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(Page 2 of 2 pages for this article < 1 2) Filed under: GentryMedia Sister Sites •ProVideo Coalition •Production •Tips •Training • A Mix of Film and HD Doesn’t Scare Arri’s Alexa
Even with only one bulb on the 6k space light was a touch bright, so we placed a 4’x4’ double net underneath it. The next-to-last touch was a tweenie, hung on another goal post directly in front of the talent with Lee 216 clipped to the doors. This wrapped the toplight around the front of the actor’s face and gave him a nice eye light. And, last but not least, I wanted to add just a little bit of fill from below for the closeup at the end of the move. I asked dolly grip Ernie Kunze to rig a 1’x1’ bead board directly beneath the lens, and he rigged a white platypus clamp to a C-stand arm before heading off to find the 1’x1’. I stopped him: the white platypus clamp added just the right amount of fill, so we left it alone and forgot about the bead board.
Producer Sean Cope has a chat with actor Douglas Olsson. A bunch of naked 2k space lights illuminate the cyc through a 20’x20’ frame of light grid cloth. The overhead light for the talent is a 6k space light with one bulb on, further treated with a 4’x4’ double net. At the upper right corner of the frame is a tweenie with Lee 216 on the doors to wrap the top light around the actor’s face and give him a little eye light. This light was actually in the top of frame at the beginning of the move but as it was clear of the actor it was easily removed in post. (Moving it out of the shot completely would have compromised the eye light.) The fill for the closeup is the white platypus clamp directly beneath the lens. We didn’t have to put anything in it, it was perfect on its own.
Another view of the lighting setup, during lunch with the house lights on and everything else turned off. This shot shows the large black teaser hung by the grip crew to keep the light from the 6k space light on the set and away from the client and the lens. The goal posts holding both talent lights are visible.
The eye light from the tweenie is plainly visible in the talent’s eyes. Because the diffused tweenie is basically an extension of the soft overhead light, we only see one shadow even though there are two lights in play.The dolly shot took place over about 90 seconds, and we landed 2’1” in front of the actor’s face. Having been a camera assistant, I try not to give my assistants impossible shots when I don’t have to. I rated the Alexa at EI 400, which I prefer over 800 as it’s a cleaner, less noisy look, and we lit the stage to T5.6 1/2. This left camera assistant Rod Williams plenty of time to make phone calls, send emails and run to craft service for snacks during the first 75 seconds of the move before having to concentrate completely for the last 15 seconds. Even at T5.6 1/2 he had only 1 1/2” of depth of field at the end of the move, as the dolly slowed and came to a halt.
The white platypus clamp adds just a touch of fill to the closeup. You can see it reflected subtly in the lower half of the actor’s eyes.We adjusted the speed of the dolly during the move, starting out at a higher rate of speed and then slowing as we approached the end of the track. This actually made the dolly move appear consistent in speed, rather than feeling very slow at the beginning and very fast at the end. Ernie worked out a system where he counted dolly track ties and delivered very consistently timed moves. The actor had recorded the lines the day before and we played them back during the shot for timing. We brought the normal engineering tools in the form of a waveform/vectorscope, but we used them only to confirm exposure. There was no need to color balance the camera beyond setting the color temp at 3200k, and we controlled the contrast entirely through lighting. I had my crew arrange large black solids on the white stage nearly up to the talent’s feet, where we left a gap to allow a little bounce light from the floor to illuminate his hands from below. Blocking the white floor eliminated all fill except for what was provided either by a light or the portion of floor we left uncovered at the actor’s feet. (I didn’t want “accidental” fill; I wanted to control exactly what was filled, how much, and from where. Placement of the fill light can make a HUGE difference to a shot.) The shoot went very quickly and smoothly, and we shot around 30 takes. Although the plan was to cut away to stock footage the director felt that it was worth the time to finesse the talent’s performance, and then he pulled what he wanted from a handful of takes. Within a week the project was delivered to a very, very happy client, who projected the piece once as an introductory piece during a large company conference. My DIT, Jay Farrington, told me a very funny story toward the end of the day. Jay is one of the owners of Chater Camera, who provided the camera gear for the shoot, and during the day he’d been receiving phone calls from another rental house who was trying to round up another set of Ultra Primes for a project that was filming the next day. “I’m sorry,” said Jay, “but my last set is with me on a job right now. You can have it this evening, but I can’t release it any sooner.” Later in the day he got a return call from the other rental house: “We found another set, all we need is a 40mm! Do you have one available?” “You’re in luck,” said Jay. “That’s the ONLY LENS we’re using all day!” I’m not sure what the response was but I suspect it was along the lines of “Aaaaargh!”
DIT Jay Farrington objects as camera assistant Rod Williams assigns blame. Hidden behind Rod is a KiPro deck. As the Alexa was unable to play back footage at the time due to software limitations, Jay recorded the HD-SDI output for playback and as an editorial backup.Thanks to a great crew, and a great camera, we had a very productive and non-eventful day. I like shoots that keep me on my toes, but every once in a while it’s nice to do good work while being slightly under stimulated. This project went like a dream.
Art Adams is a DP wHo LiKeS a LoT oF cOnTrAsT. His website is at www.artadamsdp.com.
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The Best of Stunning Good LooksA directory of my best articles, sorted by topic.
This entry is a guide to my best articles, sorted by topic. Enjoy! |
NAB 2012: Assorted SnapshotsA few cool things I saw at the show that didn’t fit into any other articles.
NAB is too big a show in too short a time to see more than a fraction of it. I’ve covered a few things in some depth (as have other PVC folks), but there’s plenty more that slips by without proper coverage. Here, I have a few photos… |
NAB 2012: REDRED’s Ted Schilowitz discusses 2012’s products, and a photo gallery.
RED’s “Leader of the Rebellion” Ted Schilowitz held a press conference at NAB on Monday, describing the projects and products RED is working on. Rather than paraphrase him, I’ve got him on card (well, it’s not “on… |
NAB 2012: Camera SupportA few of the interesting bits ‘n’ bobs that make cameras usable.
At NAB I found support vendors at the affordable end of the spectrum I hadn’t seen before, comfy Aaton-style handgrips, F65 tweaks by Carlos Acosta, and a “drive-by demo” of a handy zoom/focusing lever. |
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