It's been quite awhile since I've posted. There wasn't too much going on ( outside of my full-time job ) but I did pick up a few gigs here and there.
I did a few broll shoot for Planet Green's "Stuff Happens with BIll Nye".
I've also had this ongoing gig as one of five camera ops for concerts put on by Rock Nation, a music program that teaches kids how to play rock n' roll. It's not the most challenging camera-wise but it's certainly entertaining.
Of course, now that I'm about to take off to Texas for two weeks, production has picked up again. My friend from high school, Grace, just moved out here from New York on a writing fellowship (go Grace!) so we've started discussing all sorts of projects to bulk up her hosting reel and my DP reel. Our first undertaking is Gypsy Grace, an internet psychic character she created awhile back. We did our first screen tests this past weekend and are very encouraged by the results. I didn't have the proper tape or nearly enough C-47s so the light quality is not nearly what I'd like nor consistent in the slightest. Thankfully, I should have all those equipment kinks worked out before we shoot our first webisode.
The other big project in pre-production right now is a short adapted by my friend Courtney (she was the star of one of my previous projects, The Runner). The only initial downside to this project was that the whole movie consists of two guys sitting on a bench. Sound familiar? That was pretty much the exact same setting for the last short I worked on, Mr. Wrinkles. There are some key differences.
First off, this film will be shot using my DVX-100B instead of 2 HVX-200s.
Secondly, I plan on physically moving the camera to frame the shots, instead of using the zoom. I realize from looking at the footage from Wrinkles that although backing up the camera and zooming all the way in does help keep the depth of field focused on the actors, it flattens the image substantially.
We've come up with some great ideas to spice up the relatively bland setting. The entire film takes place at a bus stop and Courtney just happens to have a real bus bench in her backyard. Since the benches are too heavy to move out of the backyard, we've decided to create fake, painted backdrops (inspired by Michel Gondry).
I'm excited to try some surreal imagery, something I've never attempted before. We're also including some penguin characters to take the surreal aesthetic even further. It will be a whole new learning experience trying to light for a stage (essentially) that is outdoors. My only foreseeable problem (at the moment) is getting enough lights to properly illuminate everything. I imagine shiny boards might be too unwieldy for this shoot since they would most likely bleed all over our lovely backgrounds so I'll probably be sticking to bounce boards and smaller Arri lights.
Stay tuned for more updates.
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