TK MAXX Activewear- shot on EPIC

[Jordan Buck]

I have been an assistant/op for the past 3 years and was given the opportunity to DOP this piece.
I am young and have ALOT to learn.
It was a bit of a nightmare as I was only told a day before the shoot what was going to happen, but its my first real attempt at a DOP role and would be interested to hear any thoughts and comments you seasoned pros would be willing to share.
( The grade was out of my hand and they used 422's to grade as it was a 3 day turn around, I personally feel the grade is a little flat.)

Shot on Red Epic with Arri Ultra Primes

 

[Marc Wielage]

I think the people are too close to the background, so because of the depth of field, we're seeing some of the wrinkles in the wall, plus some dirt on the stage floor. For stuff like that, I think you need to open up more, pull the people away from the background, and make the actors the focus of the composition. My personal preference would also be to jam up the saturation at least another 10-15%, and I agree with your impression that the whole thing needs more contrast.

 

[Jordan Buck]

Thanks, definitely agree with all that.
It was due to location constraints for the separation I literally couldn't get them any further away from the wall the studio was tiny I really wanted to though.
Its all experience though right, on to the next where I know what to look out for.

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

I would like to se more wide shoots but the set was perhaps limiting?

Best,
Joel Arvidsson

 

[Jordan Buck]

Hey Joel,

Yeah the space was really against us that day.

I did shoot a wide of every situation so we had it in the bag, but originally I had been briefed to shoot against a white infinity wall, on the day the client showed up with 8 wood frames and started stapling coloramas to them and saying they had a revelation and it was going to look amazing, I asked why they weren't going to paint the frames at least so we did not get wrinkles and she said budgets did not allow it.

In the end, the wide shots looked too messy.

Not sure again if this is something I could of changed on the day, but every job comes with its challenges and limitations.

Thanks,

J

 

[Bob Gundu]

Hey Jordan, I think you did a good job with the limitations you describe. You definitely feel the crammed space judging by the compositions and shadows. I think you can still tweak the overall light balance more to lift minimize the wrinkles in the background. I feel the whole thing can be a little punchier too. In the future, just buy some wood panels and paint them with flat paint. Keep up the good work!