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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Puerto Rico Gangster Flick - 'El Muerto'

Rick Darge

Rick Darge

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We just finished up a 2 day, 18 page script for a short film called 'El Muerto'

The short was written by Blake Mitchell & Williamson Quintero, directed by Williamson & shot by yours truly

We had a lot of coverage to get in 2 days so we shot this very run and gun.. Probably the most run&gun shoot I've ever had the chance to work on.. I love that style, especially when the director is open to letting the film travel where it needs to go..

We were going to use my Nikon glass but at the last minute, we decided to rent out a set of Superspeeds.. Which now I must own........

Puerto Rico was really exciting & such and awesome place to shoot in.. No art direction needed for this one.. the backgrounds told their own stories..

We shot in the Barrios of Manati, Puerto Rico. Everyone thought we were celebrities & everyone was generous to lend a helping hand. We pretty much owned a few blocks of this city for the weekend. The police didn't charge a dime for being on set all day and were letting us do whatever we wanted. Hopefully this project will lead to further funding of an intended feature film. Puerto Rico is pretty up and coming for productions these days.. Someone told us that we were the 2nd RED production, the 1st belonging to The Argentine/Guerilla. Actually, one of our lead actors plays the #3 man to Benicio Del Toro in both flicks, so that was pretty awesome..

I've never worked on a production that went so smoothly. Nothing went wrong.. The camera performed flawlessly.. We shot in 100 degrees of humidity as well as pouring, hurricane rain.. Nobody complained at all....

I'm going to put a quick little teaser together when I get back to LA, but for now, here are 3 stills that I quickly graded in Redcine and a few productions stills..

Also, Sanjin mentioned that the girls here are amazing.. I couldn't agree more.. here is our 'talented' makeup artist at work.. http://redforrent.com/ELMUERTO/makeup.mov
 
Richard,

all is amazing stuff and important that you were enjoyed a lot.

I would call it refreshing.

Also this gorgeous make up girl deserves to take a more serious role in this project.
 
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Thanks guys!

Drew599 said:
Looks awesome and I can't wait to see the trailer. Why did you go with the Superspeeds instead of the Nikon glass?
Click to expand...

I have a 28, 35, 50, 85 in Nikon glass. The night before I flew out here, I noticed that my 28 & 35 were not performing well. We wanted to rent the Nikon 17-35 to cover all of our bases but couldn't find a rental house in time, so we rented the superspeeds since they were there, and at a pretty good price for the weekend..

Mike, no purple spots in that flare.. I shot that with the 18mm at f/2 with a ND .9 in front..

I'll have a mini teaser by the end of the week
 
The colors and percussion do justice to the ferocity and hunger of an urban jungle...Caliente Baby!

DogDay
 
rgdfilmsRED said:
I have a 28, 35, 50, 85 in Nikon glass. The night before I flew out here, I noticed that my 28 & 35 were not performing well. We wanted to rent the Nikon 17-35 to cover all of our bases but couldn't find a rental house in time, so we rented the superspeeds since they were there, and at a pretty good price for the weekend..
Click to expand...

What kind of problems were you having with those two Nikons? Just curious so I can keep a look out on the ones I'm using.
 
This looks fantastic, Richard! I'm from Puerto Rico, and there are a ton of great locations to be found. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the trailer, and the finished film!
 
On the 28 & 35 whenever I would focus the barrel my image would shift... Unacceptable... Picture looks rad though

Drew599 said:
What kind of problems were you having with those two Nikons? Just curious so I can keep a look out on the ones I'm using.
Click to expand...
 
rgdfilmsRED said:
On the 28 & 35 whenever I would focus the barrel my image would shift... Unacceptable... Picture looks rad though
Click to expand...

By shift do you mean that the image would physically move in the frame space? Like move up and down or whatever angle when you reversed focusing direction.
 
I had something similar happen to me on my 50mm during my initial test. But I didn't notice it last night when I was shooting. I blame the movement I saw on the lens being the cheapest of the bunch. I might have to get the 1.4 50mm, which I believe have the same body as the 20mm, 35mm and 85mm.
 
rgdfilmsRED said:
We just finished up a 2 day, 18 page script for a short film called 'El Muerto'

The short was written by Blake Mitchell & Williamson Quintero, directed by Williamson & shot by yours truly

We had a lot of coverage to get in 2 days so we shot this very run and gun.. Probably the most run&gun shoot I've ever had the chance to work on.. I love that style, especially when the director is open to letting the film travel where it needs to go..

We were going to use my Nikon glass but at the last minute, we decided to rent out a set of Superspeeds.. Which now I must own........

Puerto Rico was really exciting & such and awesome place to shoot in.. No art direction needed for this one.. the backgrounds told their own stories..

We shot in the Barrios of Manati, Puerto Rico. Everyone thought we were celebrities & everyone was generous to lend a helping hand. We pretty much owned a few blocks of this city for the weekend. The police didn't charge a dime for being on set all day and were letting us do whatever we wanted. Hopefully this project will lead to further funding of an intended feature film. Puerto Rico is pretty up and coming for productions these days.. Someone told us that we were the 2nd RED production, the 1st belonging to The Argentine/Guerilla. Actually, one of our lead actors plays the #3 man to Benicio Del Toro in both flicks, so that was pretty awesome..

I've never worked on a production that went so smoothly. Nothing went wrong.. The camera performed flawlessly.. We shot in 100 degrees of humidity as well as pouring, hurricane rain.. Nobody complained at all....

I'm going to put a quick little teaser together when I get back to LA, but for now, here are 3 stills that I quickly graded in Redcine and a few productions stills..

Also, Sanjin mentioned that the girls here are amazing.. I couldn't agree more.. here is our 'talented' makeup artist at work.. http://redforrent.com/ELMUERTO/makeup.mov
Click to expand...

Did you shoot with cards or the Red Drive Richard? Just wondering how you could be so 'run and gun' as I have a project I'd like to shoot in this way on Red.
 
Looks great man. It must have been incredible piecing together that story with such an impressive backdrop. Great to hear all went well and great to hear another testament to the advantages of shooting in P.R.

Congratulations buddy
 
When I say 'image shift', I mean the whole frame shifting to the right or left. I'll post an example when I get the chance.

Booth, we shot the whole thing on one Red drive. We dumped at the end of the day.
 
Darge,
Your a crazy kid. amazing footage. Keep on keepin on.

I need to go shooting with you and blake sometime. call me buddy
 
rgdfilmsRED said:
When I say 'image shift', I mean the whole frame shifting to the right or left. I'll post an example when I get the chance.

Booth, we shot the whole thing on one Red drive. We dumped at the end of the day.
Click to expand...

Richard,

I wasn't seeing this kind of issue with the Nikons. I'd seriously give Peter a call if you haven't already. He'll hook you up with a good set. Only issue I'm dealing with right now is a posterizing problem which I have yet to figure out. Probably test again tomorrow to see if I can nail it.

Great looking stuff!
 
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