DAY BY DAY - 720p, P&S Teknik, Panavision Super Speed II
- Thread starter SUPPATIME
- Start date
Break a leg, that final set-up sounds awesome.
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khmuse
Tech Guru
Is that a flicker gag in the hearth?
Love the set dressing, this looks wonderful. Doesn't look like you were stealing food from crafty for the baker scene, everything looks very period appropriate.
The second grab looks so much better. The hair light on the character on the left really helps to separate him from the background. The line of bread in the foreground is a much better placement and is an interesting visual element. The overall exposure seems just about spot on in the second grab. About the only thing that looks a bit off is the third character in the background, he seems a bit too far down in terms of illumination level.
Great work!
Love the set dressing, this looks wonderful. Doesn't look like you were stealing food from crafty for the baker scene, everything looks very period appropriate.
The second grab looks so much better. The hair light on the character on the left really helps to separate him from the background. The line of bread in the foreground is a much better placement and is an interesting visual element. The overall exposure seems just about spot on in the second grab. About the only thing that looks a bit off is the third character in the background, he seems a bit too far down in terms of illumination level.
Great work!
SUPPATIME
Active member
khmuse said:
Yep... we jammed a 2K Baby and a flicker generator in there. It barely fit... but was rather convenient as there was already an edison outlet in there.
khmuse said:
Again, the Art Department guys are great. It really helps to know a baker.
khmuse said:
When everyone broke for lunch, I sat in the very back of the bakery and studied the entire layout. I realized that there were several elements that didn't work, and I started by re-arranging the furnature in the room. It was very flat.... no depth whatsoever. This shot is very early on in the film, and wanted to give a subtle left-to-right movement of elements within the frame, aside from the slight left-to-right pan I'd be doing, following the Count (skinny aristocratic gay SS officer looking guy... he was FREAKING PERFECT for the roll), so I decided to have most of the light on that side. Between the light streaming in through the front door and the flickering from the practical in the oven to the flickering rim light to beef up said oven light, all of the elements are stronger on the left side of frame and get weaker as they go right.
This extends from the left-to-right movement of the lighting (key lighting on left to the darkness of the unknown to the right) to set-dressing (table on the left - grains and flour, table in background - lumps of dough, camera center table - loaves of bread which eventually serve as a safety line for Papa) to the characters themselves (the Count dominates the frame and stands dead center whereas the powerless Papa stands camera right, just before the shadows in the background, and eventually gets enveloped by a menacing Henchman, who walks around during the entire dialogue). The Henchman comes in and out of the light, having a very predatorial feel to his motivated action.
Yes, it is a tad dark... as are some of our other exposures. I focused on making sure the images weren't very noisy and from here, we can tweak in post.
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SUPPATIME
Active member
khmuse said:
It wasn't as easy as you might think.
I was informed of the project back at the beginning of May, and quickly dismissed how likely this movie was to get made until I heard a budgetary number. Working on various low-budget films, I thought that he just might be able to pull it off.
Living in Orlando is damn close to living in LA in terms of what you have available to you. Disney and Universal both have sound stages and other stages are offered through Chapman/Leonard and BBMP. The only problem is that even with a student discount, the Universal stages were the best deal at $550 a day.
So, for sake of a $20,000 budget on a 9 day shoot... that'd be $4,950. That's without building and dressing sets.
We then thought about finding a practical medieval location... and came up with everyone flying to my parent's house near Philadelphia and paying to shut down the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair... which also became quite expensive. It was finally our other roommate Derek who remembered going on a middle school tour of this faux village at medieval Times, and we all hopped in a car to drive to Kissimmee and check it out. Interior and exterior, it was near perfect to what we were looking for. Our producer got in touch with one of the managers and we agreed upon a price to use it during the day and some nights... and it came out around $3,000.
The fact that it was more of an entertainment attraction than a museum type led us to find outlets in crazy locations that we could take advantage of (i.e. the hearth). I was blown away by the convenience and completeness of the location, but even more so with the Art Department guys and how they turned these rooms into a home, business and slum.
khmuse
Tech Guru
You got nine days for $3,000? That is amazing!
I typically pay over a $1000 a day for a small cyc stage. Despite having great resources here in LA, the problem is that nearly every practical location knows the value of what they have to a production, so they all seem to hike their asking price.
Me, I am way beyond the age of getting student rates (haven't been in school for over 25 years now) but I often seem to hire a film school student or two on each job just to get access to some of the discounts that they offer (about 15% off on lighting and grip equipment rental).
I wish I could shoot for nine days on a $20k budget!
Again, across the board, congratulations on what you are accomplishing.
I typically pay over a $1000 a day for a small cyc stage. Despite having great resources here in LA, the problem is that nearly every practical location knows the value of what they have to a production, so they all seem to hike their asking price.
Me, I am way beyond the age of getting student rates (haven't been in school for over 25 years now) but I often seem to hire a film school student or two on each job just to get access to some of the discounts that they offer (about 15% off on lighting and grip equipment rental).
I wish I could shoot for nine days on a $20k budget!
Again, across the board, congratulations on what you are accomplishing.
SUPPATIME
Active member
khmuse said:
We'll have to meet up and colaborate on productions in the future... I'll be doing an internship at Panavision in the spring, and that will allow me a free 35mm rental any time I want.
khmuse said:
It's always good to have at least one committed "film student" on a set. Me, for instance... I've paid $200 for insurance through my film school, and it allows me to be insured for a rental from a local house... in this case, taking 6 lenses from Panavision for 9 days for only $500.
They're under my name so I'm treating them like my baby.... but regardless... for anyone else, the lenses alone for 9 days would be $2950...
Also, have you been to Mole Richardson? They offer lighting classes at their site in Studio City where you learn from industry professionals... mainly DPs and Gaffers... for free.
If not for the information learned, it's an amazing networking tool, and when you get to know the Mole guys... you can sometimes test out their products for cheap...
Colin Minihan
Member
the night grabs are fine calaberate your god damn monitors ... do you ever watch dvd's on your monitor... ext night **** is lit perfectly pretty much
khmuse
Tech Guru
SUPPATIME said:
I would love to collaborate on something when you get her, you are obviously very talented and have a great eye.
I know a camera tech that works at Panavision, you will have an absolute blast hanging out. Just about everyone that matters passes through sooner or later!
SUPPATIME said:
That is such a great deal! The policy minimum around here is typically about $900 - $1000 for a standard $1 Million general liability package. I am about to bite the bullet and get an annual as it will likely end up being cheaper after about 2 1/2 projects a year.
SUPPATIME said:Also, have you been to Mole Richardson? They offer lighting classes at their site in Studio City where you learn from industry professionals... mainly DPs and Gaffers... for free.
If not for the information learned, it's an amazing networking tool, and when you get to know the Mole guys... you can sometimes test out their products for cheap...
I have used Mole's small stage on La Brea (Hollywood) once before, but have never been to their classes in Studio City. That would be a wonderful networking experience and I am sure that there are many tricks to be learned. I hardly ever leave a set without having picked up at least one or two new ideas.
When do you wrap this project? Hope to see some more BTS and grabs.
Best,
Kevin
SUPPATIME
Active member
khmuse said:
I am covered through my school with a $2,000 deductable and coverage up to $1,000,000. This is for equipment and SAG actors only.
Promethian Entertainment is insured through Marshall Entertainment Insurance up to $1,400,000.
Panavision Florida has cut a deal with our school to allow for such rentals... it's really worth it. I don't understand why more film students don't take advantage of it...
khmuse said:
We wrap Sunday afternoon for the main part of this shoot and do pick-ups in other locations in early 2007. If all goes well, you'll have 2 more days of grabs and BTS shots.
SUPPATIME
Active member
Whew!
What a hell of a few days!
First off, we had an exterior shot we wanted to to at sunrise, but our Producer happened to sleep in (for an extra 3 hours until our AD had to drive to his place and pound on his door... he wasn't answering his cell at all). We couldn't shoot because he had the children's costumes we needed.
So, we missed the light I wanted to shoot in, and the Orlando skies weren't being kind to me with any cloud cover. We had direct sunlight in the hot spots and full shade in the darks... and it looked horrible. Luckily, I upped the master pedistal in the camera and exposed somewhere in the middle... hopefully we can work with it.
After the Producer showed up and we shot the dolly exteriors, we shot inside the bakery and finished in there with a different lighting setup. I thought this would be fine (as it was a different day in the script) until I found out that we tacked on another "sunset" shot that we SHOULD have gotten when the lighting was the same the day before. For some reason, we didn't have time to get an insert of a man sitting in a chair... ? It sucked... it wasn't lit the way it was at all, and it won't cut together. Still, my guys say that they can color correct it to make it work. I doubt that, but I'll let them do their thing.
After that, lots of things had gotten changed around and I got passed at our Script Supervisor / Continuity person. She wasn't on set every day, and I wasn't consciously thinking much about continuity (because hell... we had someone and it was her JOB). So we realized we had 2 MAJOR screwups... luckily, we figured them out on set and changed shots accordingly so that now they will hopefully cut together. Either way, it was a major crisis averted... but still stressful.
On top of that, on the way home traffic was slow and as the Director and I are passing by, he goes, "Ooo, an accident. Oh shi*, that's Erin!"
Some douche hit our 1st AD's car in the middle of the highway. Luckily she was ok, but we stopped at the scene to be double sure.
Here are stills from Day 7 (finally) and I'll follow that up with Day 8 and a description of how the last date momentarily.
What a hell of a few days!
First off, we had an exterior shot we wanted to to at sunrise, but our Producer happened to sleep in (for an extra 3 hours until our AD had to drive to his place and pound on his door... he wasn't answering his cell at all). We couldn't shoot because he had the children's costumes we needed.
So, we missed the light I wanted to shoot in, and the Orlando skies weren't being kind to me with any cloud cover. We had direct sunlight in the hot spots and full shade in the darks... and it looked horrible. Luckily, I upped the master pedistal in the camera and exposed somewhere in the middle... hopefully we can work with it.
After the Producer showed up and we shot the dolly exteriors, we shot inside the bakery and finished in there with a different lighting setup. I thought this would be fine (as it was a different day in the script) until I found out that we tacked on another "sunset" shot that we SHOULD have gotten when the lighting was the same the day before. For some reason, we didn't have time to get an insert of a man sitting in a chair... ? It sucked... it wasn't lit the way it was at all, and it won't cut together. Still, my guys say that they can color correct it to make it work. I doubt that, but I'll let them do their thing.
After that, lots of things had gotten changed around and I got passed at our Script Supervisor / Continuity person. She wasn't on set every day, and I wasn't consciously thinking much about continuity (because hell... we had someone and it was her JOB). So we realized we had 2 MAJOR screwups... luckily, we figured them out on set and changed shots accordingly so that now they will hopefully cut together. Either way, it was a major crisis averted... but still stressful.
On top of that, on the way home traffic was slow and as the Director and I are passing by, he goes, "Ooo, an accident. Oh shi*, that's Erin!"
Some douche hit our 1st AD's car in the middle of the highway. Luckily she was ok, but we stopped at the scene to be double sure.
Here are stills from Day 7 (finally) and I'll follow that up with Day 8 and a description of how the last date momentarily.
SUPPATIME
Active member
While I wait to be able to upload stills from today, let me just say that the production has wrapped and was absolutely amazing.
I had a great camera team and an equally amazing team of grips... without these guys, this film would have never happened.
Today, we shot the bulk of the movie, which happened to be a long dialogue scene between the Dark Prince and Abigail after he rescues her from near-rape. They end up ducking into an abandoned storage building and carry out their discussion there.
We got to set and found our Art Department guys racing around gathering up every prop they could find to clutter the room. This includes barrels, glass jugs, wooden doors, shelving... everything period! We decided to go with a very directional light that would cut through the fog (keep in mind we had to match the fog from the crane-up scequence as they ran off). I tried to make it look like there were holes in the roof and that light was streaming in, both from candle light and the moon. The genius Art guys put baby powder in socks and sprinkled the powder out evenly to create the vast amounts of dust that I asked them for... I wanted to make it look like nothing in the room had been touched for years... and they had just moved the stuff in this morning! Somehow, they again achieved exactly what I was looking for.
Lastly, we had to light everything in a creative way because all of today was a series of SteadyCam shots, operated by Greg Gromak. We lit everything from above and hid every single wire, lunch box and distro cable so that Greg could follow the complicated blocking of the actors 360 degrees throughout the room.
Stills to come, as soon as I transfer the 108GB of footage from one hard drive to another...
I had a great camera team and an equally amazing team of grips... without these guys, this film would have never happened.
Today, we shot the bulk of the movie, which happened to be a long dialogue scene between the Dark Prince and Abigail after he rescues her from near-rape. They end up ducking into an abandoned storage building and carry out their discussion there.
We got to set and found our Art Department guys racing around gathering up every prop they could find to clutter the room. This includes barrels, glass jugs, wooden doors, shelving... everything period! We decided to go with a very directional light that would cut through the fog (keep in mind we had to match the fog from the crane-up scequence as they ran off). I tried to make it look like there were holes in the roof and that light was streaming in, both from candle light and the moon. The genius Art guys put baby powder in socks and sprinkled the powder out evenly to create the vast amounts of dust that I asked them for... I wanted to make it look like nothing in the room had been touched for years... and they had just moved the stuff in this morning! Somehow, they again achieved exactly what I was looking for.
Lastly, we had to light everything in a creative way because all of today was a series of SteadyCam shots, operated by Greg Gromak. We lit everything from above and hid every single wire, lunch box and distro cable so that Greg could follow the complicated blocking of the actors 360 degrees throughout the room.
Stills to come, as soon as I transfer the 108GB of footage from one hard drive to another...
MalcolmOng
Veteran
Very very neat looking grabs, although some of them look a tad soft on my monitor for some reason. It still looks stellar nonetheless
SUPPATIME
Active member
Some of the images come in and out of focus as the actors walk in.
Because we were on SteadyCam, we didn't have someone in the room to pull focus (as we were moving around 360 degrees). I set the focus at 6 1/2 feet at a wide open aperature on the 14mm Panavision lens... and by the table I have (American Cinematographer's Manual Volume 8) everything from 4'9" to 10'1" should have been in focus. The actors enter the room slightly farther away than that far mark, and come closer at times, as well. We ran through the mastershot 5 takes, and then focused on each talent with the 24mm lens to get in-focus coverage. The 24mm lens was set at 6', so everything from 5'5" to 6'9" was in focus.
Keep in mind there is also motion blur in all three images...
Because we were on SteadyCam, we didn't have someone in the room to pull focus (as we were moving around 360 degrees). I set the focus at 6 1/2 feet at a wide open aperature on the 14mm Panavision lens... and by the table I have (American Cinematographer's Manual Volume 8) everything from 4'9" to 10'1" should have been in focus. The actors enter the room slightly farther away than that far mark, and come closer at times, as well. We ran through the mastershot 5 takes, and then focused on each talent with the 24mm lens to get in-focus coverage. The 24mm lens was set at 6', so everything from 5'5" to 6'9" was in focus.
Keep in mind there is also motion blur in all three images...