e. gustavo petersen | cinematographer

Here’s some pix from a recent shoot.

I had planned on this picture being your moment of Zen.

“Just don’t hit me!”  We used a GlideCam V8 for almost all the shots.  It’s a good little unit, but some more training for me might be in order.  Still fun though!

It’s “Dish Guy” and the “Verizon Guy” – well, not really.

Tony watches the shot.

Look at me.  I’m a SteadiCam operator… SWEET but, dang my back hearts!

Your moment of Zen…

Words to live by!

MARCH 21, 22, 23 – Orange County

21 February – Day one is done.  Never enough time, power, or resources – it’s par for the coarse, I know.  Much like the Deloitte shoot in New York, we’re shooting elements for a website and for… well, who knows.  Here seems to be some confusion as to what’s next with some of this footage.  As much as it would be helpful to know – really helpful – the greenscreen makes it possible to port the footage into whatever they might want to use it for.  So we charge ever forward.

(The face has been obscured to protect the unknowing.
One shiny penny if you can reconstruct
his face from the waveform image! I kid!)

We set-up in a conference room in the Doral Golf Resort and Spa.  Hatchi-matchi!  Very nice, very posh.  The service there is so choice from top to bottom.

Anyone with even a little technical knowledge can probably see that the greenscreen’s vectorscope has a “bit” of an arch!  That’s one of the limitations we have.  We could only bring so much luggage on the plane and we packed as much as we could into every nook available in the cases.  We shot with this same set-up in New York and it wasn’t an issue for the compositor.  One more light, though, sure would be nice!

Look ma!  I’m using my Spanish.  It’s a sign a put up on the door.  It was a secure room, but it can’t hurt.  Almost everyone here is bilingual.  I feel quite at home.

It’s been a long day with little to eat so, it’s Miller time!

Back from dinner.  Yum!  Bruschetta appetizer, Florida seafood soup, and a Florida lobster salad with English cucumbers, tomatoes and mesclun salad with a tangy white sauce.  Since this is Florida, I also ordered a side of fried plantains.  The food was superb.  And for a little something-something, a rum-and-coke and jack-and-coke (not at the same time and yes, the room was spinning for a while).  The service here is really very good.  Every waiter finish any request with “my pleasure”.  Also the test of a fine restaurant has to be when the waiter takes your knife, he returns promptly with a clean one.  I could get used to this!

10PM.  I’m outside the hotel near the pool and under the stars.  From time-to-tiime, the planes fly over with a roar.  It’s nice here.  It reminds me of hanging out late at night as a kid.  The cool, moist breeze and the rustling sound of the trees swaying. Crickets chirp.  What sets tonight apart from fifteen years ago is the instrumental version of “Waterfall” by TLC, but mostly it’s the sound of two Cuban men speaking.  It’s familiar and yet different.  I know what they’re saying, but how they say it is so different to what I’m accustom to.  Even though it’s only been a couple of days, I miss home, then and now.

One last note after such a somber one.  I’m sending this update by way of my cell phone.  I’m typing this entry on my computer using “ecto” and then my computer is connected to my phone by bluetooth and I have my phone dial to SBC dial-up to access the internet.  Not fast, but it is convenient.

I’m packing my bags and heading out again…  This time it’s to the great state of Florida.  Or, more specifically, to quote Will Smith: “Party in the city where the heat is on – All night, on the beach till the break of dawn – Welcome to Miami – Buenvenidos a Miami”

Alright, maybe it won’t be all about clubbing and bumping, but I’m sure gonna try to make it fun.  It’s another shoot for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.  More details when I return.  Till then…

May you get all your wishes but one,
so that you will always have something to strive for!
Cheers.
- old Irish toast

— — — — — — — — —

UPDATE: I have the worst luck flying out from Ontario.  (I think it’s the 909 mo-jo!)  Last time it was a three hour delay, this time Atlanta is snowed in.  We’ve got another flight opportunity this evening and the only good thing about the red-eye flight is we’re going first class. (I’ve been advised NOT to go back into coach and yell about the noise while carrying a glass of champagne and an ice cream dripping on my nice wool blanket.)  Time to sleep a little before I go back to the OC skids (kiddin’). 

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.

A couple of days in Torrance.  I shot some more spots for Merle Norman Cosmetics and the production company iCropTV.  We shot a series of interviews with shop owners as well as some footage from the processing plant and laboratory.  The cosmetic company has been around for decades. The spots feature owners and the training and services that Merle Norman offers. Our interviews were lit something like this…

(Photos from the monitor – the color is not quite right, but close)

(click on image above to see lighting plan)

A couple of images from the shoot taken from the set monitor – these were the interview with shop owners.  The shop was lit with a kino for key and the backgrounds lit with fresnels and either Alice Blue, two layers of Full Minus Green or clean with a cookaloris made from black wrap.  The room lights were turned off when possible.  Below, my old buddy the Panasonic SDX900.  Lower image, director/producer Greg M. evaluates the next shot.

(Say What!)

(Greg (Director) evaluates the shot.)

The lunch room and yummies…  There is a chef de cuisine as well as a pastry chef on staff to feed the staff.  (I’m not sure if I heard right, but meals are either 25¢ or $2.)  Cool, old-school aesthetic, right?!

Budget and Creative Meeting 

We had a creative and budget meeting. All’s good and the client provided most of the necessary answers to questions I had. Some good solutions came out and some new problems came up.

I’ll have the final lighting plan by Monday built around moving lights, Lekos with moving gobos and some Rock & Roll lighting set-ups. I’m gonna keep it simple. It may sound empty, but I don’t want to the lighting to distract from the music.

Final revisions?

Well the Technocrane is out. Which in someways is good. It would be a nice toy to play with but I’d rather have my crane operator have some work. The final lighting ideas will be presented to the client tomorrow afternoon. I’m considering a just using the moving yoke lights and some PARs on above the star field backing and some LED Ringlite from Fisher Lighting. I think they’ll be look good and not often used this way. I’ll need to see if we can set up a dimmer control from a Edison connection to DMX. I’ll put sketches later.

Technocrane for the shoot?

Panavision (Woodland Hills) offered some very tempting rates for the Technocrane. We’re looking into the possibility of using it for this shoot. The producers and I have a budgetary meeting Monday afternoon to consider our options. And it looks like ELS (Entertainment Lighting Services of North Hollywood) will be our vendor for our supplemental lighting needs, i.e. moving yoke/mirror, hazer, color changers, etc.

Today we had a chance to look at the venue – the Galaxy Theater in Costa Mesa, CA. Oh, boy, is this gonna be hard. We’ve got a job to make that place special and grandiose. I’ve got some ideas and Ken (Art Director) has some ideas – but, I think our ideas are bigger than the location, the budget and the available crew.