I’m back to the Central Coast of California to shoot another project for Next Movement Entertainment. This time it’s for the California Land Surveyor’s Association. It seems there’s a shortage of land surveyors in California. This presentation is to help raise awareness and to stir interest in the profession.
Prep / Load-in & Travel
Back to familiar grounds and my friends at Alternative Rentals. Here’s the low-down on the camera package:
Panasonic SDX900
(Settings: 16:9 / 50M / color set to neutral / 24P)
Funinon HA 13×4.5 (4.5-59mm)
Panasonic HD/SD LCD on-board monitor/wafeform
Arriflex 4×5 Matte Box / Follow focus
Microforce Zoom Controller
Ronford Tall/Short Sticks/Hi-hat
O’Connor 1030HD Fluid Head
And the usual other stuff…
This is the first time I’ve used the O’Connor 1030HD. Normally, I’d get an O’Connor Ultimate, but I have to say that I didn’t hate it. I wanted something light-weight but good. This was it.
Our grip and electric package came from Wooden Nickel. Some equipment came from Next Movement, but to that we added items like: 1200HMI / 750 Leko (36° lens) / Kino Flo lights (2′ 4-bank & 4′ 4-bank) / 6×6 butterfly kit / 2×2 shiny boards / etc.
After load-in and prep, it was time to pack and hit the road on a two-and-a-half hour ride on the 101…
(Koji preps the camera at Alternative Rentals)
(A most kind gesture – snacks and notes waiting in our hotel room)
Gossip time: Alternative Rentals is providing Panasonic VariCams for the feature version of Reno 911. As I understand it, it’s the first studio film being shot with the VariCam. Congratulations!
Day 1 of 2
Out just after dawn. Our first location was a land surveying company. They had some great equipment especially stereoscopic map viewer. Viewing satellite photographs in 3D is impressive to say the least if you can do it. You have to loosen up your eyes to see the 3D effect. Still cool.
(photocopy on the entrance door – creepy!)
(Yes, we know R. Scott… You’ll only eat hamburgers, pizza, or chicken in a bag)
(SLO Cal Poly has a very extensive agricultural and equestrian program)
(the crew shlepping the equipment up a high hill with a great view of SLO – thanks guys!)
(Justin (dir) and Koji (1st AC) pose before the next shot)
(Our client and actor go over the GPS equipment)
(Koji readies the camera for our next shot)
(One of my favorite shots – the frame-grab can be seen below)
(I got lots of shots of horses)
(We almost didn’t make it.)
(It seems engineers and surveyors have a funny sense of humor after all)
(Photograph from the monitor – the frame-grab is below)
Day 2 of 2
(Production Coordinator Staci gets another credit in Art Dept.)
(Dir. Justin gives notes to the actor)
(Opps – no one busted… this time!)
(End of the day shot – the Ford dolly!)
(It was cold – super cold and windy!)
Truth is stranger than fiction. While out at this farm field location, it was real cold and the wind was blowing a good gust. The director at one point poked a little fun at me and the fact that I wear glasses. Not a minute later, while looking into the viewfinder while we framed up a shot, he got some dust in his eye. In an act of comic (or perhaps, “cosmic”) retribution, I poked fun at him for not wearing glasses and how nice it is to be able to see under these conditions. We had a good laugh and he marveled at the timing of it all. Better than any sitcom.
Post Production Begins
Frame Grabs from the captured footage
(Above) This shot has our actor being dumped a handful of new work at a job she’s not satisfied with. It’s a dolly shot that goes from Left to Right and we’re actually shooting from a window in a hall where a receptionist sits but on the monitor looks more like we’re shooting from the fourth wall. Evening was setting and with the tinting on the window in the background, we’re able to see very clearly outside. At the time, we even had a very long train chugging along. This was shot wide open (T2.0) on filter wheel C (4300°) with the zoom set to 5mm. Much of this shot was light by practical sources. The section of cubicles had track lighting which we redirected slightly and augmented with a 4′ Kino over camera to help light under the chin and get a little glow in her eyes.
- start and end frames -
(Above) I loved this shot. We’re at eda (Engineering Development Associates) in San Luis Obispo. The dolly shot has us going into this cubicle wall window. The folks around the light-table are surveying students who were coerced into being extras with the promise of extra credit. Nice. Primary lighting came from the light-table. We added two 300w Fresnels as backlights and two 650w Fresnels aimed into the overhead air ducts with Alice blue. A 4′ 4-bank Kino on the floor lights the books in the back.
[ click on image to play ]
(Above) Simple shot but the director and I just love the texture of the dry dirt on the field. Here again we’re shooting with the zoom at 5mm. Two 2×2 shiny-boards are lighting the shoes using the dull side of the boards. The wind is blowing, dust is everywhere, but the wind makes the shot very dramatic.
(Above) Here’s the stereoscopic map viewer. It looks like the viewer Spock used in Star Trek (oh geez, a Trek reference!). The background was lit with Alice blue from a 650w Fresnel. A 300w Fresnel light hidden behind the device with 250 lights his face and a 650w Fresnel is used to back light him. Both lights are set slightly behind him to give that dark patch on his face.
(Above) I love this shot. It’s a 180° pan from a signal station to our actor setting up a GPS field device. We’re using a polarizer here and the iris is set to 2.0 with the filter wheel on 1/64th ND (6 stops down or ND 1.8). The sun just pops out behind her from time-to-time. There’s a bit of distortion on this lens when we pan which helps heighten the shot’s impact.
(Above) The martini shot.
This time it’s a genuine moment of Zen.
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