Proper lighting

Since most of my work is either underwater or on safari where lighting is a whole different ballgame, I am now stuck with a lighting issue for a short film I have been asked to shoot using the producer's cam which is a Sony A1-U HDV . There will be two main locations, one is a dark alley shot at night and the other will be inside in a dimly lit room, lots of candles. I am concerned just how to light these locations keeping things dark, yet not get the grain and dirt in the footage that the A1-U's low light ability produces. I know I can effect many changes in post but what would be some good suggestions in terms of the shoot itself?
Appreciate any suggestions.
Steve

steve-sharksdelight

My advice is to light the location a just little brighter, with a stronger key light (usually typical of night shoots), then lower the mids and shadows in post, that way, you get a cleaner overall picture, and much better than if you actually have to gain the picture in post.



www.strypesinpost.com

ask this question over at dvxuser.com
its a much more "shooter-centric" forum

Don't be afraid to say "can't do it." Have you heard that story about how Kubrick had to have a couple highly exotic f 0.7 lenses adapted to shoot the candlelit scenes in "Barry Lyndon?" Some of the new digital cameras have pretty remarkable low-light performance, but with a 1/3" CMOS sensor, I have a hard time imagining that the HVRA1U is among them.

Noise is an inevitable side-effect of not having enough light in the scene. If the camera can't record a clean picture with the light available, add more light. Or learn to live with noise.