F3: OT: Feature Film shoot in El Paso, TX

Douglas Villalba

Douglas Villalba

Well-known member
I'll be shooting an action/drama feature film with the F3 in the desert at El Paso TX both day and night. I appreciate any advise you can give me since the only sand I've filmed at is at the beach. ;-)
If you have shot in the desert in the summer, please give me advice on what ever comes to mind. (equipment, clothing, camera settings, best times to shoot, etc.)

The script is about the border problems on both sides. The screen writer/director is Cesa r A lejandro Zamor a.

Thanks in advance.
 
For desert I recommend getting your hands on "Flight of the Pheonix" DVD and listening to the commentary. Biggest challenges are blowing sand, direct sun, no shade, wind, etc.. and if you're doing any night shooting consider day for night. It's not that bad and I there are a ton of tips for shooting "day for night". Take a look at this shooting moonlight thread. Otherwise if you want to light at night you will need some serious lighting and generators (as you already know) and these options usually only exist for the bigger "budgeted" features.

Congrats on your gig, sounds like fun.
 
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Douglas Villalba said:
I'll be shooting an action/drama feature film with the F3 in the desert at El Paso TX both day and night. I appreciate any advise you can give me since the only sand I've filmed at is at the beach. ;-)
If you have shot in the desert in the summer, please give me advice on what ever comes to mind. (equipment, clothing, camera settings, best times to shoot, etc.)

The script is about the border problems on both sides. The screen writer/director is Cesa r A lejandro Zamor a.

Thanks in advance.
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-Camera covers for when the wind picks up at sunset. At least in California, it's not unusual to have mini sandstorms at sunset in the desert, bad enough you'll barely get anything shot or you'll have to stop completely. I do not know if east Texas suffers from the same weather patterns, but my intuition says it's a desert cooling off thing. Plan on your gear getting a good coating of dust and dirt no matter how vigilant you are on keeping it clean. Bring lots (2-4 cans) of canned air and get a big, wide horsehair paintbrush, cut the bristles 1/3 or 1/2 off, and use that to dust your gear every day. Also, kimwipes, lens cleaning fluid. Most of the time I use a microfiber cloth to clean soft dust from my lenses, but desert dust is abrasive and can be sticky. Hence the need for liquid to lift the dirt off the surface of the lens first before you apply some cleaning apparatus.

-Bad times to shoot? Usually middle of the day because the sun is high overhead and it doesn't look awesome. What this means in practice is that you move to exterior closeups or interiors in the middle of the day, where you can control the light more. In closeups and 2 shots you can get bounce in, and fake sunlight coming from the directions you need if you have 4x4 reflectors.

-Camera settings? SLog all the way. I'd think you'd have a few shots where sun is actually in the shot, and SLog will give you the nicest highlight rolloff.

-Lighting: Desert sand is actually pretty reflective, and contrast ratios are often manageable without fill bounce if you have a camera with a respectable latitude like the F3 in Slog mode. If you forgo Slog, plan on bringing some panels (foamcore, beadboard) to bounce into. They are a good idea to have around even if you do shoot Slog. Semi-wide shots can benefit from a 12x12 griff or ultrabounce. You can do nice sunlight hits with 12" mirrors or 4x4 reflectors. If you are not going to have a gaffer and gear, look into buying one or a couple 4x4 scrim-jim from someplace like Filmtools.

-Clothing: Straw sun hat. Sunscreen (duh). Set medics in California will soak bandannas in a cooler full of ice water and SeaBreeze astringent, tie it around your neck and you will think you died and went to heaven if you wait until middle of the day to put it on. Short of that, buy a Kool-Tie from REI or something. Hiking boots, your footwear will get very dusty and dirty. Ex Officio.

-If you can score 1.4 lenses, you can shoot moonlight, but I'd only try it with a full moon and clear sky.

Desert is fun, because it usually looks awesome no matter which way you point the camera. But I've always paid for it later re-hydrating, and spending half and whole days cleaning gear afterwards. When I had an Arri MB-20, I literally had to strip it down to it's smallest components and wash them all with dishsoap in the kitchen sink to get it clean.
 
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We shoot in the AZ desert all the time. The two most important thing to have are shelter and water. Without these you will not last long enough for anything else to matter.
 
I use a rain jacket to keep some of the dust off the camera.

Drink even if you don't think you need it, you do need it. Judgement and coordination are the first things to go.

Also, a 2nd AC to hold an umbrella or flag over the camera making sure to not cast shadows the camera can see. The camera is rated at 104F, but around 110F it shuts off. Its not hard for a black camera to reach 110F in mid day sun in the desert even if the air isn't that hot.
 
Paul, does the wind pick up at sunset in AZ/Texas like it does around here? I've noticed that phenomenon both at Salton Sea and in the Palmdale/Mojave desert area.

My memories of the El Paso area was a fair amount of agriculture (pecans in particular), so I don't think it would be as brutal as it gets. But I'm sure it could mess one up.
 
Do NOT expose your skin to the sun, wear white, light weight long sleeve, a straw hat, long cargo shorts. Good solid comfortable boots. Heat stroke will hit you fast, and sun poisoning will ruin your week.

Lighting... Get the biggest silks you can, you'll need them for both day and night. I'd get no smaller than 12'x12' silks/frames, 20' better. Have those handy with great beefy stands. Plenty of sandbags, wind can pick up.

Night time, make sure you have your flashlights are all topped off battery wise. For things like stands, and important small pieces of gear that can get lost at night, tie some small cheap glow sticks to them. Thats for safety as well.

WATER WATER WATER WATER. Did I mention water? Oh and when you think you have enough water, get more. Gas.

Moonlight.... I can give you tons of advice, but without knowing budget I couldn't direct you in the right way. Balloon lighting can be lovely, you have to have the right weather for them though. HMI's all the way, power for anything else will eat your genny to death. It's all about budget though, if you have a tiny budget... well have fun with the nighttime stuff. You're going to have to get pretty used to making do.
 
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Duke M. said:
I use a rain jacket to keep some of the dust off the camera.

Drink even if you don't think you need it, you do need it. Judgement and coordination are the first things to go.

Also, a 2nd AC to hold an umbrella or flag over the camera making sure to not cast shadows the camera can see. The camera is rated at 104F, but around 110F it shuts off. Its not hard for a black camera to reach 110F in mid day sun in the desert even if the air isn't that hot.
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I've shot the F3 at over 110, direct sunlight, never had a warning or shut down, but I might have been lucky.

Oh and last and super important, make super sure that your mattebox is sealed from light leaks from the lens. The sand is just a big reflector and can reflect from your ND's like a mirror and you'll be seeing on the extreme edges of your shot what seems to be a mirror looking behind the camera. Black wrap if you dont have proper sized donuts.
 
Thanks Paul Hudson, Duke M., Nate Weaver & FilmDude for all the good advises. I'll pass it on to the producer to make sure we are covered.
 
Regarding lighting and shooting in direct sun and reflective surfaces I will say something contrary, I know from shooting on snow in the winter to sandy beaches in the summer you might actually prefer and find it much faster to shoot using negative fill with black blankets, duvetyne, cutters/floppies, black boards, etc.. to get your contrast. It might also reduce your time for setups and allow you to shoot faster.

For wides you can get away with direct sun and use 3x3 or 4x4 reflectors from 50 feet away or more and still get faces to pop, and for mediums and close ups use blankets on the ground to cut down the underneath fill and then another cutter on the side.

Depending on the budget and resources you actually have for crew on your shoot, it could actually prove to be a lot safer than using overheads on stands, etc..
 
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Well, El Paso is not happening. The producer and I had two different views. I wanted to get paid and he didn't have enough money.:angry:
I was supposed to fly out tomorrow and he calls me late today to tell me that his investor disappeared and he doesn't have enough money for the tickets and my advance money.
The worst part is that I really liked the script. If I lived in El Paso I would finance the production myself. :(
 
sorry it didn't work, there are so many opportunities for let-downs in this biz, after having put in a lot of effort and attention. but on the bright side, he told you he didn't have the money before​ you got on the plane.
 
Well, technically speaking you could still finance it yourself from where you're at. If you went and shot it anyhow that'd be the same as putting cash money in from El Paso, no? Maybe negotiate an equity position in lieu. Any donation of services could be seen as a form of service-in-kind financing. If it's really a project you're on fire about there's always that. Not that I'm suggesting you do anything like that, just saying. OK, I'll butt out now. ;)

-k
 
Douglas Villalba said:
Well, El Paso is not happening. The producer and I had two different views. I wanted to get paid and he didn't have enough money.:angry:
I was supposed to fly out tomorrow and he calls me late today to tell me that his investor disappeared and he doesn't have enough money for the tickets and my advance money.
The worst part is that I really liked the script. If I lived in El Paso I would finance the production myself. :(
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That's a shame when you have something good. I assume you have no ownership interests in the script. Does he have the money for the rest of it (other than your advance fee and flight)? If so, other arrangements could be made.
 
honestly sounds like you dogged a bullet. If it was the day before and he just then canceled, that means it could have very well happened while you were on set and then stuck with no money. Also sounds like unprofessionals on the money side of things, which could have left you with bounced checks and other bad things. i say you got lucky you were warned ahead of time.
 
Duke M. said:
That's a shame when you have something good. I assume you have no ownership interests in the script. Does he have the money for the rest of it (other than your advance fee and flight)? If so, other arrangements could be made.
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Or will he sell the script to you for a reasonable price?
 
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