"A Short Film" - Day 4 of 5
Day 4 of 5 done - we're nearly there!
Today we started our day shooting some plate shots continuing our bridge sequence from Day 1. The actual bridge we shot on day 1 was about a 10ft drop but Chris wanted it to be a 50ft drop so we shot some POV stuff off of the Oakville viaduct bridge which is about a 150ft drop. We shot hi-res plates with a digital SLR and some POV stuff with zooming the DVX. I'm not sure if either is going to work but Chris wanted to get something and feels confident he can make something work with his SFX guy. While we were out there it started to rain as usual! Just can't catch a break...
Our first major setup was a dining room scene with a family having dinner. The scene is essentially in Chris' mind as he imagines what kind of movie he should make next. The scene was shot on a standing set that exists in one of the studios at Sheridan College. We see "Chris" having dinner with his parents as we pan around the table to them. We took a standard table and removed the leaf insert which left just enough room for me to stick in a set of baby legs and the camera. The shot starts off with Chris in the scene and pans around the table to Dad, Mom and eventually back to another version of Chris who's observing the scene. It required some coordination as Matt had to get changed very quickly as we panned around, having to be re-dressed as we land on our last frame with the other Chris.
I had my regular Gaffer Angie Bailey with me today which was great. We hung a Chinaball with 2 100w clear bulbs over the table. The overhead grid in that studio is way to high and we didn't have a scissor lift so Angie devised a great system of sash-cord to get the Chinaball in place overhead. A 75W par practical was positioned in the faux fireplace on a dimmer, 420 Peppers created ambience and slashes on the wall and practicals were lamped with 15w bulbs. I played a Black Frost 1/4 over the lens. Another 15w bulb was rigged on top of the camera to give a glint in the eye - it kind of worked... it also filled in just a little under the eyes which helped.
As the scene continues, Chris decides that maybe he should make a horror film. In a close up of him, the scene transitions in camera. We had an elaborate rigging of dimmers and guys with flags to accomplish this. For the horror scene we had a 1K Fresnel with Full Blue come up and put a slash in the background, a pepper creating new backlight on Chris, a 1.2K HMI soft light coming through a window and 2' Kino daylight tube. All the lights for the dinner scene were dimmed out. We also had a fog machine for effect. Again I played a Black Frost 1/4 throughout.
We finished our day shooting some plates on a green screen. This is the first green screen stuff I've ever shot. The scene is supposed to take place in infinite whiteness but a studio wasn't available otherwise we would have done that. I'm skeptical how it'll turn out as we're shooting DV with 4:1:1 color space. I tried to control spill by laying down Duv in various areas and also added some backlight with some Minus green to help counteract the green spill.
Some pics...
The dining room setup. You can see the camera, with 15w practical rigged to the top, situated in the centre of the table on babies. We shimmed the camera up with apple boxes to get the height right. In the background we had 2 peppers with 4x Opal giving some light to our walls. The pan bar was extended fully as I walked around the table. Art dept walked around with me removing glasses and anything that might have gotten in the way. In the picture - Adrian (holding the blue gown), who donated the camera and has been a great help on set, Dan (the producer) in the back and Steve our 1st AD. Actors Carol and Tom sitting at table and Helen (in red) adjusting Matt's wardrobe.
A better look at the camera setup. The practical on the camera was rigged with a mini matthelini and mini grip head which I carry in my kit these days. Both pieces of gear have come in really handy since I've added them to inventory. They also don't take up much room in your bag and are light. Actor Tom looking on while drinking his soup.
The horror scene transition. Kino tube hanging out between takes. I had ND 3 wrapped around it to take it down. I handheld the unit to get the right distance quickly. This technique is becoming a favourite thing of mine. Thanks to Angie for making the suggestion - I totally didn't think about it.
Angie and her awesome sash positioning system..
The green screen setup....hope it works!!
------
Tomorrow is our last day and a night shoot. It's going to be tough as we have a bare bones crew (more than usual) tomorrow and are dealing with the outside elements at night. It's going to be interesting...
Today we started our day shooting some plate shots continuing our bridge sequence from Day 1. The actual bridge we shot on day 1 was about a 10ft drop but Chris wanted it to be a 50ft drop so we shot some POV stuff off of the Oakville viaduct bridge which is about a 150ft drop. We shot hi-res plates with a digital SLR and some POV stuff with zooming the DVX. I'm not sure if either is going to work but Chris wanted to get something and feels confident he can make something work with his SFX guy. While we were out there it started to rain as usual! Just can't catch a break...
Our first major setup was a dining room scene with a family having dinner. The scene is essentially in Chris' mind as he imagines what kind of movie he should make next. The scene was shot on a standing set that exists in one of the studios at Sheridan College. We see "Chris" having dinner with his parents as we pan around the table to them. We took a standard table and removed the leaf insert which left just enough room for me to stick in a set of baby legs and the camera. The shot starts off with Chris in the scene and pans around the table to Dad, Mom and eventually back to another version of Chris who's observing the scene. It required some coordination as Matt had to get changed very quickly as we panned around, having to be re-dressed as we land on our last frame with the other Chris.
I had my regular Gaffer Angie Bailey with me today which was great. We hung a Chinaball with 2 100w clear bulbs over the table. The overhead grid in that studio is way to high and we didn't have a scissor lift so Angie devised a great system of sash-cord to get the Chinaball in place overhead. A 75W par practical was positioned in the faux fireplace on a dimmer, 420 Peppers created ambience and slashes on the wall and practicals were lamped with 15w bulbs. I played a Black Frost 1/4 over the lens. Another 15w bulb was rigged on top of the camera to give a glint in the eye - it kind of worked... it also filled in just a little under the eyes which helped.
As the scene continues, Chris decides that maybe he should make a horror film. In a close up of him, the scene transitions in camera. We had an elaborate rigging of dimmers and guys with flags to accomplish this. For the horror scene we had a 1K Fresnel with Full Blue come up and put a slash in the background, a pepper creating new backlight on Chris, a 1.2K HMI soft light coming through a window and 2' Kino daylight tube. All the lights for the dinner scene were dimmed out. We also had a fog machine for effect. Again I played a Black Frost 1/4 throughout.
We finished our day shooting some plates on a green screen. This is the first green screen stuff I've ever shot. The scene is supposed to take place in infinite whiteness but a studio wasn't available otherwise we would have done that. I'm skeptical how it'll turn out as we're shooting DV with 4:1:1 color space. I tried to control spill by laying down Duv in various areas and also added some backlight with some Minus green to help counteract the green spill.
Some pics...
The dining room setup. You can see the camera, with 15w practical rigged to the top, situated in the centre of the table on babies. We shimmed the camera up with apple boxes to get the height right. In the background we had 2 peppers with 4x Opal giving some light to our walls. The pan bar was extended fully as I walked around the table. Art dept walked around with me removing glasses and anything that might have gotten in the way. In the picture - Adrian (holding the blue gown), who donated the camera and has been a great help on set, Dan (the producer) in the back and Steve our 1st AD. Actors Carol and Tom sitting at table and Helen (in red) adjusting Matt's wardrobe.
A better look at the camera setup. The practical on the camera was rigged with a mini matthelini and mini grip head which I carry in my kit these days. Both pieces of gear have come in really handy since I've added them to inventory. They also don't take up much room in your bag and are light. Actor Tom looking on while drinking his soup.
The horror scene transition. Kino tube hanging out between takes. I had ND 3 wrapped around it to take it down. I handheld the unit to get the right distance quickly. This technique is becoming a favourite thing of mine. Thanks to Angie for making the suggestion - I totally didn't think about it.
Angie and her awesome sash positioning system..
The green screen setup....hope it works!!
------
Tomorrow is our last day and a night shoot. It's going to be tough as we have a bare bones crew (more than usual) tomorrow and are dealing with the outside elements at night. It's going to be interesting...
posted by Barry Cheong at 8:57 p.m.
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