Strobist and World Press Photo - Photography Coffee-Break

Posted June 20th, 2008 at 9:40 pm by C47

Here’s a collection of links I’ve been hording relating to still photography. Some things to gain from photography: mastering composition, lighting, quick shooting, and using what’s available. Enjoy!

Strobist Preliminaries - Gear and Jargon Basics [Pduncan]

This video finally made all the off camera lighting options click and lead to my purchase of the Nikon SB-800 flash. Scott Kelby’s Lighting Gear Week was also a great resource and motivation to open my wallet.

World Press Photo - The Award Interviews [A Photo Editor]

This is an amazingly designed site featuring photographers talking about their award winning images. Most importantly, as you can see above, the photo takes center frame.

Indy Returns - Annie Leibovitz Photo Shoot

George Lucas, Harrison Ford, and Steven Spielberg on the set of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

So the movie didn’t live up to my hopes, but Annie Leibovitz always does. Short little video covering the shooting of the Vanity Fair photos (though not the epic one above. Nor these Leibovitz photos).

The day before… [PhotoWalkPro]

Very clever photo campaign illustrating how the world can change in a day, so catch your in-depth news. I wonder how truthful those dates are.

Movie Directors and the Means of Production

Nice little collection of 100 photos of famous filmmakers on set in the golden age, back when HD was the start of ‘How Do You Do?’

79 80 Years of Best Picture Winner Posters

They showed them briefly during the Academy Awards. Enjoy to your content all 80 posters of the (mostly) greatest films from the past 80 years.

Indiana Jones in Lego

Klocki has been having a cool Indian Jones conest to illustrate memorable scenes. These are some of the best. I think these are the rest.

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91 Set-Ups in 3 Days

Posted June 12th, 2008 at 10:31 pm by C47

Yes, we got 91 set-ups1 in 3 days. That’s about 30 a day. The 6 day show had 106 set-ups. Bottom line is we got a shit-ton of shots.

And this was despite company moves, lots of extras, a tired crew, and broken/missing equipment. The odd thing is no one brought up any objections or said we were crazy when we submitted the shot list, unlike my 60 set-up F3 that made my Director of Photography think I had lost it (we got the shots and wrapped early).

I think the main weapon that allowed the Director and I to get the shots was preparation. We storyboarded everything together in Frame Forge and had print outs of the boards on set. This way we could easily refer to a shot and communicate visually what we wanted to the crew and with each other.

I also used minimal lighting and kept the camera on the dolly when possible for easy repositioning.

It doesn’t seem like another show will pass the 91 (the other 6 day show has 80 planned), unless I manage to think of a few more for my movie. Apparently I just have a thing for lots of set-ups

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  1. A set-up is essentially a shot. Every time you move the camera, change lenses, change lighting, or film new action, that’s a new set-up. ↩
Posted in Cinematography, Production, Thesis Films | No Comments

Dinner and Confessions of a Shopaholic

Posted May 7th, 2008 at 10:39 am by C47

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 that read ‘Crew Only.’ And then I saw one of the trucks had ‘MOO-V-FOOD‘ on its side. I knew what this was.

After an awesome meal of Sea Bass and Tuna Steak, we walked over to see if my mom knew the off-duty officer (She works at the police department. If you were wondering.).�

She did, and the Captain informed us this was craft services for Confessions of a Shopaholic. They were shooting �a few blocks away, and he told us we should check it out.

We went over to Espanola Way, where they were filming. I didn’t see any big grip trucks on the street, but as soon as I saw the power cables leading in I knew this was the spot. Just follow the cables.

Before I knew it, we were right in the middle of the set. No barricades, no PAs stopping us, no “Hot Set” signs. I didn’t even see that many crew members. I felt like I could have been on a Film School set (except for the Panavision camera, Fischer dolly, and giant Airstar lighting balloon, pictured above).

Our friendly Miami Beach Police Captain later joined the set, along with the President of Film Florida, who happened to be at a Florida Film event I went to at the Capitol a few weeks ago.

The Captain informed us that this was the most disorganised shoot he’s ever seen. This was their last leg. It was supposed to be a 14 week shoot. This was week 16. The original budget was around $40 million. Now they’re up to $70. The entire crew and equipment was brought in from New York.

In my mind this makes me cheer for the Film School and all the well run sets I’ve been on, as well as hope that we’ll survive, and hopefully thrive, once we’re in the real world.

But here’s where six degrees comes in. Burn Notice films in Miami, and the Captain works off-duty for that show as well. After my mother did what all proud mothers do, and inform everyone within ear-shot that I’m in film school, the Captain got me in touch with Melanie, the Location Manager for Burn Notice, to see if I could be a PA.

I gave her a call. She was super nice, but thought I was in Miami for the entire summer. Since I’m only here for a few days, getting on the payroll would be tough ($125 a day), but she invited me out to the set this Friday to go around and meet everyone. They’ve converted the Coconut Grove Convention Center into a sound stage.

To add one more degree to this story, they’re shooting next to Marley & Me, which is wrapping Friday, and the Key Grip on that show is a Film School grad. So Friday should be a pretty awesome day.

Now I need to work on my “What do you want to do?” response and educate myself on Burn Notice.

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Posted in Film Business, Production, Set Anatomy | 3 Comments