Rezfactor--"Runway" [working title] Production Notes Thread

What a small world. I know the girl on the panties. Oddly enough, she doesn't want anyone to know she was a panty model. :p
I dig the name "runway", although that's probably a tentative title.

This baby is one to look out for. You never know, your way of shooting may pip people at the post. And for me, I want to see how that DSR footage looks, since I feel like I was there when you bought it ... :)

What kind of lights are you using (I remember our "low light" conversations) ? And are you including that black security guard again ? That guy was a natural :beer:

Cheers mate.
 
D_and_G said:
What kind of lights are you using (I remember our "low light" conversations)?
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Yeah, I've been shooting a lot of tests with my DSR450, and even rented it to some network that starts with an 'N' a couple times--I'm really happy with the camera! Here are some of the lights I'm using:

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I did some tests last night with these Home Depot flourescents I bought a few years ago. They balanced at 6500K! They looked every bit as good as daylight KinoFlos! Nice and soft, and once white balanced to, they photograph pure white. I have them mafer-clamped to light stands--works great! I also own one real 2-foot, 2-bank KinoFlo and a pile of old LowelPro lights, but, oddly enough, this short is going to be all DAYLIGHT! How ironic is that?
 
Rezfactor said:
... oddly enough, this short is going to be all DAYLIGHT! How ironic is that?
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LMAO :)

I guess you'd have to read your "what to buy" threads to know how funny that is. You certainly got a wee bit of a contrarian in you. Sounds fresh - a daylight thriller/horror flick.

Cool stuff. :beer:
 
Those lights kinda look like light sabers from Captain Hook's collection!

Great man... I may need to pick me up a couple of those. I saw them at the Depot and was wondering how they would do but I hate fluorescents. May need to rethink that!

How's that script coming along?
 
Man, you have got a really great low light camera there and this is gonna be an all daylight short?

Ah, who cares, I am sure you are gonna have a great looking project.

Don't forget the Peds!

PS A shot of a girl wearing JUST the peds would be fine by me. :beer:
 
Pictures from some locations from the first day of hell . . .

16 SEPTEMBER UPDATE 1.0: 1ST DAY PRODUCTION STILLS

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Again, big files--above saved as "quality = '3'" in Photoshop. My star actress relaxing on the roof, on the grass, and freezing her ass off at the beach. I can't say enough about what a pleasure it was to work with her--she had a terrific attitude. She's a real trooper, a real beauty, and never once complained. Will post additional, more "detailed" production stills once all of the contest entries are made available for viewing.
 
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Now this is my kind of horror film! Beautiful woman in bikinis on tropical locations. (well... it may not actually be tropical, but right now it looks better than the maple trees in my neck of the woods!

Congrats on day one!
 
Rezfactor said:
Pictures from some locations from the first day of hell . . .

16 SEPTEMBER UPDATE 1.0: 1ST DAY PRODUCTION STILLS
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Glad to see that you are getting some footage in the can (or on the disc in your case). If time allows, it would be interesting to learn your post work flow. Are you still cutting on PPro?

Really looking forward to watching your project. Your lead really is a beauty!
 
khmuse said:
If time allows, it would be interesting to learn your post work flow. Are you still cutting on PPro?
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Yup. Was waiting for Sony Vegas 7 to come out before I dumped the Adobe NLE software. I also own After Effects Pro 6.5 (which I am planning to continue to include in my workflow), but I'm too stupid to use it yet. But it's all pretty straightforward, since I'm still in SD DV-land:

1. Originate in 16:9 DVCAM using 2:3:3:2 ("24PA") pulldown at 1/48th shutter, using the Sony DSR450 2/3" widescreen 24p camera.
2. Ingest DVCAM tapes via Firewire, using a Sony VX2000 camcorder as a deck, directly into an Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 widescreen 24p timeline (Hey! VX2000s can playback DVCAM tapes--whaddya know!)
3. Export to a DVD+R, directly from the Premiere Pro timeline for evaluative viewing.
 
Have you thought about checking out PPro 2? I made the move earlier this year from 1.5.1 and have been really happy about it. I really love that I can bounce back and forth between the various Adobe tools (PPro, AE, Audition, Encore) and the common user interface keeps things moving quickly. I tried out the Vegas Suite, but was really not very impressed with its user interface.

So, I gotta assume that since you are shooting with plenty of available light, you choose the 1/48th shutter for its aesthetic, not for a 1/3 stop more light you would get over 1/60th! Is the character all that different between the two shutter speeds on this camera? I have shot a fair amount of SDX900 (similar camera, different brand) and have used slower shutter settings when I need it and when I wanted a bit more blur, but not with static (pretty girl sitting in a beach chair in full sun) subjects. Just kinda curious.

I didn't know that the VX2000 would work for an ingest deck. Way cool!
 
Yes, I use 1/48th largely for aesthetic. And, no, I don't see much difference at all, actually. The 24p frame rate seems to take care of most of the desired motion characteristics. Actually, I LOSE light at 1/48th. Don't ask me why. When I need more light, I turn the shutter off, and don't really notice much difference aesthetically. I also tried a few shots using -3 dB gain this time (both to reduce noise and depth-of-field).
 
Wait a minute, you loose light (apparent gain) when you go from shutter off to a 1/48th shutter?

Maybe Sony's description of "shutter off" isn't the same convention as Panasonic's? Maybe they really mean that the shutter is open for the entire acquisition cycle (effectively a 360 degree shutter). In Panasonic cameras, shutter off is actually the default shutter rate (1/60th of a second for an NTSC 24p configuration). That is the only thing that would make any sense to me based upon your observation. I guess Sony and Panasonic really feel the need to do things differently at every opportunity!

I do agree about using "negative" gain settings (which is actually still positive gain, just negative in reference to the normal setting) for lower noise. I wish the dvx offered more gain choices (like the bigger camera do).
 
This could be a still for Hollywood. Funny, but I thought of an aspiring actress. Or the thousands who come in search of a dream.
Rezfactor said:
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Did you shoot the beach at magic hour, or is that still because you finished around then ?
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You definately got a cutey there for your flick. Having an actress who isn't a diva makes everything 100 times easier.
I keep a list of cast and crew who are friendly, professional and talented, just in case our schedules and project needs coincide. :beer:

Cheers mate.
 
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D&G:

Yeah, I liked the roof gag. Here's a shot with the camera (a bit underexposed).

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The shoot ended just before sunset (as you can see). Didn't really need the magic hour shot (which we would have had to wait another 15 minutes or so for). I did manage a nice sunset shot. It got pretty chilly down there, and I didn't want to freeze my actress to death.
 
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A couple more production stills . . .

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Dolly grip, camera operator, director at work.

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The happy actress.
 
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;) That's one portable dolly. I guess if you see the cops coming and you're non-compliant permit-wise, you can haul a** toot-de-sweet :laugh:

Have you tried steadicam work, and if so how do you like it ?

Diggin' everything so far.Cheers...:beer:
 
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D_and_G said:
;) That's one portable dolly. I guess if you see the cops coming and you're non-compliant permit-wise, you can haul a** toot-de-sweet . . .
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Yeah. That was EXACTLY my strategy. Set up lean and mean, so that by the time we get stopped, we've already got the first shot in the can. I can set up a dolly shot with that thing in about 60 seconds. We stole two locations that day with the track dolly. I was actually surprised with how much we got away with. Planning some super-secret stealth tactics for this coming Saturday to try grab some REALLY hard-to-get-without-a-permit kinda shots.
 
D_and_G said:
Have you tried steadicam work, and if so how do you like it?
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UPDATED: New, improved, updated Steadicam Flyer production stills from Saturday's (Sept. 23) reshoot:

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Yeah, I've tried it--bought two of 'em in my lifetime. I used to own an old Cinema Products' Steadicam Model II (later sold it), and then bought a Steadicam Flyer last year. I love the result, but it's WORK to operate. Although I'm a certified operator (instructed by the master, Garrett Brown) I'm actually pretty lame compared to the guys (and gals) that do this kind of work everyday.

Damn! These darn files have so much detail in them! I had to reduce the quality to '2' in Photoshop to get them under 100K! That's why they look so horrible!
 
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