Guerilla Tricks

Kevin Briggs

Kevin Briggs

Well-known member
Ladies and Gents

Let’s share some knowledge about some Guerilla Tactics/Techniques/Tricks that have really helped out on set.

I was on an interview recently and there was a glare behind my talent on a vinyl sign that he wanted in the shot. It was really blown out and no matter what we did with the lighting it seemed to still be there. A friend of mine that used to work on 35mm grabbed some baby powder out of the bathroom and rubbed it over the surface of the sign where the glare was. It totally disappeared and the shot looked great.

I've got more I just have to think of them.

-Kevin
 
HA HA HA motha' suckin' hilarious Terry. I almost smacked the other gorilla`with the bananna. How bout' you and me go round-to-round? Huh, you up for that LOL
 
Good find Terry!

Theres no sound though...its kinda booty....but other than that its pretty cool..i jus sat here playing it for like 5 min....its fun watching the computer battle itself too.

Some guerilla Tatics/Techniques? hm...

If your filming a skate video...good way to keep steady motion if you have a camera without a handle on the top...hold the camera in both hands and hold it down low facing upward..then skate down a ramp or something to get some speed then just keep your skater in frame. The other guys in the park wont bother you..atleast..they dont bother me cuz if they see a 6'2..210 lb kid headin their way not lookin where hes goin....they gonna get raped by the fury of the ground after hitting me. Anyways.

Another technique i thought was helpfull when filming on like boats and stuff when its bright and sunny....keep the exposure very very low...almost to the point everything turns black. Then have additional lighting...not big lights but small lights just to brighten some dark spots.

And to keep it steady on a boat...if you dont have a tripod...try resting your right elbow on a flat surface and move your body with the boat....I get alot of steady shots when I do this.

And one last tip...make sure the lens cap is off...once i was shooting and i turn the camera on and i forgot bout the lens cap...then i start spazzzing out cuz it was all black..so i thought my camera was broken...and i started sweating badddly...then i saw the lens cap...then i was like..woah sweet.

end
 
Well, one thing that helped me get some sweet-ass low angles that everyone loved, was a square piece of wood, smaller square pieces of wood and a bogen manfrotto tripod head,some nuts and bolts and glue. I took a piece of square about 6" all around drilled a whole for the bolt to go through into the bottom of the head. Then placed smaller pieces of wood on the corners, glued and walla! Nice low angles.
 
blckhawk542 said:
..atleast..they dont bother me cuz if they see a 6'2..210 lb kid headin their way not lookin where hes goin....they gonna get raped by the fury of the ground after hitting me.
Click to expand...

lol! :grin:
 
OK, here's one...

I still have a small, cheap nylon gym bag 3/4 filled with the small styrofoam beads from a beanbag chair. It makes for a great poor-man's CineSaddle and allows your camera to be used in places and ways you couldn't otherwise.
 
Quick and dirty "french flag" for killing a lens flare: Blackwrap. Can be wrapped around a lens or taped in place, holds it's shaped and can be reshaped. Fold it up and stash in a pocket when done.
 
Besides the baby powder, I have found that Arrid Extra Dry spray on deoderant makes a great dulliing spray. Works great for individuals that have more forehead than hair, but is also very usefull on shiny objects. Don't be cheap, get the Arrid Extra Dry. For some reason, other brands don't work as well. It is also cheaper than art supply house dulling spray. It also helps control Grip funk on those long days.

Also, glare from objects hung on the wall, i.e., pictures frames and the like can be dealt with by using shimms made from gaffers tape to offset the angle of the glass just enough to eliminate the glare. I just ball up the tape and stick it under one side of the frame. Add more tape as needed. If working on location
 
Sounds like what we used to do on stage to kill mirrors on the set...sort of. We sprayed them with hairspray. You could still see that they were mirrors, but they no longer reflected as such.

Might work as well for deadening hot spots when filming. Hmmm...
 
Talcum Powder for Atmosphere

Talcum Powder for Atmosphere

I was cooking some french fries the other day and left them in the oven too long. By the time I pulled them out there was a thin layer of smoke in the air. I went into the other room and the sun was coming in through the blinds at a perfect angle at 5:30 to light up the smoke and make it almost look solid, like I could touch it. I asked a couple people what the best way to achive an effect similar to this adding atmosphere to a scene and the answer I got was Talcum Powder. Has anyone tried this before? I did a search on google and it seems there may be some health risks. Anyone know of an alternative? Maybe a real smoke machine?

I found this example on google:

http://www.mediamatic.net/article-200.5996.html
 
Underwater camera

Underwater camera

I sure most of you already know how to get some really cheap underwater footage by placing your camera in a fish aquarium and pushing it under the waterline, or flipping the camera onto the lens hood and filming straight down.


-Kevin
 
Dof

Dof

So, you want to achieve that super shallow DOF without spending $500-1000 on an adapter. Just use your clear uv filter on the camera and carfully using a cue tip smear chapstick onto the glass around your subject/s. This only works with scenes with little or no movement like interviews. You can actually buy a filter called a "center spot" that does this same thing by blurring out everything but the center of the filter. Does anyone else have any ideas?

-Kevin
 
Anyone know of an alternative? Maybe a real smoke machine?
Click to expand...

Burning coffe powder makes good smoke, but smells too hard... Fog machines are cool, and are cheap to rent, though. Every option, including rosco fog is somewhat hazardous...
 
Weather Guard.

Almost forgot this one boys. Use your UV filter to "cut" a perfect circle in a garbage bag. Remove the donut hole and tighten the UV so that it fixes the bag in place.

Great for snowy and dusty shoots.
 
Raise the production value of your music video by making it look like you have a helicopter. You know those huge baloons you see at car lots 100 feet in the air. I wonder how many of those I would need to lift my little Panasoninc pv-gs150 above a shoot. It weighs 14.8 oz. I have already drawn up plans to keep the camera steady in realation to the balloon and the balloon somewhat controlable under good weather. Just have to try it. I'll post the footage when I do.

-Kevin
 
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