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Filed under: Cameras •Production •

RED on location: Art Adams shoots a spec spot

Saturday, 3:33pm: crew assembles at Chater Camera to pick up the bulk of the gear and load it into Simon Sommerfeld‘s truck.

We arrive on location at 4:00pm. The shoot occurs at the elegant Craftsman-style house of Craig and Diana, an unsuspecting Oakland couple.

Jono Schaferkotter directs; Art Adams DPs, Simon Sommerfeld gaffs, Devin Baker handles production design. Our talent is Bob Craig; Tim Blackmore and I data-wrangle and fill in as PAs. Paul Kalbach of Artichoke Productions and Art’s intern Ted Allen stop by to help and kibitz. Others wander in and out; sorry I didn’t get everyone’s name.


I set up the data-wranging area and “video village” (my 17” Panasonic BT-LH1700W LCD) and run cabling to the RED. Art shoots an antique radio, and we snag the drive off the RED and pull the clips from it to ensure everything is working. Opened in REDCINE, the levels are good and focus is dead on. Production proceeds, and I have time to grab some pictures.

6:14pm: Art lines up a detail shot on a gorgeous music box. Note the blue gel; he’s shooting balanced for daylight.

6:15pm: Craig Thomas rides a finger on the disc to keep the drive gear from skipping while the RED ONE records.

6:18pm: Art moves closer in. Matte box holds a Schneider IR-cut filter.

6:29pm: The simplest lighting setup of the day: a simple ceiling bounce.

6:32pm: Art shoots both a lockdown and a slow pan of this toy streetcar.

6:47pm: “Negative fill” behind and to the right of the fishbowl enhances contrast.

7:18pm: A single Kino Flo illuminates the curio cabinet; Art checks…

7:19pm: ...on the monitor as Jono discusses the shot.

7:21pm: Art preps. There’s negative fill to the right and left, while the foam core above keeps flare from the window out of the lens.

7:22pm: Pulling focus between the curios and Bob Craig, reflected in the glass.

7:38pm: Art goes in for the closeup.

7:39pm: The $18,000 Ultra Prime has been replaced with a $250 Lensbaby.

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Wonderful to watch the play by play.

The well shot photos of the process added to the humorous verbiage.

Very enjoyable and informative workflow.

Though I was a bit confused by the finger resting on the drive to avoid some sort of loss of data?

Thanks for this look into your adventures with red.
I look forward to viewing the finished product.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/30  at  10:04 AM

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Great stuff. It’s good to see red heads still on location!

Posted by David Hudson  on  04/30  at  12:50 PM

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“I was a bit confused by the finger resting on the drive to avoid some sort of loss of data?”

This music box uses punched metal disks to play music; the disks rotate, and the disk’s fingers (created by punching out three sides of a hole and bending the “chad” down along its fourth side) pluck the tines of the sound-generating comb. The comb is mounted solidly to the cabinet which resonates to the vibrations, generating a rich, warm, and complex sound.

The disk is driven by a sprocket, which engages a track of holes along the outer rim of the disk. The disk can flex, and sometimes rises up on the sprocket teeth, allowing the teeth to jump the track. The resulting “loss of data” is that the disk stops rotating, and the music stops! Had you heard the incredibly lush sound coming from this box, you’d understand that it would be a serious loss indeed. As it is, I’m very sorry this shoot was MOS; I’d love to have tried capturing the music in all its glory.

Craig simply used a bit of finger pressure along the top of the track to keep the disk’s edge from rising up.  While we were shooting MOS, Art was capturing the turning of the disk, so having it proceed smoothly and without interruption was important.

Posted by Adam Wilt  on  04/30  at  07:13 PM

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“they take the wrong exit from highway 24 to 580, headed into downtown Oakland…. Simon has not been heard from since…”

HEY! I’M HANGING OUT ON THE CORNER OF 18TH AND… WELL, I’M NOT SURE WHERE EXACTLY…. BUT ARE YOU GUYS STILL COMING TO PICK ME UP???

SOMEHOW OR ANOTHER I ENDED UP WITH AN ULTRAPRIME IN MY POCKET….

SIMON.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/30  at  11:23 PM

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