Chris McKechnie
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2011
- Messages
- 5,218
- Reaction score
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- Location
- Dallas, TX
- Website
- digitalcinemaguy.com
We've all seen the typical videos that show crashes and what can happen when you text and drive. This is a different approach.
Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/127169209
Behind the scenes video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUTtvNlevs4
Shoot details:
The 16 year-old director/writer with whom I've worked with before, asked me to DP another one of his short films about texting while driving. All he had was the script and his vision, since this was a last minute request that he got from an agency. He spoke with me about his ideas, and I made some recommendations. The shoot had to be broken up into 2 half days due to availability of the "free" talent.
Josh, the director, is the passenger in the Jeep. I told him that it's very difficult to both direct and act in the same film, but he really wanted to play the part and he really didn't have anyone else who was available. So he couldn't see a feed from the camera since he was in a good part of the scenes acting. I would show him compositions and he would approve before we started to record, so he just had to have faith in what I was shooting.
The opening dialogue car scene with the Mom was shot with just 1 reflector (shiny side). We positioned the car so there would be a nice backlight for the Mom and Josh so we could bounce the sun through the windshield. Easy setup.
The driving footage was a different story. The budget he had for this film was really low, so I knew we couldn't bring in trailer cars, a full G&E team with HMI's, etc. I don't own any battery powered lighting, so getting light inside the vehicle to get a proper exposure was going to be challenging. I suggested renting a convertible or having a jeep with the top off so I could get enough light inside the car. The lead actor's dad owned a classic jeep and walla...we had an open vehicle.
So for the jeep camera rig, I rented the matthews master car mount system 1 week before the shoot and it was supposed to be delivered 3 days prior to the day we did the car stuff. It never arrived, was stuck at the fedex hub in Nashville, so I had to scramble to try and find something that would work the day before the shoot. One of my friends had the digital juice car mount system. I generally hate DJ stuff and this was no exception. I HATED IT! It was such a PITA to work with, constantly loosening itself, tilting the camera, vibrating like crazy, etc. I would NEVER use it again. No post stabilization was done as you can see some vibrations, but I was just glad we got enough footie for the director to use. We were only able to go like 10 miles per hour, if that, so I tried to use as long lens as possible to make it seem like we were going faster. I shot on the contax 35mm for the wide stuff and went to the 85mm for the CU's. A circular polarizer was used to help alleviate some of the windshield reflections.
Sound was another challenging component. I spoke with my sound guy prior to the shoot to talk about ways we could rig wireless mics and a shotgun for backup. He was actually laying down in the back behind the seat that's upright so that way wind interference wouldn't effect his wireless signals. We also chose to keep the hood on, since this jeep was much more open than current models with the top on. Plus, it helped reduce wind noise. I thought it sounded pretty good!
The interior scene with the girlfriend was a very simple setup. A few soft lights right outside her main window, simulating daylight (gosh where was my gaffer with an HMI), and that's it. Josh wanted more of a handheld feel than his previous piece 2 & A Quarter, so I moved the camera in more of a handheld way even though it was on the MoVI. The interior stuff was all shot on the 35mm.
Overall, I think it turned out pretty good. For run-n-gun the Epic is an amazing camera that allows you to use minimal lighting setups with a skeleton crew.
Shot on Epic MX
8:1 compression
Paralinx Triton wireless Streaming
Edited in FCPX by Josh
I did a quick grade for Josh with Color Finale in FCPX
Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/127169209
Behind the scenes video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUTtvNlevs4
Shoot details:
The 16 year-old director/writer with whom I've worked with before, asked me to DP another one of his short films about texting while driving. All he had was the script and his vision, since this was a last minute request that he got from an agency. He spoke with me about his ideas, and I made some recommendations. The shoot had to be broken up into 2 half days due to availability of the "free" talent.
Josh, the director, is the passenger in the Jeep. I told him that it's very difficult to both direct and act in the same film, but he really wanted to play the part and he really didn't have anyone else who was available. So he couldn't see a feed from the camera since he was in a good part of the scenes acting. I would show him compositions and he would approve before we started to record, so he just had to have faith in what I was shooting.
The opening dialogue car scene with the Mom was shot with just 1 reflector (shiny side). We positioned the car so there would be a nice backlight for the Mom and Josh so we could bounce the sun through the windshield. Easy setup.
The driving footage was a different story. The budget he had for this film was really low, so I knew we couldn't bring in trailer cars, a full G&E team with HMI's, etc. I don't own any battery powered lighting, so getting light inside the vehicle to get a proper exposure was going to be challenging. I suggested renting a convertible or having a jeep with the top off so I could get enough light inside the car. The lead actor's dad owned a classic jeep and walla...we had an open vehicle.
So for the jeep camera rig, I rented the matthews master car mount system 1 week before the shoot and it was supposed to be delivered 3 days prior to the day we did the car stuff. It never arrived, was stuck at the fedex hub in Nashville, so I had to scramble to try and find something that would work the day before the shoot. One of my friends had the digital juice car mount system. I generally hate DJ stuff and this was no exception. I HATED IT! It was such a PITA to work with, constantly loosening itself, tilting the camera, vibrating like crazy, etc. I would NEVER use it again. No post stabilization was done as you can see some vibrations, but I was just glad we got enough footie for the director to use. We were only able to go like 10 miles per hour, if that, so I tried to use as long lens as possible to make it seem like we were going faster. I shot on the contax 35mm for the wide stuff and went to the 85mm for the CU's. A circular polarizer was used to help alleviate some of the windshield reflections.
Sound was another challenging component. I spoke with my sound guy prior to the shoot to talk about ways we could rig wireless mics and a shotgun for backup. He was actually laying down in the back behind the seat that's upright so that way wind interference wouldn't effect his wireless signals. We also chose to keep the hood on, since this jeep was much more open than current models with the top on. Plus, it helped reduce wind noise. I thought it sounded pretty good!
The interior scene with the girlfriend was a very simple setup. A few soft lights right outside her main window, simulating daylight (gosh where was my gaffer with an HMI), and that's it. Josh wanted more of a handheld feel than his previous piece 2 & A Quarter, so I moved the camera in more of a handheld way even though it was on the MoVI. The interior stuff was all shot on the 35mm.
Overall, I think it turned out pretty good. For run-n-gun the Epic is an amazing camera that allows you to use minimal lighting setups with a skeleton crew.
Shot on Epic MX
8:1 compression
Paralinx Triton wireless Streaming
Edited in FCPX by Josh
I did a quick grade for Josh with Color Finale in FCPX
Last edited:
