New York style

Steve Laramie

Steve Laramie

Veteran
Just thought I would ask around if anybody had any tips on how to create the feel of NYC in Philly. I am not sure if some color temperature variation or angle choice could captivate some sort of feel of NYC. We are faking Philly for NYC so besides production design I want to add to the effect through camera work but cant really think of many ideas. We are going to shoot about 3-4 days of B roll in NYC so there will be cutaways.
 
The thing about New York is the buildings. It has been described by many cinematographers and photographers as having a special quality very hard to reproduce.

The idea is that the buildings are very tall and numerous, therefore you are either getting the sun through either in slits or lots of bounced light from all the glass windows and steel... its the latter which I think is more what you are looking for. Although, NYC is so blocked off from the reach of natural sunlight, the light seems to have a really magical way of bouncing off the glass and falling about the buildings.... getting that 'special light'.
 
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It also depends on what section of NYC:

From Policing a New Beat by Bob Fisher (July. 98, American Cinematographer)

Midway through its first season, Brooklyn South managed to define its own identity and avoid being viewed as an NYPD Blue clone even though the same writing team (David Milch, Bill Finkelstein and Bochco) scripts both shows. The trio’s roots go back to the early Eighties and Hill Street Blues, which pioneered a police drama style that coupled gritty, realistic visuals with character-driven stories. But Brooklyn South has a different look and pace, and a distinctly different approach to storytelling.



NYPD Blue is about detectives who arrive at the scene of the crime after its occurrence and investigate. The ABC series has a hyperreal visual style, punctuated by what Brian Reynolds, the cinematographer on the show’s first four years, calls a "flickering eye" camera. "NYPD Blue gives you a feeling of reality," observes Reynolds, who also shot the pilot for Brooklyn South. "It’s as if you’re really in the scenes as a witness, standing in the corner and watching a scene unfold. The camera mimics the way your eye would follow the action. When someone walks across the room, you stay with him for a bit and then pan back to the other person."



The milieu of NYPD Blue is Manhattan, where tall buildings diffuse and filter the warmth out of sunlight before it reaches ground level. Though Brooklyn South occurs in an adjacent metropolitan area, its setting might as well be a different universe. As Reynolds points out, "Brooklyn doesn’t have a lot of really high structures, so you see more of the sky, and the light is a bit warmer and more direct. It’s more of a natural look, with a more exposed daylight source and less light bouncing around." In addition, the scripts are not about detectives, but about cops in uniform who live with the unexpected every day.
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Wow, what a good question. When I saw the subject line of the post, my first thoughts were of the "Gritty Urban Dramas" shot in NYC in the '70s, like "The French Connection", "The Seven Ups", "Panic in Needle Park", "Midnight Cowboy", "T he Taking of the Pelham 123" (the real one...), "Joe" and on and on. Those films are great. They took an Arri IIc and and a few open faced quartz lights into the streets and made some great movies. The more I thought about your question, the more I realized that there is a "New York Look". Just compare the look of "NYPD Blue" to "Law and Order" and there is something that is different. Maybe as a suggestion of what not to do, is look at the exteriors shots for the "Seinfeld" series. To me they never looked like anything other than Universal "New York Street" back lot shots. I would check out those "Gritty Urban Dramas" from the 70s and maybe take a look at other films that have been shot elsewhere to look like NYC. I am sure that there are tons of LA or Toronto shot flicks, supposedly set in NYC out there to check out. Good luck.
 
Well I have studied the look of taxi driver and midnight cowboy but that is focussed on the late 60s early 70s when there were strip clubs on every corner. It has cleaned up allot so I am not sure if these looks will work. I guess the look I am trying to go for is struggle to succeed in such a competitive world. It is also a foreign film so I think the NY look will be very attractive to foreigners in the sense that I am sure it is different. However I don't know how gritty I can go when it really isn't a dark drama it is a very mellow comedy drama.
 
I'm not sure if anyone else agrees with me, as I've only heard myself say it, but downtown New York is shiny. At least compared to where I am (rural, across the country). The sidewalks are mostly white or close to it, the streets even are a slightly brighter hue than a lot of places. And the mass of buildings are largely reflective. I found it hard to deal with last time I was there during a sunny day. A lot of things light up in the flashy parts, but I don't really think of that right away.

As was said, places also matter. Harlem was completely different. A little more like home to me. For what you want, I'm going to guess big shiny buildings is the main focus. If you only see the bottom part they all kind of look the same. Also, it's crowded there. At any time the streets are covered in pedestrians, the roads packed with cabs and other transport professionals (yellow with 'cab' on it, black and plain, tourist buses). If you show the street and it isn't like that, but it is supposed to be downtown, the illusion is gone.
 
Exactly what Cassius said. I lived in the city for a while. It is pretty "shiny". Very little natural light comes in at expected angles. And it is always busy. Streets especially. If you are trying to sell midtown, you need the traffic. Both pedestrian and otherwise.

Uptown is still busy. Lots of taxis everywhere. But it depends on where you are trying to set it. Chinatown is very different from the financial district which is very different from the upper east side. All depends on where you set it. But you need a lot of buildings with height. There are few places where you see space between buildings in the city.

And there are still strip clubs and porn shops strewn about especially noticeable just a short walk away from times square. But that no longer equates to NYC.
 
Check out The Wackness. It's a film that is shot in New York City, with the story based in the summer of 1994. The cinematograper does an excellent job of conveying that sense of blazing New York summer heat.
 
lairhair said:
Just thought I would ask around if anybody had any tips on how to create the feel of NYC in Philly. I am not sure if some color temperature variation or angle choice could captivate some sort of feel of NYC. We are faking Philly for NYC so besides production design I want to add to the effect through camera work but cant really think of many ideas. We are going to shoot about 3-4 days of B roll in NYC so there will be cutaways.
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There are a number of movies that when you look at the special features, the actual major shooting activities were in Toranto, Vancouver, Calgary... even LA... (And not the studio scenes... the street scenes.)... one movie, "Stigmata"(1999), has the 'action' in Pittsburgh... a number of the exteriors were shot in downtown LA, in particular there's a 'green' building that looks very Art Deco... well... it is an Art Deco building called 'The Eastern Building', it's located on Broadway. The area does have some pretty dense skyscrapers, at least for LA... and so for almost anyone not familiar with Pittsburgh... or LA Art Deco... the viewer would presume what the story line gives... (The people from Pittsburgh were probably wonder 'where's that building???")

The basic concept is get big exteriors that 'locate' your story in a well known city, with shots such as the well known skyline of NYC, the various well known bridges, etc. but then find some highdensity streets in a 'better' location for your shoot.

Since I've not been to Philidelphia but for a couple of times, I can't say where those locations would be... but Philidelphia does have docks... Navy yard, etc. There was as I recall a 'downtown' that had some sort of skyscrapers, etc... Few people would prbably worry if a residential scene were on the streets of NYC, or surroundings, or in Philidelpia neighborhoods... find buildings of a similar age as what you have in your mind about NYC... and there will probably be something like that in your more convenient location...
 
lairhair said:
Just thought I would ask around if anybody had any tips on how to create the feel of NYC in Philly. I am not sure if some color temperature variation or angle choice could captivate some sort of feel of NYC. We are faking Philly for NYC so besides production design I want to add to the effect through camera work but cant really think of many ideas. We are going to shoot about 3-4 days of B roll in NYC so there will be cutaways.
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It sounds to me that you need to define what you mean in terms of visuals. I mean, you can drive up to New York for a day and shoot exteriors and then cut them into your shots. Urban streets are urban streets - that's how Hollywood did for years. Editing will have more effect on your New York aura than cinematography, esp. sound design. Unity of look afterward will give you all need. Try an urban bleach bypass.
 
I'm from Spain and I've only been in NYC for about a week, so I think my impression could be interesting:

First of all, NYC is an Art Decó city. It has several very tall buildings who create a canyon effect: Streets look narrower than they actually are. I remember New York as a green-ocher city. It's busy, plenty of cabs and very multicultural. If you want to understand what distinguishes NYC from other cities, maybe you should watch Sex and the City, Manhattan and Becker.

Btw, it'd be hard to re-create this atmosphere somewhere else. I remember Faust, love of the damned by Brian Yuzna, trying to make Barcelona look like New York. What a crap.
 
If I were you and had the money and time to go over to NY I would go there and capture some of the skyline and cut it into the film to make the viewer think that they are in new york. Most of the time a stablishing shot is what the human brain need to connect things. And films have always exploited that side of our brain.

BTW happy filming!
 
ilauzirika said:
If I were you and had the money and time to go over to NY I would go there and capture some of the skyline and cut it into the film to make the viewer think that they are in new york. Most of the time a stablishing shot is what the human brain need to connect things. And films have always exploited that side of our brain.

BTW happy filming!
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Good idea.
 
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