As I get ready to DP this Sunday by box building (for lights) and color temperature fretting, I decided to stop by one of the other sets that was filming today.
I knew they were shooting in a park near downtown. What I didn’t know was this little park had a lost forest.
As I walked in [...]

Here’s a story that combines a little six degrees of separation with a hint of networking. I was having dinner last night with my mom at Oriente on Ocean Drive. Across the street, near the beach, we noticed some giant tents set up - looked like some sort of party. But I noticed a sign [...]

In looking at past posts, I realized I never laid out what exactly an F3 is, the project that has and will be taking my attention and life for the next few months.
The F stands for Filmmaking. The F1 was our little digital short, the F2 the half day film exercise, and now the F3. [...]

A tentacle is being shot on a blue screen so it can later be superimposed over some other footage. The trick with blue and green screen is to light the screen evenly and not have any color spill onto what you want to remove. Normally you’d want a larger screen and to be further back, [...]

Charts are shot for each new roll of film and when the color temperature of the light changes (going from indoor tungsten lighting to outdoor daylight). This tells the lab when they transfer the film to video what 18% neutral gray is so the colors come out accurately.

All of these flats and the floor are made from 4×8 sheets of dry erase boards. The two red marks on the kiosk are for motion tracking for some monitors that will be added in post. Baby Cools and Tweenies are suspended above the flats for lighting.

Flats, or fake walls. These flats have little holes in them for a lighting effect, which is why many lights are pointing at the backs of them. From left to right, the lights are a 1k soft, 2k soft, and 1k soft.

The Arri SRII on the English Vinten head with Zeiss zoom, operated by the Director of Photography.

The Steadicam sled supported by a C-stand. This is where the Steadicam is built, balanced, and attached to the operator.