Help me with ideas of how to shoot this scene

A

Aloys

Member
Hello,

I'm a new DP, trying to work on my first feature film that i will also direct. There is a scene that tells a story of people being pushed in a deep suffocating pit. if you ever watched 300 (the spartans) you probably remember the scene where the spartans' King pushes a guy with a kick in a deep pit. That's the kind of scene I want to create, if you have any ideas of how to shoot this scene please help me. I need to know what needs to be done as far as creating the set scene and camera set up. One more thing, is there any way to use a green screen for this particular scene and do compositing in post?

Any ideas are very much appreciated.

Aloys
 
This is a very, very vague question. So, you want to shoot a scene where to people get pushed into an enormous hole? Are the characters who are being pushed in talking to each other? Who is pushing them into the hole? Is he/she talking to the characters? If there's any dialogue you'll have to have an over-the-shoulder shot/reverse shot setup for both character's dialogue.

Be more specific. What exactly do you need help creating? You should already know what you want to see in your head, that should dictate what kind of shots you need and therefore where you should put the camera.
 
Finnegan said:
...If there's any dialogue you'll have to have an over-the-shoulder shot/reverse shot setup for both character's dialogue.
....
Click to expand...

Finnegan has a valid point. When you're looking at the script to break it down for blocking many camera techniques and moves wind up with characters in either an internal or external reverse for dialogue. Transforming a camera often has a character enter a shot and step into a nicely composed framing that's an internal or external reverse.

Make yourself a blocking checklist. Find stops and movement first. Find any moves and transitions. Find eligible keyframes and opportunities for deep staging. Find the coverage and connect keyframes where practical. See if you can discover any lead-ins or extensions and coordinate foreground and background. Actors stop and move for specific reasons. Look for them. Is there a common task which involves initiative like making coffee? Does the script show any indications the someone needs to show control or be territorial? Is there some discomfort over something or is it time to show an actor being more personal or even more private? All the previous are reasons actors move. They often stop to think or feel. They also stop if they're mentally changing gears or you need to show focus or clarity at an important moment. If you want to show something the audience knows that the characters don't, the actors can stop for the camera or if the reason the actor moved in the first place no longer exists then thats a signal in the script to have the actor stop. Where you want them to stop or begin a movement is a place for a mark.

A well staged scene with creative blocking not only provides excellent coverage for your editor, but reduces the amount of "cat in the window" cutaways which plague poorly blocked productions.
 
Green screen can be very tricky. It is much harder then it looks. I would find a way around shooting it as a green screen scene. I could go into detail if you would like but for now here is an idea.

For scenes like this it all depends on who is the focus of the scene. Is it the guy pushing them in? Or is it the people being pushed in? If it is the people being pushed in I would consider doing a P.O.V shot. P.O.V shots focus on the point of view of whoever you choose. You start the shot (assuming you already got your masters) with either a close up or medium close up on the person/people's initial reaction to whatever they are looking at. Then you would do anything from a wide shot to a close up of what they are looking at. After those two it is a rule of thumb to do a third shot of the person/people's reaction again.

Again I really know nothing about the scene just giving you some ideas.
 
Aloys said:
Hello,

I'm a new DP, trying to work on my first feature film that i will also direct. There is a scene that tells a story of people being pushed in a deep suffocating pit. if you ever watched 300 (the spartans) you probably remember the scene where the spartans' King pushes a guy with a kick in a deep pit. That's the kind of scene I want to create, if you have any ideas of how to shoot this scene please help me. I need to know what needs to be done as far as creating the set scene and camera set up. One more thing, is there any way to use a green screen for this particular scene and do compositing in post?

Any ideas are very much appreciated.

Aloys
Click to expand...

I believe some portion of that scene is part of the special features on one of the DVD or HD DVD's that I have, and as I recall, there was a large 'pit', filled with blue or green screened sides and cushioning, and most of the shots, other than the live actors, was CGI based.

In fact the whole movie was a CGI tour de force, that is all scenes required filling with CGi beyound a very limited set where the live actors where...
 
Maybe you could use black velvet (or another non-reflectant fabric) for the hole, making the unions with the bottom a little round. Then, in post, adding some contrast you'd create the effect.
 
Interesting synopsis but it doesn't really help us gain a vision of what you want this specific shot sequence to be like. I was going to say that you should just ask the director for the shot list and build around that, but if you're directing, then a shot list isn't really necessary since you already know what it should look like.
 
here is my shot list for this scene but I will add some more shots, and by the way this is a true story:

125. Variety of shots Militia taking the Tutsi away - headed to the pit, all marching in one line
126. Medium- feet and legs in motion
127. Close up machetes, guns, clubs with some blood stain
128. Close up Nepo
129. Wide- approaching the pit
130. low angle A shot from inside the pit that shows the pit's mouth and people looking inside
131. Wide- Dolly militia and those to pushed in the pit
132. Close up Nepo looking at the pit
133. Medium A militiaman pushes the first person in the pit
134. Wide/Medium the subject rolls and disappears in the pit
 
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