Art of Smoke

THANKS TO NEIL OSEMAN (Director of Photography)

Smoke is created by the process of combustion. When you light a braai (english: meat) you are creating combustion, which is just the reaction of oxygen when it hits fuel, but combustion is what creates smoke. What you are looking at is a bunch of tiny particles floating around in a mixture of water vapour and gasses, a mixture of everything being burned. When wood burns it produces nitrogen dioxide, which hits the meat and dissolves losing its oxygen molecules.

Once it loses its oxygen, it becomes acidic, and it tries to find something new to connect with to create more stability. What it finds in the meat is myoglobin, myoglobin attracts the acid and pulls it into the meat. Which is what makes the meat take on those delicious smoky flavours.

Credits: Front row insurance (Film production insurance)

I pretty much want smoke behind the talent, but not between the talent and the lens. Because, smoke there the smoke only adds a milky haze to the image, taking away the brilliance of the intricate details on the Talent.

*Add the heavy smoke behind the talent(Sethu) to expose the even depth & diffused state. (Movie- OD)

If it’s sufficiently thick, and particularly if it’s smoke rather than haze, it adds movement and texture to the image, which helps to make sets look less fake.

*Exterior Smoke (Music Video - Warriors)

In exterior, few things get harder when the heavy smoke put behind the talent(Boy). Because, Wind is the major problem when we smoking to the subject and also we can't predict the direction of wind.

*Interior Smoke (Music Video - Warriors)

It volumize the light, showing up clear shafts of hard light and diffuse pools of soft light.

Backlit smoke in front of a person or an object will obscure them, concealing identity.

t diffuses the image, particularly things further away from camera, lowers contrast, brightens the image and lifts the shadows by scattering light into them.

Yusuf, DP & Director (India)