CharlesPapert
Director of Photography
We used a variety of Panasonics to shoot the 2 minute clips currently being aired on NBC primetime with Jerry Seinfeld, promoting his Bee Movie.
Before I came on board, a number of clips had been shot with two DVX100b's outfitted with Century wide angles and onboard shotguns, in a run-and-gun doc style. The pieces were originally intended for the web only, but NBC decided to buy them to air during commercial breaks during prime time. When I was brought on I suggested we switch to the HVX200's so that the bits could be mastered in HD (unfortunately they are only airing in SD) with similar accessory packages.
I arrived in NYC for a one-day shoot in and around the press junket for the movie, where we shot Jerry riffing with Matthew Broderick and Rene Zellweger. Although it had been explained to me that the M.O. was true run-and-gun with no lighting, the task of finding an appropriately lit section of the hotel where the junket was taking place was daunting, and we ended up in a service corridor where exposure was at least possible! For the subsequent LA shoot I was able to bring in a gaffer and small lighting package for at least a modest amount of control in this area, but we still had to work lightning-fast and be ready to change locations at the drop of a hat if Jerry wanted to restage a particular segment, which did indeed happen.
We also shot the intros and outros in a beautiful old building downtown that was dressed as a fancy office. For this section of the shoot we bumped up to two HDX-900's. As the director had requested a simultaneous wide and tight version to save time (and yet Jerry needed to make eye contact with the camera in both cases), I came up with an elaborate mirror gag similar to a 3D dual camera rig to facilitate this which worked out well.
The clips are called "TV Juniors" and can be seen sandwiched in various NBC shows for the next few weeks, also viewable at nbc.com/beemovie.
Before I came on board, a number of clips had been shot with two DVX100b's outfitted with Century wide angles and onboard shotguns, in a run-and-gun doc style. The pieces were originally intended for the web only, but NBC decided to buy them to air during commercial breaks during prime time. When I was brought on I suggested we switch to the HVX200's so that the bits could be mastered in HD (unfortunately they are only airing in SD) with similar accessory packages.
I arrived in NYC for a one-day shoot in and around the press junket for the movie, where we shot Jerry riffing with Matthew Broderick and Rene Zellweger. Although it had been explained to me that the M.O. was true run-and-gun with no lighting, the task of finding an appropriately lit section of the hotel where the junket was taking place was daunting, and we ended up in a service corridor where exposure was at least possible! For the subsequent LA shoot I was able to bring in a gaffer and small lighting package for at least a modest amount of control in this area, but we still had to work lightning-fast and be ready to change locations at the drop of a hat if Jerry wanted to restage a particular segment, which did indeed happen.
We also shot the intros and outros in a beautiful old building downtown that was dressed as a fancy office. For this section of the shoot we bumped up to two HDX-900's. As the director had requested a simultaneous wide and tight version to save time (and yet Jerry needed to make eye contact with the camera in both cases), I came up with an elaborate mirror gag similar to a 3D dual camera rig to facilitate this which worked out well.
The clips are called "TV Juniors" and can be seen sandwiched in various NBC shows for the next few weeks, also viewable at nbc.com/beemovie.
