filming in the rain

O

olliejb

New member
hi to all,

my first post here so bare with me if i screw things up... anyway, im halfway through shooting my final film before i graduate, however i had to call things off because of bad weather (of the biblical kind). i have agreed the reshoot dates with actors but the weather in the uk has, for the last 6 years on these days, been something resembling typhoon conditions. i dont want to shoot in bad weather, but alas if it happens then i cant call it off this time.

ive spent so much money already on generators for outside lighting, marquees to house equipment, but nothing seemed to work the first time around. does anyone have any hints or tips on how to film in the pi$$ing rain and wind, keeping crew and actors happy whilst still being able to get the material that i need.

so far weve bagged up the camera so it doesnt get wet, but then the noise of the rain hitting the bag is picked up by the sound dept.

the same happens with the dougal. when bagged the mic picks up the noise.

lights have been put under marquees but then these get blown away.

any... and i do mean any suggestions are very much appreciated.


help me dvxuser... youre my only hope.

ollie
 
Hey Ollie, welcome to the board.

Unfortunately, there really isn't much of a fix for your sound problem, just hope for good weather.

If it DOES rain, I say just shoot it and do ADR later, because that sounds like your biggest problem.

What kind of shoot is this? How long are you going to be shooting outside?
 
unfortunately due actors availability i can only shoot for two more days and theyre two very specific days... after that if i dont have the material then i dont have my baby, at least not enough of it to graduate with. adr might not be a problem if it werent for the actors having to come from london (uk based by the way) which is the other side of the country. time is really of the essence.

might be able to solve the problem by using radio clip mics but to be honest im not exactly in love with them.

have you got any suggestions about lighting ouside?

i have a large range of lighting and power supply but making sure that they dont get wet is an issue. whatever the weather i must light the scene, at least for close ups... the english countryside has a habit of making things look a bit bleak at the best of times.
 
Shoot the scene rain or no rain...

Then head indoors and reshoot the scene so you can get some clean dialogue.. this way you will have the emotion of the scene and some clean diallogue... It isn't a perfect senario, and syncing things up later my turn out to be a pain in the ass.. but it might work out well for you.

just an idea if time is short and you can't get these people for any longer.
 
Loki's suggestion is a good one if all else fails.

It sounds like you're shooting out on the moors or the Lakes or something! Your location is the problem.

What you need, and I have no idea if it's available where you are, is a large area which has the look of the place you need, but has an fixed overhanging area which will stop the rain falling on you directly, but is open to the sides thus allowing you to still frame shots to look like you are outside. It has to be large so that the sound of the rain on top of it is far enough above you to not be obvious.
Suggestions might be:
1) Handy overhanging cliff!
2) Petrol station forecourt - bonus is it's already lit - just white balance!
3) In front of large buidings
4) Just inside large open loading doors of warehouse or aircraft hanger
and so on...

Another would be to make the stuff you've already shot look, and sound, like it has been shot in the rain. Use grading and sound effects. Maybe even reshoot it in London (ie you come to the actors) in the rain to match!

BTW, the fluffy sound "dougals" shouldn't need to be covered in plastic bags - just let them dry out afterwards in a warm airing cupboard or naturally.
Put something soft over the plastic bag camera cover to muffle raindrops. Shooting outside, unless at night or under really heavy rain clouds, could get away with large reflectors for lighting. Lights are nice, but might be possible to eliminate if necessary.

Without more detail, it's hard to be more specific.

Good luck.
 
thanks guys,

liking the suggestions so far, and eric... nice one about the soft padding over the bagged up cam, so simple yet id never have thought about it. sound dept will be happy with me... and ill try not to take all the credit.

i have realised one thing... why the hell did i write a script where a lot of the action takes place in a god damn field... morality tale set in the west country... who cares? from now on all my films are gonna be based inside one white, sterile room... with no actors!

anyway, the idea ofshooting undercover but out into the open is something i have been toying with. im looking into buying a f**k off big marquee that i can open up the ends of, thereby allowing actors the play the scene one end, crew protected in the rest of the space and generators off in yonder distance...

ill hope ill pray... dont know what more i can do.
 
olliejb said:
...i have realised one thing... why the hell did i write a script where a lot of the action takes place in a god damn field... morality tale set in the west country... who cares? from now on all my films are gonna be based inside one white, sterile room... with no actors!
Click to expand...

Large farm barn or hay storage building might do the trick. Just see if you can check the sound of rain on it beforehand - some corrugated aluminium roofs can be very noisy.

The film inside one white sterile room has been done rather well, in a short called "The White Room" by UK director Rachel Tillotson...albeit with one actor!
 
How about a sterile black room! Then you just need a keylight...or nothing at all if you have no actors.
 
Just change your current location
Don`t shoot it in Scotland during summer (or winter). The weather doesn`t get any better, that`s why we only have the two seasons there...winter and June;-D
 
Bigger lights 2.5k-up can be used in the rain, steams it off, although Ive not used them it torrential rain. Best thing I've used for really bad conditions is a sungun. Smaller lights handheld/ or on stands - Great in any weather/ portable...

If you cant change locations. Just shoot it, make sure cameras watertight, couple of U.V.'s just in-case and tapes have their own bag. Shear any sound if possible even for a guide track. My sound guy nearly crucified me for having generators too close. Just get what you can. Don't let it bog you down, (NPI), remember its the story that counts. Your trying your best, get some help in if the problems are pulling you away from the direction/ story.

Best of luck.
J.P.
 
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filming in the rain.... I love it. Imagine it though when rain plus the temperature is 20 degrees or less out.... thats what it was on CPU. I love rain.
 
Generally the solutions presented above are good, but as I see it, you should be planning for the absolute worst case scenario, and plan a secondary location. Think it through and see if there's any possibility of changing the script to move the action indoors or somewhere, where you can justify shooting under more controlled conditions. Make a plan for quickly reshooting stuff that absolutely contradicts the new location (i. e. someone saying: "Let's go to the field to chat in the sun"). I know this isn't a perfect plan, but sometimes you need to sacrifice in order to make it to the end.

Also remember the psycological implications of shooting under harsh conditions. Make sure that you keep the crew and especially the actors happy. Have someone tend to the actors (bring them their jacket between takes, and generally spoiling them slightly) and have a stockpile of chocolate handy when things get rough and could.
 
Any suggestions for protecting a camera in the rain while still getting a clean shot and not spending alot of money?

I was trying to shoot a storm last night but you could see the saran wrap and walmart bag in all the shots
 
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