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RED Scarlet in Car?

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Robert Wauu

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Hi, I would really appreciate some help here.

We are doing a shoot on the Red Scarlet inside a non moving car. It will be very intimate dialogue and we want to sit right next to the actors. I am very concerned about the Red Scarlet fan noise in such a silent situation as this? Will it pose a problem? Could you give any tips on how to make this shoot smoothly so that we do not have any trouble with sound?

Thanks.
 
I just did this for HBO with a Scarlet.
First, set your fan so that it's percentage goes lower than the defaults when the camera is rolling.
Second, make sure you have your actors mic'd properly with lavs and (if possible) an additional off body mic hidden in the car.
Should be fine.
 
I've shot a few scenes like this and never had a problem with fan noise. You can change the fan settings if you need to.

You say you want to sit right next to the actors. Do you plan to use a wide lens and literally be right next to them or a long lens?

How long do you expect the takes to last?

Do you have someone recording sound for the scene or are you doing it yourself?
 
Make sure you manually up the fan to 75% on standby and 25% when you roll. Depending on how hot it is, you'll probably be able to get in a 4-5 minute take before the fan kicks in and ruins the audio.

Also, since the car isn't moving may I suggest using a longer lens and shooting through the window? Composing your shot this way would allow you to get camera/fan farther away and the mic closer to your actors.
 
We are shooting a feature film. I have a sound guy and we will shoot inside a studio. And a lot of the movie is set inside the car.

I will combine everything from long lenses to wide-angle. I do not want it to look like the camera is outside the car. This is important for the storyline, I cannot say why, but it is. So I need every shoot to feel like the camera is inside the car with them. Not through windows. That's why I was worried with the dialogue as we will be "there with them" and we will sometimes be physically close.
 
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What percentage would you set the fan noise to if you would say have a full day shoot with the scarlet? (One take would never exceed 3 minutes)
 
You can use a long lens and remove the windshield or roll down a window.

No one can give you a definite answer about fan speed % without testing on location. Allow some time to test on set with the sound recordist before you start. 75% standby / 25% while recording, as Doug suggests, is probably a good place to start testing from. You can also set a delay for the fan to kick on after you stop recording in case anyone complains about the fan being loud immediately after cutting.

I really don't see you having any problems.
 
I would set it to 100% standby and manual to 25% or 30% (if acceptable by the sound guy). Then try to keep the set well ventilated/cool. WE shot 20minute takes with this setup. Icebags will help. Another trick is to record the noise alone. i.e do the following: Clap, then 10 second silence and then act/dialogue. Then if the camera and mic's are in fixed possitions then a talented post sound guy can cancel out any existing noise. We have done this trick to get rid of rig sound from our milo and that one is quite loud still with a clean noise track the final processed audio was clean as clean can be.
 
Greg, just out of curiosity why would I slide back the seats a lot?
 
Seats back to get room, and remove door to cheat with a longer lens. Strange enough you will not feel that the camera is "outside" the car, but you will benefit from using longer lenses both for sound and looks. being inside the car would force you to use quite wide lenses that does not do the actors faces much good. Also you might consider to lift out the front window to get another angle. Then you also can cheat it quite far and get a nice wide shot with both people in the front seat covered. especially if you are on 1:2.40. Hollywood cuts cars half for good reasons.
 
Aaaa, great tips :) This will really help. It is a low budget indie. So I am considering the Canon 70-200 2.8 IS L , the problem would probably be keeping focus with a still lens.
 
Björn you're the man! So even if the scarlets aspect ratio is 1.9:1 , you would shoot 2.35:1 ?? Wouldn't it be better to stay at 1:85.1 ? Sorry for all these questions but it's really help that I cannot get anywhere else.
 
Robert Wauu said:
Björn you're the man! So even if the scarlets aspect ratio is 1.9:1 , you would shoot 2.35:1 ?? Wouldn't it be better to stay at 1:85.1 ? Sorry for all these questions but it's really help that I cannot get anywhere else.
Click to expand...

I would shoot full 4k but if the film is meant to go 2:35.1 then set such thin guide then you have room to rerack the shots in post if you by mistake catch an edge of the outside car or such. i.e you record your top/bottom look around. If you go for a final format of 1:85.1, I would do the same i.e record the full 4k and use a guide for framing.
 
But I thought that you cannot get widescreen aspect ratio in the Scarlet. Isn't it only on the epic that you have 5K WS 2.40:1 ??? How could you then get 2:35.1 in Scarlet, when the widest aspect ratio is stated to be 1.9:1 ?? Or am I totally confused now?
 
Bjorn said to use the guides available on the RED camera.

Robert Wauu said:
But I thought that you cannot get widescreen aspect ratio in the Scarlet. Isn't it only on the epic that you have 5K WS 2.40:1 ??? How could you then get 2:35.1 in Scarlet, when the widest aspect ratio is stated to be 1.9:1 ?? Or am I totally confused now?
Click to expand...
 
Bob Gundu said:
Bjorn said to use the guides available on the RED camera.
Click to expand...

That didn't answer my question... unfortunately.... I mean you have guide lines available on the camera, sure. But why then is it only stated that the epic can do WS 2.40:1 if you can shoot 2:35.1 on the scarlet? When I look at the specs the widest aspect ratio on the scarlet is 1.9:1 ....
 
regarding sound/temperature... i'd second windows/doors/sunroofs open wherever possible for ventilation, fan set to 25%/100%, ice packs handy

course, unless you just want eyeball shots, you're gonna have to be outside the vehicle with that 70-200. unless you have an artistic/ethical problem with having the camera outside the car and shooting in, it can still feel like you're in the car and it's completely okay. plus wide angle closeups tend to be awkward. plus you don't have to worry about sound so much.
 
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