan.... and test.

thanks Rick

I’m shooting on the Sony FX3 and recording externally to ProRes HQ. I’m using False Color (via my Blackmagic Video Assist 12G) to expose skin.

I understand that pink/gray zones are ideal, but some DPs expose light skin slightly into the green range and correct in post. My question is:

How much leeway do I really have in ProRes HQ for skin tone corrections?

Is it safe to expose a little under (green/gray) or should I stay tightly within pink?

Would you recommend a more conservative approach since I’m not shooting RAW?

—Rakesh

That’s a good concern to recognize as 10bit ProRes 422 HQ doesn’t have quite the latitude of 12bit raw. I would think you could still have some green but that medium grey or pink would be best generally. Try some tests exposing for green, medium grey, pink, and light grey. Let us know what you think. When I used ProRes, I wouldn’t push an exposure more than a stop. YMMV.

I should mention that the histogram on the Video Assist is also a good way to know if you are clipping. Generally if you try to ETTR (expose to the right), you can be in danger of losing facial highlight detail. I don’t ETTR as I like lower light levels on skin so I don’t lose detail.

If your frame has darker areas where you want to see more detail, then ETTR is worth trying if you otherwise can’t add more light in the shadows of your scene.

The most important thing is to expose consistently, especially with actors' faces. Pick an exposure that gives you a good look. You can determine that with some testing, and it's not an error to choose an exposure that's a little high or low in order to get the rest of the scene exposed well and then adjust it in post, as long as you do it consistently throughout the shoot, at least per scene.

If your skin tone exposures vary significantly over the course of a scene when there aren't significant changes in lighting, you'll have a lot of trouble in post.

False Color is no good for dark skin tones. They aren't properly represented by the chart. EL Zones would do a better job.

Really love the artistic approach discussed here—Resolve truly opens up possibilities beyond traditional film work. I’ve been experimenting with how color grading techniques can even influence static visual styles, like in fine art or photography. It reminds me of some inspiring black and white wall art I've seen recently—amazing how tone and contrast alone can create emotional depth. Anyone here ever applied grading concepts to still visuals or gallery-type installations?