How do you shoot a film in an apartment?

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kittykatro

Active member
I saw plenty of indie films made for no budget and filmed in real locations and the interior scenes look really poor, like home videos or something... But in Hollywood movies even if some scenes take place in apartments or other cramped spaces, they look different...
How can you make a film shot in an apartment look like a Hollywood production?
 
space! A small looking room, needs to be bigger to get the camera and crew in.

Build one from sheet material and DIY skills - then you can remove a wall to shoot, stick it back in and remove another. In a small space, otherwise you need wide angle lenses and have bent horizontals and verticals. You can build one fairly cheaply, then dress it, and it looks good.
 
kittykatro said:
I saw plenty of indie films made for no budget and filmed in real locations and the interior scenes look really poor, like home videos or something... But in Hollywood movies even if some scenes take place in apartments or other cramped spaces, they look different...
How can you make a film shot in an apartment look like a Hollywood production?
Click to expand...

It's still surprising to me what it takes to do this well. It takes a lot of talented and experienced people. That's why it takes 5+ minutes to roll credits for a Hollywood production.

An experienced and talented art director / set decorator can do amazing things, especially in directing the viewers eyes. An experienced lighting crew is a must in cramped spaces and can make the footage look amazingly "natural" in a completely unnatural setting. An experienced sound crew (that's right, sound) can make you hear that a big room or sound stage is actually a tiny room in a European flat -- and you won't question it. Without getting the sound right you won't be able to "suspend your disbelief" so that you can actually believe the room is the size the director wants you to think it is. Etc., etc., etc....
 
What David W. Jones said. A challenging situation demands skill to handle or else you have another "home movie" and a waste of time. This is repeatedly demonstrated in lighting, sound, cinematography, direction, etc. You need a knowledgeable crew to make it work . . . particularly for sound.
Low budget doesn't necessarily mean no-skill. No-skill does, however, say no budget . . . and no knowledge . . . and up-stages the story.

Ken

P.S. Continuity is most important, too. If the rest of the show is shot with normal lens and angles don't cut to the apartment scene that is shot with a super wide angle lens (just to show the room) and with hollow sound. It is a shock and stands out as amateur like the proverbial sore thumb.
 
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In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I remember that Michel Gondry said that the apartment scenes were a mixture of location and sets. Although I can't usually tell the difference. So that's just proof that a good, experienced and knowledgeable crew can make anything look good!
 
kittykatro said:
I saw plenty of indie films made for no budget and filmed in real locations and the interior scenes look really poor, like home videos or something... But in Hollywood movies even if some scenes take place in apartments or other cramped spaces, they look different...
How can you make a film shot in an apartment look like a Hollywood production?
Click to expand...

Here's a 'budget' film that Orson Welles directed, "The Trial"(1962). There is a sequence in a close, small, european apartment... which I think is instructive to figure out 'how it was done', and may answer such questions as 'how can one shoot a film in cramped quarters, on a shoe string budget', which at the time was Welles had problems getting financing for projects where he had 'total control'...

trial2.jpg


trial4.jpg


In addition to the cramped apartment, Welles also shot some portions of the film in Zagreb, Croatia, and used the at the time abaondoned Gere d'Orsay, which has now become Musee d'Orsay...
The latter 'choice' was due to finances, but ended up 'better' for Welles... or so he said...

As a note, there are various versions of this film. Try to get the version that has the 1.66 (a frequently used european ratio at the time) aspect ratio. The 'cheap' copy I have has been rezied to 'fit your poo pooing TV screen', and is 1.33... as it is it gives an even more cramped look... but at the same time chops some of the 'lens distortions' which I think Welles did 'want' for the shots.
 
"How can you make a film shot in an apartment look like a Hollywood production?"

Well there's the dynamic range of film, which is possibly coming within reach now (go Blackmagic!). There's the $20K lenses, and the anamorphic format which go a long way to making an image look filmic. There's the colors of the lights and the lighting scheme. There's the high powered HMI lights that match sunlight and raise the light level so that the stuff outside lit by the sun is near the same level, and thus doesn't blow out. And there's the creative framing and smooth movement of the camera. Hopefully there's a story worth telling thrown in there somewhere as well.
 
What paulears said. If you can't afford to build a studio set, try to find a big apartment that can accommodate all of the crew, equipment, lights etc and allow enough distance between subject and camera. The ceiling should generally be higher than normal to make it easier for lights and sound. Of course, skill, tricks and experienced crew can work wonders, but the most basic issue is that the set should not limit where you can put lights, camera and actors, otherwise it's likely going to look like crap.
 
kittykatro said:
trial2.jpg


Are you sure this was filmed in an apartment?
Watch the full scene here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jpvLGyN0vE&t=4m49s
The way the camera rotates and goes to the back of the character sugests there might be a retractable wall there...
What lens do you think was used in this scene?
Click to expand...

Given the distortion of the lens, the 'continuous shot', While there may be some sort of alcove that is covered later, I think this was done in a 'small room', with the camera mounted on a dolly, with the ability to move the camera up and down, pan, etc. I don't think there was any modification of the wall behind the bed. I think the camera operator, camera, was butted up into the corner. Later in the shot when Perkins goes to the doors and opens them, then a cut to show Perkins at the open doorway, and looking back into the bedroom, one can see the bed, the wall, and now a 'chair' next to the bed against the wall where the camera would have to be for the previous shots when Perkins is at the dresser drawers.

The other notables... deep focus, which Welles used mostly... long takes... The first one in the apartment is about 5:30 long...

Since I'm not able to find any further information, perhaps there's an American Cinematographer issue with some info... this is of course conjecture on my part.

This would be done with a steady cam these days.
 
25 minutes later I remembered why I clicked over to the youtube clip. Brilliant.


For discussion sake, let's assume your resources only allow for use of an existing house with average 8' ceilings. Outside of changing locations to a larger one or building a set with movable walls, anyone care to share some of the standard tricks that an "experienced crew" would use in order to replicate a lighting setup that is more easily accomplished on a set with no ceiling and a grid?

Bolting plates to the ceiling? Blast through nearby windows? Suggestions that would allow for near 360˚ camera movement?
 
I recently saw Carnage, which used one apartment and what looked like a 360 desgree filming. They had a great apartment, of course, lots of interior design. But the lighting seems to be primarily through the windows with HMIs angled in just out of sight. It was all daytime, so very powerful lights.
 
jmmusic said:
25 minutes later I remembered why I clicked over to the youtube clip. Brilliant.


For discussion sake, let's assume your resources only allow for use of an existing house with average 8' ceilings. Outside of changing locations to a larger one or building a set with movable walls, anyone care to share some of the standard tricks that an "experienced crew" would use in order to replicate a lighting setup that is more easily accomplished on a set with no ceiling and a grid?

Bolting plates to the ceiling? Blast through nearby windows? Suggestions that would allow for near 360˚ camera movement?
Click to expand...

There are a number of gizmos that can be used to affix lights, and allow them to 'hang', or be positioned, which do not involve major reconstruction... or even require spackling nail holes or other 'slight damage'...

For example for lights that are 'light'... as in weight... a simple closet spring pole which can be compressed to fit, could be used in... uh... closets... doorways, hallways, windows. Obviously big massive lights would need something more industrial strength... but those exist as well...

The biggest problem with lighting small spaces is controlling bounce off surfaces which yield undesired light on the actors, or in the view of the camera. Curtains and temporary goal pole type setups will allow large portions of the walls to be covered.... then there's the ceiling...

And of course... if one uses 'hot' lights... the heat of the lights being on, in a small space...

But all this does require some doing it, to get that experience of what works... and what doesn't...
 
mail4joeg said:
But the lighting seems to be primarily through the windows with HMIs angled in just out of sight. It was all daytime, so very powerful lights.
Click to expand...

Lighting is everything. The trick is to give your lighting the feel of "window light" even when there are no windows to actually light through.

I remember watching the Breaking Bad episode called "Face Off" in a scene that takes place in a nursing home, you see a wide shot of the room where there is only one small window at the end of the room, but in the medium shots the characters are lit by what feels like "window light", but there is no window to supply the light. Logically this lighting makes no sense, but visually it looks really nice, so the DOP goes with it. I see this sort of thing happening all the time, where this magical "window light" appears out of nowhere, but it's a really nice look.

One secret weapon when shooting in small rooms is to use AutoPoles which can be mounted right next to any wall ( so no stand legs to deal with ) then you can then clamp on a Wall Boom to mount your light anywhere within a 6 foot radius of the AutoPole, or you can also mount AutoPoles horizontally next to the ceiling to use as an instant-grid to hang lights from.
 
Great responses. Thanks mail4joeg, j1clark, and TheDingo.


"Curtains and temporary goal pole type setups will allow large portions of the walls to be covered.... then there's the ceiling..."


Curtains as in skirting the lights with blackwrap or duvetyne? Or literally covering the wall with curtains to prevent unwanted bounce? I was just looking at the March AC and the article on William Wages. Very interested in his use of, basically, helium-filled black plastic garbage bags floated in a u-shape to keep ceiling-bounced light spill off of the walls. The ceilings of the interior spaces he used this in, at least in the article's photos, were quite a bit taller than 8'.


"And of course... if one uses 'hot' lights... the heat of the lights being on, in a small space..."


For sure. Living in LA (the Valley), the first summer I used my Peppers in close quarters I lost many lbs. in water weight. But I love the quality of light coming out of those units. Even just bounced off of some sheers I have in my linen closet taped to the wall, etc.


"But all this does require some doing it, to get that experience of what works... and what doesn't..."


Definitely not intending to downplay experience. Always impressed and fascinated by those that are great at doing their job. I'm learning by doing in my spare time. Thanks for the insight and ideas.
 
Use some tricks to create depth. Foreground, midground, and background. Keep couches/ tables in the middle of the room and not back up against a wall. Also, you can shoot through foreground objects. Backlighting, mixed lighting, and complimentary colors will also add separation. Just make sure not to light flat, or you'll be shooting a sitcom.
 
kittykatro said:
trial2.jpg


Are you sure this was filmed in an apartment?
Watch the full scene here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jpvLGyN0vE&t=4m49s
The way the camera rotates and goes to the back of the character sugests there might be a retractable wall there...
What lens do you think was used in this scene?
Click to expand...

That's a stage. 100%.

I seem to recall a conversation about this particular scene and how they built that particular stage.

Things to note there:

Look how tall the standing actor is... the height of the door... and how the door touches the roof.

This stage was purposely built to make the "cops" look as big and imposing as possible, while making the main actor small.... to create a space of paranoia, that goes in line with the novel.

I would venture to speculate (although not sure) that the roof of the set is not flat like it seems, but somehow slanted to force perspective one way or another.

Not sure if they had to move flats around while doing the camera moves though.... don't think so.

If you want a good example of lighting practical locations, Munich is a movie to look at. Most of the locations are practical locations that they just dressed for the movie.

IMHO one of the big tricks in shooting on practical locations is to use neg fill.
 
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