Night exterior for a commercial film shoot. In this post I go over the scope of the project, the lighting breakdown, and perhaps the most interesting part which is a DIY rain machine (Hint, it’s a sprinkler head)
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The key to success on any shoot is the prep. Without it, you never know what you’re walking in to and what you need to prepare for. I very rarely get to go on an in-person scout. Most often, I am left to my own devices and it takes a bit of detective work. There are tools available and in this video I’m going to share how I prep for a shoot without ever seeing the location in person.
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When I was brought onto the project I was given location photos and reference images. I’ve found that having conversations about the look of a project is so subjective is inadequate unless you are also able to look at references.
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Again, I find myself lighting in a bathroom. Small spaces and mirrors are always tricky but we managed to control the room and shape the light nicely around our actors face.
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I used “Film Set Objects” with Google Drawings to collaborate with a DP remotely during quarantine. In total we had 7 setups a day for two days and this process kept everything organized and saved us time in our shoot days.
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The biggest Bang for the Buck is the light that has the greatest output but can be plugged into house power on the tallest stand that can reach a second story window.
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What is a book light? Why would you use it and what are the drawbacks?
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In this commercial production opted to build sets rather than use locations. There were some advantages and disadvantages but the biggest hurdle of any small location is dealing with low ceilings.
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A simple tip for working on set, ESPECIALLY on location, that will help get you invited back to the next shoot.
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In this project I worked with the DP to design the lighting and camera style to work to the strengths and weaknesses of the location.
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This was a very fun scene to work on. I love be able to work with the art department to motivate my lighting. Here we have a key light motivated by our window and a tungsten hair light motivated by a lamp. Seeing the sources lets us mix our color temps in a way that looks natural.
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We had the run of the restaurant for the day to create this piece for a local auto repair business.
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Not all tape is created equal. I went to four years at film school without ever hearing of paper tape- Now, I wouldn’t step on a set without it.
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This was my first time working on a holiday ad. It’s kind of funny to do these because you’re often shooting them in the fall December is still months away! We had a demo light working the whole time on this shoot. Thanks to DMG Lumiere for sending out their Switch. It was a real treat to test out.
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