Fri - December 30, 2005
Happy New Year Everybody!!!
Happy New Year to you and yours.
See you next year and happy trails...
posted at\\: 01:00 AM e: @
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Mon - December 26, 2005
Pre-rigging on the day after Xmas
I got a call from my friend Tony to come and help
on a pre-rig for a Pontiac car commercial. The rig required the stage to be
encircled by solids. A car would be placed on the stage and a motion-controlled
camera rig will work around the stage. The stage was Quixote Stage 8 in
Glendale.
To make the curtains, a number of pulleys were attached to the grid or I-beams on the ceiling forming the outline of the walls with 60' long hemp rope run through it. Then, 20', 30', 40, and 60' by 30' solids where attached to 20' long speed rail pipe. The hemp was tied to the speed rail and the curtain was then hoisted up to the ceiling. Pony clamps were used to bind solids together. In total, 20 solids were used to six walls. An additional 4 solids were used on the ceiling to cover the grid. Space needed to be preserved for the Fisher Light.
I can't wait to hear how the shoot went.
To make the curtains, a number of pulleys were attached to the grid or I-beams on the ceiling forming the outline of the walls with 60' long hemp rope run through it. Then, 20', 30', 40, and 60' by 30' solids where attached to 20' long speed rail pipe. The hemp was tied to the speed rail and the curtain was then hoisted up to the ceiling. Pony clamps were used to bind solids together. In total, 20 solids were used to six walls. An additional 4 solids were used on the ceiling to cover the grid. Space needed to be preserved for the Fisher Light.
I can't wait to hear how the shoot went.
30-feet up - hope nothing falls.
No, I'm not wearing lederhosen - it's a harness. Don't I look dapper!!
posted at\\: 02:01 AM e: @
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Tue - December 13, 2005
Pictures from the past...
From L to R: Key Grip Tony P. / Me / Takuro 1st AC
Bkgrd L to R: 1st AD Chris A. / ??? / Key Grip Tony P.
Frgd L to R: 1st AC Takuro / Me
I recently moved and while packing up old tapes, I
found a raw footage tape for a music video I shot in 1999.
Wow...
Part of the "schtick" of the video was to show everything including the crew and cameras. These two pictures are frame grabs from the steadicam (b camera) footage.
Part of the "schtick" of the video was to show everything including the crew and cameras. These two pictures are frame grabs from the steadicam (b camera) footage.
posted at\\: 05:45 PM e: @
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Thu - November 24, 2005
Cuesta capture...
It's time for post now and post got started with another visit to Alternative Rentals. There we captured the footage onto a FireWire drive using Final Cut Pro HD. The process was wonderfully simple but not always fast (nothing is ever fast or easy). Justin brought his computer and hard drive and the folks at Alternative Rentals hooked it all up together and configured it. He ran into a problem that caused him a bit of a headache. FCP kept finding time code breaks where there shouldn't have been. We eventually changed some settings on FCP and we were off and running. For what it's worth, when working with DVCPro HD it's about a gig of storage per minute.
The off-speed footage was the next task to take care of. (Just a note, try to always record your off-speed footage on a separate tape than the normal speed footage. It easier when it comes to doing post.) The way this works is the tape with the off speed footage is played and captured onto the Frame Rate Converter. That footage is then dumped to a tape and then, that tape is captured. Worked like a charm. While talking about the system with the engineer there, he mentioned some test they were doing by doubling the process I described above to get frame rate speeds higher than the camera's 60 frames-a-second. It's not too dissimilar to step-printing in film. They've been able to do 120 FPS with marginal results and 90 FPS with acceptable results. Must explore this more!!
It's editing time. I hope to have the spots to show by mid-December.
The rig from Left to
Right:
- Two DVCPro HD decks for dubbing tapes
- LCD Monitor for the Frame Rate Converter & a Sony HD 14" monitor
- Panasonic's Frame Rate Converter
- Justin's Apple computer with Final Cut Pro HD
Justin captures some of the slo-mo footage
Here are some frame grabs of the footage... These files are uncorrected and reduced to 320x170.
The next two frames are good examples of the in-camera effect of dimming out the backgrounds as we dollied into our principle... We used a Tweenie for the foreground elevator, another tweenie for the second floor walkway, a 1K Mickey for the second floor ambient, and yet another Tweenie to backlight the folks taking the elevator and for the mid-ground tree. All these lights are on dimmers. Our foreground actors are lit by 4' 4-bank Kino Flo and backlit by a Tweenie.
I like this shot despite its simplicity. Most of the room is lit by practicals that were redirected. Our actress is lit with two Tweenies (650W Fresnels). The front, rear three-quarter is cut by the barn doors and the backlight has a snoot on it - both with dimmers. Her face is filled in by a 2' 2-bank Kino Flo. The shot is a circle dolly shot (4x 45° sections of track) that comes from left to right - she's revealed from behind the painter on the left of frame.
More dolly shots...
Here the background has two 1K Mickeys on dimmers as splashes of light with ambient from a 1200HMI PAR with lighting shutters. All three lights were dimmed as we dollied into our actor. She's lit by a Tweenie from an off-screen window to the right of frame and a 2' 4-bank Kino Flo to the left of frame. Another Tweenie with a snoot is backlighting the smoke and the burger.
One of my favorite shots from the shoot... fire! We shot this at about a ƒ2-2.8 split. When the weld starts, the iris had to be pulled nearly five stops to get exposure.
Alternative Rentals has a fantastic screening room which is available for screening projects, test footage and possibly, in the future, can be used for colour correction. It's a 20' screen with a Panasonic projector (almost 2K projection). The image quality is fantastic (we watched some footage from a DVD). The sound is something to experience. The last time we prepped there, the prep room was rumbling which lead me to think that a train was passing by. Nope. It was the sound system.
Life is good...
- Two DVCPro HD decks for dubbing tapes
- LCD Monitor for the Frame Rate Converter & a Sony HD 14" monitor
- Panasonic's Frame Rate Converter
- Justin's Apple computer with Final Cut Pro HD
Justin captures some of the slo-mo footage
Here are some frame grabs of the footage... These files are uncorrected and reduced to 320x170.
The next two frames are good examples of the in-camera effect of dimming out the backgrounds as we dollied into our principle... We used a Tweenie for the foreground elevator, another tweenie for the second floor walkway, a 1K Mickey for the second floor ambient, and yet another Tweenie to backlight the folks taking the elevator and for the mid-ground tree. All these lights are on dimmers. Our foreground actors are lit by 4' 4-bank Kino Flo and backlit by a Tweenie.
I like this shot despite its simplicity. Most of the room is lit by practicals that were redirected. Our actress is lit with two Tweenies (650W Fresnels). The front, rear three-quarter is cut by the barn doors and the backlight has a snoot on it - both with dimmers. Her face is filled in by a 2' 2-bank Kino Flo. The shot is a circle dolly shot (4x 45° sections of track) that comes from left to right - she's revealed from behind the painter on the left of frame.
More dolly shots...
Here the background has two 1K Mickeys on dimmers as splashes of light with ambient from a 1200HMI PAR with lighting shutters. All three lights were dimmed as we dollied into our actor. She's lit by a Tweenie from an off-screen window to the right of frame and a 2' 4-bank Kino Flo to the left of frame. Another Tweenie with a snoot is backlighting the smoke and the burger.
One of my favorite shots from the shoot... fire! We shot this at about a ƒ2-2.8 split. When the weld starts, the iris had to be pulled nearly five stops to get exposure.
Alternative Rentals has a fantastic screening room which is available for screening projects, test footage and possibly, in the future, can be used for colour correction. It's a 20' screen with a Panasonic projector (almost 2K projection). The image quality is fantastic (we watched some footage from a DVD). The sound is something to experience. The last time we prepped there, the prep room was rumbling which lead me to think that a train was passing by. Nope. It was the sound system.
Life is good...
posted at\\: 03:30 AM e: @
|
Sat - November 19, 2005
Cuesta College - round 2
Day One
It's so good to be back on a shoot with my dear friend Justin. I'm back on his home turf of Santa Maria in the Central Coast of California shooting some more spots for Cuesta Community College. So far these spots are a big step up from our last ones.
The day started by leaving Los Angeles just after 11am. It was suppose to take two-and-a-half hours - it ended up being a four hour drive! The worst of it was just before Santa Barbara. For no apparent reason, the traffic just came to a sudden stop and crawled for nearly eight miles. At one point, it took just over an hour to cover 5.5 miles.
Finally free and clear, we arrived at the first location at the director's home. We shot a set of modestly stylized shots of kids at play. Good stuff, sweet stuff. I didn't get any pictures but I'm sure I'll have some after the edit. Some of these shots will be affected to look like Super 8.
From there we moved to some very stylized shots that consisted of a dolly move into our principle actor. Once close, we dimmed the lights behind them. The director will then, in post, matte out our principle and then affect the background. These shots were done at 48 fps. We connected several of the background lights to dimmers and on cue, dimmed them. For one shot that needed a TV flicker effect, we used a 1K with Opal diffusion and Full Blue and added shutters to the light.
Incidentally, we're shooting with the Panasonic VariCam.
Show Specs...
The camera package includes the standard fair of Ronford tall and short sticks,
a hi-hat,
OConnor 2575C fluid head,
MicroForce zoom controller,
a 14" Sony HD monitor,
a 9" Panasonic HD LCD monitor/wafefore combo.
For lenses, we're using Fujinon HA 13x4.5B CineStyle and HAS 18x7.6 BRM HD ENG.
We shot 16x9 (1.85 safe) - default settings. Very little in the way of additional glass other than a Pola for an outdoor shot, a 1/8 Tiffen Black Promist as a safety glass and for a touch of something-something on the welding shot.
Our lighting package (partial list)...
2x 1200 HMI PARS
1x Lightening shutter for HMI
2x 1K Mickey
2x Lightening shutter for mickeys
4x Tweenies
2x Snoots for tweenies
1x 4' 4-bank Kino Flo (D & T globes)
3x 2' 4-bank Kino Flo (D & T globes)
A million thanks to Jim Jack at Alternative Rentals for the great deal on the camera package. And many, many thanks to Bryan Godwin and his staff at Wooden Nickel for helping with our grip & electric needs.
--- --- ---
Day Two
More cool - more time. We shot at the nursing center at the college in the morning. Nursing class, an emergency room, and dolly, dolly, dolly. Cool shots to be sure.
BBQ is on. More shots with dimming backgrounds and a series of transitions that take our principle from one location to the next by way of a door. Our second location was back in Santa Maria at a local establishment - BBQ Land. Like Disney but more pork. The way it works is our heroine has a moment of epiphany while working as a burger flipper. She leaves through a door that transitions us to a classroom. That then that same door device transitions us and our college graduate to an ER. Super sweet!! So far, so good. The door we're using isn't part of the locations. Instead, it's a prop door production purchased and by way of a small "grip forest", it's held up where we need it. We swoop past the door on the dolly and an editorial wipe will get us from place to place (we hope!).
--- --- ---
Day Three
All day at the college today. More good stuff and only a little bit of a rush. My two favorites shots have to be at the welding class and the art studio. Justin is digitizing the footage this week. I hope to have some frame grabs to show later.
++++++++++++++++++++
It's so good to be back on a shoot with my dear friend Justin. I'm back on his home turf of Santa Maria in the Central Coast of California shooting some more spots for Cuesta Community College. So far these spots are a big step up from our last ones.
The day started by leaving Los Angeles just after 11am. It was suppose to take two-and-a-half hours - it ended up being a four hour drive! The worst of it was just before Santa Barbara. For no apparent reason, the traffic just came to a sudden stop and crawled for nearly eight miles. At one point, it took just over an hour to cover 5.5 miles.
Finally free and clear, we arrived at the first location at the director's home. We shot a set of modestly stylized shots of kids at play. Good stuff, sweet stuff. I didn't get any pictures but I'm sure I'll have some after the edit. Some of these shots will be affected to look like Super 8.
From there we moved to some very stylized shots that consisted of a dolly move into our principle actor. Once close, we dimmed the lights behind them. The director will then, in post, matte out our principle and then affect the background. These shots were done at 48 fps. We connected several of the background lights to dimmers and on cue, dimmed them. For one shot that needed a TV flicker effect, we used a 1K with Opal diffusion and Full Blue and added shutters to the light.
Incidentally, we're shooting with the Panasonic VariCam.
Show Specs...
The camera package includes the standard fair of Ronford tall and short sticks,
a hi-hat,
OConnor 2575C fluid head,
MicroForce zoom controller,
a 14" Sony HD monitor,
a 9" Panasonic HD LCD monitor/wafefore combo.
For lenses, we're using Fujinon HA 13x4.5B CineStyle and HAS 18x7.6 BRM HD ENG.
We shot 16x9 (1.85 safe) - default settings. Very little in the way of additional glass other than a Pola for an outdoor shot, a 1/8 Tiffen Black Promist as a safety glass and for a touch of something-something on the welding shot.
Our lighting package (partial list)...
2x 1200 HMI PARS
1x Lightening shutter for HMI
2x 1K Mickey
2x Lightening shutter for mickeys
4x Tweenies
2x Snoots for tweenies
1x 4' 4-bank Kino Flo (D & T globes)
3x 2' 4-bank Kino Flo (D & T globes)
A million thanks to Jim Jack at Alternative Rentals for the great deal on the camera package. And many, many thanks to Bryan Godwin and his staff at Wooden Nickel for helping with our grip & electric needs.
--- --- ---
Day Two
More cool - more time. We shot at the nursing center at the college in the morning. Nursing class, an emergency room, and dolly, dolly, dolly. Cool shots to be sure.
BBQ is on. More shots with dimming backgrounds and a series of transitions that take our principle from one location to the next by way of a door. Our second location was back in Santa Maria at a local establishment - BBQ Land. Like Disney but more pork. The way it works is our heroine has a moment of epiphany while working as a burger flipper. She leaves through a door that transitions us to a classroom. That then that same door device transitions us and our college graduate to an ER. Super sweet!! So far, so good. The door we're using isn't part of the locations. Instead, it's a prop door production purchased and by way of a small "grip forest", it's held up where we need it. We swoop past the door on the dolly and an editorial wipe will get us from place to place (we hope!).
--- --- ---
Day Three
All day at the college today. More good stuff and only a little bit of a rush. My two favorites shots have to be at the welding class and the art studio. Justin is digitizing the footage this week. I hope to have some frame grabs to show later.
++++++++++++++++++++
Day
One
A wonderful time on the 101 - 5.5 miles in 1 hour, only 110 miles to go - good times...
Justin directs the actors and Koji gets his marks
The camera, VariCam - super sweet!
Justin at work...
If you look REAL hard, you'll see smoke puffing out of his ears!
--- --- ---
Day Two
Do you know the way to Shell Beach?
Anyone who knows me, knows this tie to one of my favorite movies.
Justin directing...
Fire! Fire rules!!
--- --- ---
Day Three
The Kubric room - painting room...
Koji preps the lens and camera to protect it from paint spray...
The Abby Singer...
The Martini Shot...
Your moment of Zen... The R. Scott!
A wonderful time on the 101 - 5.5 miles in 1 hour, only 110 miles to go - good times...
Justin directs the actors and Koji gets his marks
The camera, VariCam - super sweet!
Justin at work...
If you look REAL hard, you'll see smoke puffing out of his ears!
--- --- ---
Day Two
Do you know the way to Shell Beach?
Anyone who knows me, knows this tie to one of my favorite movies.
Justin directing...
Fire! Fire rules!!
--- --- ---
Day Three
The Kubric room - painting room...
Koji preps the lens and camera to protect it from paint spray...
The Abby Singer...
The Martini Shot...
Your moment of Zen... The R. Scott!
posted at\\: 02:33 AM e: @
|
Fri - November 11, 2005
Stickman Grind & iTunes...
I'm just about to leave for dinner before my flight
leaves New York, when I get a call from Clay. He directed the music video for
the band Stickman Grind. He called to organize a meeting for short film he's
planning on shooting. But, at the end of the conversation, just happen to
mention the fact that the music video we shot can now be seen on the iTunes
music store. Rock and Roll!!! To watch it, simply open iTunes and select the
Music Store. Do a search for the band's name, "Stickman Grind" or the song "All
the Time". The quality isn't great but it's watch-able. Enjoy and tell a
friend.
posted at\\: 02:51 AM e: @
|
Thu - November 10, 2005
Deloitte - The adventure continues...
From California to New York and
back...
I'm currently on the plane flying nearly 600 miles an hour and 35,000 feet above the Pennsylvania. It's a hell of a sight when you fly above the clouds. The trip didn't start as smooth as the flight is right now...
Our flight was scheduled to take off at 12:30 AM PST from Ontario International Airport. We arrive roughly after 11:00 PM with our check-in taken care of online. In tow, we had 10 bags or cases - three Pelican cases, two tube cases, a LiteDisc Blue/Green Screen and two computer bags and two luggage bags. Of our gear, only one was held by TSA for further inspection. It was our TelePrompTer which uses a computer. That's when we found out that the flight was delayed in New York by over 2 hours. Back to the house to do some work.
Back to the airport and into the winged tube. On the way in, a little kid behind me coughs! Oh no you didn't! Don't even think of getting me sick. Then the pre-teen girl in the row in front of me coughs! Oh no, no, no, no you didn't. Since my first day in Victorville, I've been taking "Airborne". I had a bit of the sniffles and the sweet Stephanie Edwards (our on-camera talent) gave me some for my trip. (How cool of her was that?!) I have no pretenses that the tablets are preventing me from getting sick in any medical sense. I'm sure it's all a placebo effect. That's fine with me as long as I don't get sick. And so far, so good.
It all seemed well enough. We taxi to the runway, we get the safety routine, but then we hear from the Captain. There's a problem. Some light won't turn off and it has something to do with the "poop shoot" door (I don't think you need me to elaborate). The Captain tries some stuff but the light doesn't go off. Twenty minutes later, the mechanic comes and tries some stuff and the light doesn't go off. Everything seemed to be twenty minutes later. Errr!!! So it's now about 3:15 AM and (did I mention we got here at 11PM?) we're making into the air. In short order, everyone is down-for-the-count. What's up, we got free movies for the delay! I hear Office Space is playing!!!
We arrive at JFK Airport just after noon (EST) - four hours behind schedule. It's cool (some might say down-right cold) - 60 degrees and very gusty. A driver is there waiting for us to take us to the hotel and then to the client for a 2:00 PM meeting. I thought traffic sucks in Los Angeles. Our driver, Sonny, tells us that this is the worst he's seen it. That's great to hear! Traffic is so bad that we can't make it to the hotel and instead headed straight to Deloitte to meet the client and drop off the equipment.
The shoot is easy and complicated. It's greenscreen of employees taking about working for Deloitte. The people will be pulled from the greenscreen and placed on a the company website. It's a great idea - it make a company site much more interactive with visitors. Julian presented the idea of "virtual greetings" to them some time ago. Now, due to circumstances that necessitated a certain amount of urgency, his company Video Vision is doing the greenscreen and page design.
A frame grab of one of the interviewees.
I'm currently on the plane flying nearly 600 miles an hour and 35,000 feet above the Pennsylvania. It's a hell of a sight when you fly above the clouds. The trip didn't start as smooth as the flight is right now...
Our flight was scheduled to take off at 12:30 AM PST from Ontario International Airport. We arrive roughly after 11:00 PM with our check-in taken care of online. In tow, we had 10 bags or cases - three Pelican cases, two tube cases, a LiteDisc Blue/Green Screen and two computer bags and two luggage bags. Of our gear, only one was held by TSA for further inspection. It was our TelePrompTer which uses a computer. That's when we found out that the flight was delayed in New York by over 2 hours. Back to the house to do some work.
Back to the airport and into the winged tube. On the way in, a little kid behind me coughs! Oh no you didn't! Don't even think of getting me sick. Then the pre-teen girl in the row in front of me coughs! Oh no, no, no, no you didn't. Since my first day in Victorville, I've been taking "Airborne". I had a bit of the sniffles and the sweet Stephanie Edwards (our on-camera talent) gave me some for my trip. (How cool of her was that?!) I have no pretenses that the tablets are preventing me from getting sick in any medical sense. I'm sure it's all a placebo effect. That's fine with me as long as I don't get sick. And so far, so good.
It all seemed well enough. We taxi to the runway, we get the safety routine, but then we hear from the Captain. There's a problem. Some light won't turn off and it has something to do with the "poop shoot" door (I don't think you need me to elaborate). The Captain tries some stuff but the light doesn't go off. Twenty minutes later, the mechanic comes and tries some stuff and the light doesn't go off. Everything seemed to be twenty minutes later. Errr!!! So it's now about 3:15 AM and (did I mention we got here at 11PM?) we're making into the air. In short order, everyone is down-for-the-count. What's up, we got free movies for the delay! I hear Office Space is playing!!!
We arrive at JFK Airport just after noon (EST) - four hours behind schedule. It's cool (some might say down-right cold) - 60 degrees and very gusty. A driver is there waiting for us to take us to the hotel and then to the client for a 2:00 PM meeting. I thought traffic sucks in Los Angeles. Our driver, Sonny, tells us that this is the worst he's seen it. That's great to hear! Traffic is so bad that we can't make it to the hotel and instead headed straight to Deloitte to meet the client and drop off the equipment.
The shoot is easy and complicated. It's greenscreen of employees taking about working for Deloitte. The people will be pulled from the greenscreen and placed on a the company website. It's a great idea - it make a company site much more interactive with visitors. Julian presented the idea of "virtual greetings" to them some time ago. Now, due to circumstances that necessitated a certain amount of urgency, his company Video Vision is doing the greenscreen and page design.
A frame grab of one of the interviewees.
Sitting on the tarmac, waiting... waiting...
waiting...
At long last, the city wakes...
Ol' Glory in Queens...
Traffic was so bad in downtown that this guy gave up and read his paper with this feet up on the dashboard...
Time Square and a danish...
I'll post more pictures on my photography portfolio page later...
At long last, the city wakes...
Ol' Glory in Queens...
Traffic was so bad in downtown that this guy gave up and read his paper with this feet up on the dashboard...
Time Square and a danish...
I'll post more pictures on my photography portfolio page later...
posted at\\: 08:31 AM e: @
|
Tue - November 8, 2005
Victorville PSA - The show must go on...
2 Days:
I just realized that it's been a while since my last entry. It's been busy, mostly small shows not worth spending too much time writing about. But I'm back with a vengeance and to start it off...
I'm back in Victorville and this time with slightly better results. It's a painful truth about production work that when you need sun, you get rain. We've all been on that "show". I'm on that "show" again. The spots we're shooting are about water conservation in the desert city of Victorville. If you've kept up with this blog, you know that our last visit was met with clouds, rain, and a down-right storm. While not without it's difficulties this time around, we go through it with favorable weather conditions and with two completely shot spots. We had our fair share of cloud cover and uncertainty, but it worked out in the end.
On day two, we're over the hump (that word will have new meaning if you decide to continue reading). I've never been much of a morning person - waking up early makes me tired. But as is ritual on most away shoots, the morning munchies included talk about how everyone slept that evening or how tough it was to wake up. It was then that our polite and genteel Stephaine Edwards shares with us her story which starts off with "...well I have something that happened this morning that's a bit indelicate". "Indelicate"! I had no idea where she was going with this but, I hung on every word after that. She then tells us how she was awaken just after five in the morning by her neighbors... uh, noisy... well... lovemaking. WHOA! No one saw that coming. Sweet as she is, it tough to hear her speak of such a thing. It's like seeing nudity when you're watching TV with your grandmother. Rough.
That out of the way, we continued our day. We got what we needed picture-wise. Sound was another story. With the clouds and occasional sprinkles, we got gusts and at times, lots of it. We ended up recording all the audio in a room at a fire station close by. Can't wait to see the final project.
I just realized that it's been a while since my last entry. It's been busy, mostly small shows not worth spending too much time writing about. But I'm back with a vengeance and to start it off...
I'm back in Victorville and this time with slightly better results. It's a painful truth about production work that when you need sun, you get rain. We've all been on that "show". I'm on that "show" again. The spots we're shooting are about water conservation in the desert city of Victorville. If you've kept up with this blog, you know that our last visit was met with clouds, rain, and a down-right storm. While not without it's difficulties this time around, we go through it with favorable weather conditions and with two completely shot spots. We had our fair share of cloud cover and uncertainty, but it worked out in the end.
On day two, we're over the hump (that word will have new meaning if you decide to continue reading). I've never been much of a morning person - waking up early makes me tired. But as is ritual on most away shoots, the morning munchies included talk about how everyone slept that evening or how tough it was to wake up. It was then that our polite and genteel Stephaine Edwards shares with us her story which starts off with "...well I have something that happened this morning that's a bit indelicate". "Indelicate"! I had no idea where she was going with this but, I hung on every word after that. She then tells us how she was awaken just after five in the morning by her neighbors... uh, noisy... well... lovemaking. WHOA! No one saw that coming. Sweet as she is, it tough to hear her speak of such a thing. It's like seeing nudity when you're watching TV with your grandmother. Rough.
That out of the way, we continued our day. We got what we needed picture-wise. Sound was another story. With the clouds and occasional sprinkles, we got gusts and at times, lots of it. We ended up recording all the audio in a room at a fire station close by. Can't wait to see the final project.
Julian directs our
talent...
Our sprinkler "money-shot"...
The before...
...and after!
My new glasses and contrast lenses...
Our sprinkler "money-shot"...
The before...
...and after!
My new glasses and contrast lenses...
posted at\\: 08:04 PM e: @
|
Mon - October 17, 2005
PSA - City of Victorville
Rain, rain, go
away...
...come back some other day.
...come back some other day.
It must have been around 5:30 in the morning when I
first noticed a small flash of light, a pause, and then the quiet roll of
thunder. Ten minutes later, a bright flash and then a thunderous crash the
shook the room and completely woke us up out of our sweet slumber. It was quite
possibly the loudest crash of thunder I've ever heard. The rain came and it's
been off and on since then. Not wanting to write off the shoot completely,
we're giving it till noon and making a decision then.
We still got up and out for a continental breakfast at the hotel. I made a waffle. Yum. I even made a waffle for our talent, Stephanie Edwards. Very professional on my part. We waited out the weather and then took a trip to the locations to take notes and to see if the weather would change. The weather eased up a bit - enough to shoot about a dozen shots, but not enough to finish the spot we were shooting. It dried up and drizzled, then dried up and drizzled. Then it just out right rained. That's when we called it a day and headed home. Re-shoot later this month.
The project is being shot with the Canon XL2 in 24p, 4:3. We had both the standard lens and the wide-angle lens. The two spots are part of a campaign to promote water conservation and to promote the use of xeriscapes - replacing grass with stone and desert friendly flora in home yards. The irony of it all is that these spots focus on water conservation and here we are in the middle of a winter storm. One of life's many little ironies. ...I'll be back.
Victorville Gothic
Jim wrangling the flowers
Julian and Andy taking notes (note the brief blue sky)
Stephanie between takes
The long drive home...
You moment of Zen...
We still got up and out for a continental breakfast at the hotel. I made a waffle. Yum. I even made a waffle for our talent, Stephanie Edwards. Very professional on my part. We waited out the weather and then took a trip to the locations to take notes and to see if the weather would change. The weather eased up a bit - enough to shoot about a dozen shots, but not enough to finish the spot we were shooting. It dried up and drizzled, then dried up and drizzled. Then it just out right rained. That's when we called it a day and headed home. Re-shoot later this month.
The project is being shot with the Canon XL2 in 24p, 4:3. We had both the standard lens and the wide-angle lens. The two spots are part of a campaign to promote water conservation and to promote the use of xeriscapes - replacing grass with stone and desert friendly flora in home yards. The irony of it all is that these spots focus on water conservation and here we are in the middle of a winter storm. One of life's many little ironies. ...I'll be back.
Victorville Gothic
Jim wrangling the flowers
Julian and Andy taking notes (note the brief blue sky)
Stephanie between takes
The long drive home...
You moment of Zen...
posted at\\: 11:03 AM e: @
|
Sun - October 16, 2005
PSA - City of Victorville
Water, water, everywhere...
I'm coming to you from the simply fabulous city of
Victorville. We just got back from a delicious meal at the local Chili's
restaurant. Our PSA's spokeswoman, Stephanie Edwards, drew a small crowd of
servers who asked if she was who they thought she was. Celebrity in a small
town is rules. She was even asked to sign one of the menus.
Sweet.
From there is was off to the Comfort Inn. Free Wi-Fi - do I need to say anything more? I don't think so.
A brief talk about the next two days and then sleep. But first, we watched "Dodge-ball" and then "Envy". A little inspiration before a shoot. Shower time... time to sign off.
From there is was off to the Comfort Inn. Free Wi-Fi - do I need to say anything more? I don't think so.
A brief talk about the next two days and then sleep. But first, we watched "Dodge-ball" and then "Envy". A little inspiration before a shoot. Shower time... time to sign off.
posted at\\: 09:05 PM e: @
|
Sat - October 1, 2005
Server change...
The time has come for change and that time is now.
I'm moving my site to a different server with much more space, a little cheaper,
and many, many more options for me - some you'll see soon. So, in the next few
weeks the site might be down while the transfer of domain takes place. If it's
down, it should only be down for a day or two. Done, done, done... for
now!
posted at\\: 10:13 PM e: @
|
Tue - September 20, 2005
"Lure" - short form narrative - Day 3 and 3 1/2
Two half-days round out the balance of the show.
We shot at an apartment on Saturday in the east-end of Hollywood and in the
California Film Commission offices on Sunday. Simple days. Each location only
needed a handful of shots. But they worked out very nicely.
An amusing anecdote to our day at the first location is that all the time we were shooting there, the owner of the apartment was just out of frame watching the Notre Dame football game on his living room couch. Most everyone there was interested in the outcome of the game perhaps none more than one of our actors. After finishing his line and as he exits the frame, you can just catch him looking toward the television and a slight change of expression in his face. The best part is that the director caught it and called him on it.
Our "perp" IM'g our hero.
Mark (director) with our "saviors"
Mark! ...we're ready to roll.
Our FBI office
An amusing anecdote to our day at the first location is that all the time we were shooting there, the owner of the apartment was just out of frame watching the Notre Dame football game on his living room couch. Most everyone there was interested in the outcome of the game perhaps none more than one of our actors. After finishing his line and as he exits the frame, you can just catch him looking toward the television and a slight change of expression in his face. The best part is that the director caught it and called him on it.
Our "perp" IM'g our hero.
Mark (director) with our "saviors"
Mark! ...we're ready to roll.
Our FBI office
An element of the storyline takes place as an
internet chat. The director and I created a set of files that were used as
on-screen elements.
The "perp's" computer desktop. (You'll notice the striking resemblance to a Window's desktop aesthetic. Bad guys don't use Macs!) The director and I created these graphics using Photoshop elements and then animated it in AfterEffects. The director's computer fed a monitor in front of our actors and a functional keyboard was used for the perp. To animate the conversation between the perp and his victim, the first three frames we're lines of the conversation in the message window. The actor simply pressed the "forward arrow" on the keyboard advancing frame-by-frame and displaying the next line of text in the message window. (For the example above, I expanded each line of text by 10 frames for display purposes.) Then, to animate the pop up window, another actor pressed the space bar to play the movie. These were QuickTime files. When opened with the QuickTime player, we set the application to Full Screen and Loop.
In this graphic, we went with a more Unix or proprietary design. The conversation windows are similar but we added a tracing program and locations window. The tracing program is built from transparent windows (I got the idea from the way I set-up my Terminal window in OSX.) A random number generator and multiple text path plug-in layers are then added with offset transparency routines. The FBI seal is a download from the web.
The "perp's" computer desktop. (You'll notice the striking resemblance to a Window's desktop aesthetic. Bad guys don't use Macs!) The director and I created these graphics using Photoshop elements and then animated it in AfterEffects. The director's computer fed a monitor in front of our actors and a functional keyboard was used for the perp. To animate the conversation between the perp and his victim, the first three frames we're lines of the conversation in the message window. The actor simply pressed the "forward arrow" on the keyboard advancing frame-by-frame and displaying the next line of text in the message window. (For the example above, I expanded each line of text by 10 frames for display purposes.) Then, to animate the pop up window, another actor pressed the space bar to play the movie. These were QuickTime files. When opened with the QuickTime player, we set the application to Full Screen and Loop.
In this graphic, we went with a more Unix or proprietary design. The conversation windows are similar but we added a tracing program and locations window. The tracing program is built from transparent windows (I got the idea from the way I set-up my Terminal window in OSX.) A random number generator and multiple text path plug-in layers are then added with offset transparency routines. The FBI seal is a download from the web.
posted at\\: 01:02 AM e: @
|
Sat - September 10, 2005
"Lure" - short form narrative - Day 1 & 2
PHOTOS FROM
DAY 1
The view from the balcony.
The future director.
The start of the day.
The giant question mark dolly shot. The question was answered (great shot).
Josh (guardian angel, editor), Mark (director, writer, producer) and Jose (boom op, grip, good guy)
Day 1 - I
got an email from Mark (the project's director, writer and producer) that he was
looking for a director of photography for an upcoming project. I called him and
straightaway I could hear in his voice a great enthusiasm for filmmaking. We
scheduled a time to meet and hours before that meeting, he emailed me the
script. When I got to page 7 of the 11 page script, I started to wonder what
was I getting myself into - and not in a good way. But then when I finished the
script, I just had to pause and think "wow, what a great script". I won't get
into the story until the project is finished, but it's one of those script
you're grateful to get.
The bulk of the script takes place at a park and we had the good fortune that someone Mark knew was selling a house with a large backyard that could work as a park courtyard. The home is in Hancock Park - a well to do neighborhood, south of downtown Hollywood. A funny moment came up when I asked Mark if we would have any parking issues. He looked to me and said "No problem, there's plenty of street parking - these people don't park on the street." He wasn't kidding. Huge houses in a community where only the gardeners and maids park on the street. (Another anecdote to the weekend came the morning of the first day. Someone came over to visit with a little child in tow. I didn't really notice - I had things to do. But as I rushed to get something, I passed by this person only to find it was Diedrich Bader of "Office Space" fame and he also did a little show called "Drew Cary" you might also remember. It was one of those moments where look and you know that's someone you know, but you don't know if you know them. Mull over that one for a while! Back to the show.)
Mark managed to get a free Sony F-900 camera package courtesy of a third party. The camera package came from VER (Video Equipment Rentals - Glendale, CA). It was minimal, but hey, I'm not complaining. The camera was set to my modified neutral settings. We composed for 16:9 but generally kept it safe for 1.85. A stocking net was placed behind the lens to take out some of the HD bit using an I-Ring my friend Toby purchased for me several years ago when they first came out - still using it, dude! The latest software modifications to the camera are a big improvement. The menu structure is also much improved.
When we originally scouted the location, it was a bright sunny day. Instead we got cloud cover most mornings and patchy cloud which came in and out throughout the afternoon and ending in mostly clear skies and bright sun in the evenings. It was, needless to say, a challenge we didn't always win. I often found myself riding the iris to compensate with some success. It'll ultimately be a long color grading session down the road - but do-able.
The grip/electric came from Wooden Nickel (Burbank, CA). Here again it was minimal but we were never totally hamstrung by it. The order consisted of:
- 12x12 Butterfly kit (single, double, solid, silk, and grifflyon) and a Full Grid, also
- 1200HMI PAR
- The usual compliment of C-stand, shot bags, flags and nets, etc.
We also ordered a Super Pee Wee dolly with 2, 8' straight tracks and 4, 90° curve tracks.
The crew was small, real small - but, everyone stepped up and did multiple jobs and some for the first time. I had hoped to get a few extra hands but no luck. (I'm sure I'll now get messages that go something like this, "dude, you should have called - I would have totally been there.")
I think my favorite shot of the day is a dolly shot we did that'll introduce us to the setting. It was a dolly shot in the shape of a question mark that swung by a group of kids, then another set of kids, then another set of kids and finally ending on our lead actor, alone. Very nice.
Day 2 - Today we had no extras, just our two leads. Today was a day that Mark could more closely work with them and with few distractions. The casting of these two kids was fantastic. They played so well off each other. The younger actor, for only being 13, showed such maturity and sophistication. And our sweet vixen handled her duplicitous role with ease. I really think it'll be something worth watching when it's finished.
We had hoped to shoot out the weekend on five tapes, but no luck. We were 24 minutes into tape five just after lunch when we started a frantic search to find someplace open on a Sunday that sold HDCAM tapes. It was harder than you might think. But then, our set photographer asked the question, "what about the folks you rented the camera from?" It was worth a try since no one else was open. Sure enough, they were open and someone rushed to pick-up two tapes - at a premium I might add!
Day one in many ways dictated the look for the show, that of an overcast day. To serve that, we all but tented our leads with the 12x12, using the Full Grid on the frame tabled above them and the silk draped along an edge. 4x4 Floppies helped conceal any other spots of stray sunlight in the background. I think for the most part it'll be convincing. I'll obviously have a better idea after the first cut is finished. The color grading is going to be hell-on-earth trying to dance around the times the sun came in and out from behind the clouds. But Mark covered the script very well and so we should be saved by coverage. This tent was a sight to see, though.
My favorite shot of the shoot has to be the last shot of the day. It was a circular track around our two leads seated in iron patio chairs next to each other. A slow move around them starts us off during a seduction and at a turning point the dolly tracks the opposite direction with some speed. I know it's been done before, I know it might call attention to itself, but it is totally motivated, appropriate and just plain awesome. I love it when Spike Lee does it and I think it was an excellent choice by the director. As a safety net for the editor, we shot the same bits in the opposite direction. A million thanks to Jose - sometimes boom op and sometimes dolly grip - what an awesome sense of movement and handling of the dolly!
Kudos to Mark for a great script, excellent direction of that script and for producing a great weekend with few problems. I'm sure I speak for the entire cast and crew that we can hardly wait to see the short finished and that this was a weekend well spent. Great job!
The bulk of the script takes place at a park and we had the good fortune that someone Mark knew was selling a house with a large backyard that could work as a park courtyard. The home is in Hancock Park - a well to do neighborhood, south of downtown Hollywood. A funny moment came up when I asked Mark if we would have any parking issues. He looked to me and said "No problem, there's plenty of street parking - these people don't park on the street." He wasn't kidding. Huge houses in a community where only the gardeners and maids park on the street. (Another anecdote to the weekend came the morning of the first day. Someone came over to visit with a little child in tow. I didn't really notice - I had things to do. But as I rushed to get something, I passed by this person only to find it was Diedrich Bader of "Office Space" fame and he also did a little show called "Drew Cary" you might also remember. It was one of those moments where look and you know that's someone you know, but you don't know if you know them. Mull over that one for a while! Back to the show.)
Mark managed to get a free Sony F-900 camera package courtesy of a third party. The camera package came from VER (Video Equipment Rentals - Glendale, CA). It was minimal, but hey, I'm not complaining. The camera was set to my modified neutral settings. We composed for 16:9 but generally kept it safe for 1.85. A stocking net was placed behind the lens to take out some of the HD bit using an I-Ring my friend Toby purchased for me several years ago when they first came out - still using it, dude! The latest software modifications to the camera are a big improvement. The menu structure is also much improved.
When we originally scouted the location, it was a bright sunny day. Instead we got cloud cover most mornings and patchy cloud which came in and out throughout the afternoon and ending in mostly clear skies and bright sun in the evenings. It was, needless to say, a challenge we didn't always win. I often found myself riding the iris to compensate with some success. It'll ultimately be a long color grading session down the road - but do-able.
The grip/electric came from Wooden Nickel (Burbank, CA). Here again it was minimal but we were never totally hamstrung by it. The order consisted of:
- 12x12 Butterfly kit (single, double, solid, silk, and grifflyon) and a Full Grid, also
- 1200HMI PAR
- The usual compliment of C-stand, shot bags, flags and nets, etc.
We also ordered a Super Pee Wee dolly with 2, 8' straight tracks and 4, 90° curve tracks.
The crew was small, real small - but, everyone stepped up and did multiple jobs and some for the first time. I had hoped to get a few extra hands but no luck. (I'm sure I'll now get messages that go something like this, "dude, you should have called - I would have totally been there.")
I think my favorite shot of the day is a dolly shot we did that'll introduce us to the setting. It was a dolly shot in the shape of a question mark that swung by a group of kids, then another set of kids, then another set of kids and finally ending on our lead actor, alone. Very nice.
Day 2 - Today we had no extras, just our two leads. Today was a day that Mark could more closely work with them and with few distractions. The casting of these two kids was fantastic. They played so well off each other. The younger actor, for only being 13, showed such maturity and sophistication. And our sweet vixen handled her duplicitous role with ease. I really think it'll be something worth watching when it's finished.
We had hoped to shoot out the weekend on five tapes, but no luck. We were 24 minutes into tape five just after lunch when we started a frantic search to find someplace open on a Sunday that sold HDCAM tapes. It was harder than you might think. But then, our set photographer asked the question, "what about the folks you rented the camera from?" It was worth a try since no one else was open. Sure enough, they were open and someone rushed to pick-up two tapes - at a premium I might add!
Day one in many ways dictated the look for the show, that of an overcast day. To serve that, we all but tented our leads with the 12x12, using the Full Grid on the frame tabled above them and the silk draped along an edge. 4x4 Floppies helped conceal any other spots of stray sunlight in the background. I think for the most part it'll be convincing. I'll obviously have a better idea after the first cut is finished. The color grading is going to be hell-on-earth trying to dance around the times the sun came in and out from behind the clouds. But Mark covered the script very well and so we should be saved by coverage. This tent was a sight to see, though.
My favorite shot of the shoot has to be the last shot of the day. It was a circular track around our two leads seated in iron patio chairs next to each other. A slow move around them starts us off during a seduction and at a turning point the dolly tracks the opposite direction with some speed. I know it's been done before, I know it might call attention to itself, but it is totally motivated, appropriate and just plain awesome. I love it when Spike Lee does it and I think it was an excellent choice by the director. As a safety net for the editor, we shot the same bits in the opposite direction. A million thanks to Jose - sometimes boom op and sometimes dolly grip - what an awesome sense of movement and handling of the dolly!
Kudos to Mark for a great script, excellent direction of that script and for producing a great weekend with few problems. I'm sure I speak for the entire cast and crew that we can hardly wait to see the short finished and that this was a weekend well spent. Great job!
PHOTOS FROM DAY
2
Mark directs the actors.
"the Tent"
Last shot of the day and maybe the coolest shot of the show.
posted at\\: 08:14 PM e: @
|
24...
No!, not the television show... just the number of
hours I worked on Wednesday. It was actually more like 28, 29, maybe 30 hours,
but who's counting (actually, I really don't remember)?
0530hrs - The fun began with the second day of a two day shoot for Merle Norman - a cosmetics manufacturer headquartered in Torrance, CA (call time 0730hrs). It was for a training video that focused on make-up application and customer service. On-site, they have a mock store and training room where franchises learn the art of running a Merle Norman store.
The director, Greg, works out the script.
The gang's all here.
The shoot consisted of two Panasonic SDX900 cameras with matching Canon 9x19 (9-117mm) lenses. The image was shot for 4:3 and set with my modified Wexler image-neutral settings. Filter wheel set to 3200K, 1/4 ND (0.6 ND), the camera "white-balance" selector was on Preset and the "Auto Knee" was off. Koji K. served as the other camera operator.
The lighting was fairly simple. We merely need to augment what was already there. To that end, we used two 4' 4-bank Kino Flos (no grid) and with 216 diffusion and positioned close to the lens axis of each camera. We also added a 650W open-face Arri also with 216 diffusion hung from the ceiling grid using a scissor clip which served double-duty as a fill light and backlight. A 2' 4 bank Kino was always on stand-by as a bit of fill for the woman that was having the make-up applied to.
1830hrs - We wrapped out by 6:15 and from there I headed south to Long Beach's Veteran's Field for my second helping of work. This job came to me by way of Jim Jacks at Alternative Rentals. The shoot was looking for - what I'm hesitant to call - a Digital Image Tech. I really served more as a Video Engineer. The two night shoot was for a car spot destined for the web, but there was talk between the agency and the director about other distribution options.
My responsibilities were mostly to make sure "smoke and fire" didn't come out of the equipment. Seriously though, I was there to keep an eye on the settings and timecode of the cameras and decks, make sure problems get fixed when they arose, offer my operation experience to a crew that spends most of its time working on film originated shoots, and make myself available if changes to settings needed to be made. For the most part, I was there more for insurance (worst case scenario type of stuff). They took out three Panasonic DVX100 cameras (set to 4:3 at 24P, 0 dB gain) and three micro cameras - specifically, the Toshiba IK-TU51 (often called "Ice Cube"). The kit came with a CCU and three, C-mount lens kit - 2mm, 4.1mm and 6mm. These cameras were plugged into a Sony DSR50 portable DVCAM deck. The DVX camera goes without saying that they're great, but the fun stuff came with the "Ice Cube" cameras. This is especially true with the last shot. They had a car sid into a corner which ran over the camera on the second take. Great shot - not so great for the camera. But that's what they're for.
The track was lit up in a very cleaver way. They used push lights under orange cones. Push lights are those lights you see on late night TV - they're dome lights that when pushed, light up. They run on batteries and when i spoke to the gaffer, he said he got the idea from another show. Very cool and it really looked great.
0800hrs - Dawn rolled in hard and fast.
0530hrs - The fun began with the second day of a two day shoot for Merle Norman - a cosmetics manufacturer headquartered in Torrance, CA (call time 0730hrs). It was for a training video that focused on make-up application and customer service. On-site, they have a mock store and training room where franchises learn the art of running a Merle Norman store.
The director, Greg, works out the script.
The gang's all here.
The shoot consisted of two Panasonic SDX900 cameras with matching Canon 9x19 (9-117mm) lenses. The image was shot for 4:3 and set with my modified Wexler image-neutral settings. Filter wheel set to 3200K, 1/4 ND (0.6 ND), the camera "white-balance" selector was on Preset and the "Auto Knee" was off. Koji K. served as the other camera operator.
The lighting was fairly simple. We merely need to augment what was already there. To that end, we used two 4' 4-bank Kino Flos (no grid) and with 216 diffusion and positioned close to the lens axis of each camera. We also added a 650W open-face Arri also with 216 diffusion hung from the ceiling grid using a scissor clip which served double-duty as a fill light and backlight. A 2' 4 bank Kino was always on stand-by as a bit of fill for the woman that was having the make-up applied to.
1830hrs - We wrapped out by 6:15 and from there I headed south to Long Beach's Veteran's Field for my second helping of work. This job came to me by way of Jim Jacks at Alternative Rentals. The shoot was looking for - what I'm hesitant to call - a Digital Image Tech. I really served more as a Video Engineer. The two night shoot was for a car spot destined for the web, but there was talk between the agency and the director about other distribution options.
My responsibilities were mostly to make sure "smoke and fire" didn't come out of the equipment. Seriously though, I was there to keep an eye on the settings and timecode of the cameras and decks, make sure problems get fixed when they arose, offer my operation experience to a crew that spends most of its time working on film originated shoots, and make myself available if changes to settings needed to be made. For the most part, I was there more for insurance (worst case scenario type of stuff). They took out three Panasonic DVX100 cameras (set to 4:3 at 24P, 0 dB gain) and three micro cameras - specifically, the Toshiba IK-TU51 (often called "Ice Cube"). The kit came with a CCU and three, C-mount lens kit - 2mm, 4.1mm and 6mm. These cameras were plugged into a Sony DSR50 portable DVCAM deck. The DVX camera goes without saying that they're great, but the fun stuff came with the "Ice Cube" cameras. This is especially true with the last shot. They had a car sid into a corner which ran over the camera on the second take. Great shot - not so great for the camera. But that's what they're for.
The track was lit up in a very cleaver way. They used push lights under orange cones. Push lights are those lights you see on late night TV - they're dome lights that when pushed, light up. They run on batteries and when i spoke to the gaffer, he said he got the idea from another show. Very cool and it really looked great.
0800hrs - Dawn rolled in hard and fast.
Ice Cube camera (Toshiba IK-TU51 with CCU).
The very efficient camera cart.
Location transpo by way of skateboard.
The course - cones lit up using push lights.
The show of cars. Some nice, some not so nice.
posted at\\: 01:33 AM e: @
|
Sat - September 3, 2005
A little piece of Hollywood History...
I haven't work on a documentary in a while and this
weekend broke that dry spell. I got a call about a month ago from Jim Jacks
(Alternative Rentals) about a feature documentary
that needed to shoot some pick-ups and that they were looking for a director of
photography for a day to shoot some b-roll and a couple of interviews. I said
"sure" and that was that until last week when thing started falling into
place.
I met with the director and producer this week to talk about what needed to be shot and to review some of the footage that had already been shot. I love to watch documentaries and I have to say that from just watching the first ten minutes or so of their rough cut, it already looks like a documentary I'd watch. So, just what is this documentary about? The director is a writer (author of Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild and Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow). While researching MGM for his book on Harlow, he stumbled across some information about a MGM party that took place in 1937 where a 20 year-old was raped. What followed is the subject of the documentary. I'm not gonna give anything away - go see the documentary when it comes out.
We got some shots of the director, on camera, filling in story elements and an interview with Judy Lewis. Who's Judy Lewis you ask? Well she just so happens to be the "love-child" of Clark Gable and Loretta Young. If you have the time, there's lots of information online about her Hollywood story and it's worth it to read her story.
I've said this before that it really is spectacular to work with someone who knows the ropes when it comes to being on-camera. She asked me about the lighting, she directed the make-up artist on what to do, and when it came to answering the questions, always answered in complete sentences with wonderful diction and paced enunciation.
We shot with the Sony CineAlta camera with neutral color setting provided by Alternative Rentals. We shot for 1:85 and TV safe (center-extraction). Color was controlled on set with the lighting and with white balance moving more toward a warm tone (this way as opposed to tinkering with the in camera controls). The lighting for Judy only required two lights. Both 650W open face Arri with small Chimera. For her key, I used the standard skin on both the outside frame and inside. For backlight, I used the same rig from a c-stand and without the internal skin and on a dimmer. It looks deceptively easy and I suppose, it is. The key was kept low - just above her eye line - and close to the lens axis. This served, primarily to flatter her face but it also served to light the room, casting nice shadows on the wall from the plant. The backlight was on a dimmer to warm up the light and offered a nice kick to her shoulders, hair, and the sofa. The key-light and backlight also worked to light her mother's Oscar - the light's large white surfaces reflected nicely on Oscar's shiny, flat features.
I met with the director and producer this week to talk about what needed to be shot and to review some of the footage that had already been shot. I love to watch documentaries and I have to say that from just watching the first ten minutes or so of their rough cut, it already looks like a documentary I'd watch. So, just what is this documentary about? The director is a writer (author of Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild and Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow). While researching MGM for his book on Harlow, he stumbled across some information about a MGM party that took place in 1937 where a 20 year-old was raped. What followed is the subject of the documentary. I'm not gonna give anything away - go see the documentary when it comes out.
We got some shots of the director, on camera, filling in story elements and an interview with Judy Lewis. Who's Judy Lewis you ask? Well she just so happens to be the "love-child" of Clark Gable and Loretta Young. If you have the time, there's lots of information online about her Hollywood story and it's worth it to read her story.
I've said this before that it really is spectacular to work with someone who knows the ropes when it comes to being on-camera. She asked me about the lighting, she directed the make-up artist on what to do, and when it came to answering the questions, always answered in complete sentences with wonderful diction and paced enunciation.
We shot with the Sony CineAlta camera with neutral color setting provided by Alternative Rentals. We shot for 1:85 and TV safe (center-extraction). Color was controlled on set with the lighting and with white balance moving more toward a warm tone (this way as opposed to tinkering with the in camera controls). The lighting for Judy only required two lights. Both 650W open face Arri with small Chimera. For her key, I used the standard skin on both the outside frame and inside. For backlight, I used the same rig from a c-stand and without the internal skin and on a dimmer. It looks deceptively easy and I suppose, it is. The key was kept low - just above her eye line - and close to the lens axis. This served, primarily to flatter her face but it also served to light the room, casting nice shadows on the wall from the plant. The backlight was on a dimmer to warm up the light and offered a nice kick to her shoulders, hair, and the sofa. The key-light and backlight also worked to light her mother's Oscar - the light's large white surfaces reflected nicely on Oscar's shiny, flat features.
(Sorry for the image quality - I took
it with my mobile phone.)
[ Photo of the field monitor between shots - the plaid is our sound mixer, Joe]
[ Photo of the field monitor between shots - the plaid is our sound mixer, Joe]
Equipment Summary:
Sony HDW-900H HDCAM CinelAlta
Fujinon 18x7.6 lens (7.6-136mm)
Microforce V+F2 Control
Panasonic 8.4" Color LCD HD/SD Field Monitor
Miranda MDC900 HDSDI Adaptor/Down Converter
Sony 14L5U 14" CRT Monitor with SDI card
Ronford Tripod
OConnor 1030HD Head
One last thing. While at prep, I had a chance to see and hear the new screen theatre at Alternative Rental. It's a thing of beauty! We watched some DVD clips and the sound is amazing. So much so, that while prepping the camera, the room rumbled a bit. It though it was a train passing by, but no, it was the sound system. The room holds about 25 people in reclining leather chairs. The screen is about 15' tall by 25' wide. The room can be used to view dailies, screen projects and very soon, also can be used for color grading sessions using a 2K projection system and Final Touch software. Sweet!
Many thanks go out to the folks at Alternative Rentals - Brian for helping me set up the camera, VanNessa for helping with prep (and for coming in on a Saturday so I could return the equipment) and, of course, Jim for considering me and all his help in making sure I had every possible thing I needed.
posted at\\: 06:13 PM e: @
|
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upload: Dec 30, 2005 02:25 AM
upload: Dec 30, 2005 02:25 AM
