Christopher Probst
Well-known member
Some of you may recall the behind the scenes shots I posted in my other thread on the Dragon sensor, well the spot has released now and I thought to post it here... The nature of the celebrity talent's limited availability (4 hours with Kobe, 3 1/2 hours with Messi) dictated that we shot the majority of their scenes on either greenscreen or bluescreen with a degree of surrounding environmental dressing around them, or next to nothing around them. Most of the scenes we had predetermined backgrounds picked that I matched lighting to, some had complete CG environments and a few shots I had to light blind and we'd either shoot the plates for them later (Turkey) or they'd figure it out once the edit was done (Hollywood Blvd).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhFqSlvbKAM&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
And here are the behind the scenes shots I posted before...
Shooting in LA with Kobe:
We had at any given time, three different sets prepped and ready to shoot with Kobe... First was his apartment set, constructed in one corner of our sound stage. Since we needed to shoot Kobe in about 7 different vignettes in supposedly different countries of the world, we had to plan out a variety of techniques to make this believable onscreen... This necessitated the view out his widow be comp'd in later.
Cell phone security with the talent was pretty tight, so I didn't even really try to snap too many pics, sorry peeps... AND with only having Kobe for 4 hours, I was a tad bit busy... But I did think to shoot the stand in prior to Kobe's arrival.
Once we shot a set out, we'd immediately jump over to another prepared environment, switch out Kobe's wardrobe and be shooting within 7 minutes again... While this happened the previous set was struck and another set would be rolled into place and prelit. This went on at a relentless pace until Kobe was out the door.
I tried to leap frog across the stage to also get distance from the lit set I was shooting, and the sets I was trying to light. There was also a strategy of jumping between bluescreen daylight environments and greenscreen worlds (mostly intended interiors)...
Turkey shoot:
Wrapping Kobe's shoot in LA, the next day we were on a plane to Turkey, where we'd land at around 7PM... Checking into an airport hotel, and grabbing a quick bite with the local service company, we then did a quickie 10PM scout of Turkish Airline's executive lounge for our shoot THAT NIGHT... We were allowed only to shoot between midnight and 5AM due to the business of their main hub lounge. Meet my crew, ordered some small lights that could function only on existing power in the lounge. We shot the environments Kobe would be composited into that we shot the day before.
We wrapped up the lounge plates by 4AM and headed into Istanbul for a precisely timed sunrise shot to match my stage lighting shot in LA of Kobe standing in front of the blue mosque.
We then had a little time to check out Istanbul... Which involved purchasing a proper Turkish harem for Joseph and I...
And then crash for a few hours and catch a 6PM flight out to Barcelona to shoot Messi... In and out of Turkey in less than 24 hours... Nuts.
Barcelona...
The Barcelona shoot was pretty much a repeat of what we experienced in LA with Kobe, but with the added measure that we were warned that Messi sometimes will show up and only give you 30 minutes of shooting time... AND doesn't like any other actors around him when on camera... We would have to shoot him in the environment against green, and then after we were done with him, come BACK and shoot the background talent around him... Thankfully, this did not happen and Messi was super cool. (Maybe because we didn't' waste his time and shot him usually in 1 take and moved on to the next scene... At first I think he thought he was being pranked because we'd walk him in front of camera, tell him to look this way, shoot it and say "Great!" Next!"
We went as far as to map out every angle on the floor and mark the lens, height and tilt to help move Messi along...
And doing so we definitely kept the pace moving and even finished him EARLY...
I wish I had a more "real" piece to show off the Dragon, but the subject dictated the shooting style as well as the post pathways... which was predominately VFX working from either 2K DPX or in some instances 4K DPX from transcodes with RedLogFilm... The VFX house was pleased with the latitude of the images and NEVER complain about extra resolution...
More Dragon goodness to come!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhFqSlvbKAM&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
And here are the behind the scenes shots I posted before...
Shooting in LA with Kobe:
We had at any given time, three different sets prepped and ready to shoot with Kobe... First was his apartment set, constructed in one corner of our sound stage. Since we needed to shoot Kobe in about 7 different vignettes in supposedly different countries of the world, we had to plan out a variety of techniques to make this believable onscreen... This necessitated the view out his widow be comp'd in later.
Cell phone security with the talent was pretty tight, so I didn't even really try to snap too many pics, sorry peeps... AND with only having Kobe for 4 hours, I was a tad bit busy... But I did think to shoot the stand in prior to Kobe's arrival.
Once we shot a set out, we'd immediately jump over to another prepared environment, switch out Kobe's wardrobe and be shooting within 7 minutes again... While this happened the previous set was struck and another set would be rolled into place and prelit. This went on at a relentless pace until Kobe was out the door.
I tried to leap frog across the stage to also get distance from the lit set I was shooting, and the sets I was trying to light. There was also a strategy of jumping between bluescreen daylight environments and greenscreen worlds (mostly intended interiors)...
Turkey shoot:
Wrapping Kobe's shoot in LA, the next day we were on a plane to Turkey, where we'd land at around 7PM... Checking into an airport hotel, and grabbing a quick bite with the local service company, we then did a quickie 10PM scout of Turkish Airline's executive lounge for our shoot THAT NIGHT... We were allowed only to shoot between midnight and 5AM due to the business of their main hub lounge. Meet my crew, ordered some small lights that could function only on existing power in the lounge. We shot the environments Kobe would be composited into that we shot the day before.
We wrapped up the lounge plates by 4AM and headed into Istanbul for a precisely timed sunrise shot to match my stage lighting shot in LA of Kobe standing in front of the blue mosque.
We then had a little time to check out Istanbul... Which involved purchasing a proper Turkish harem for Joseph and I...
And then crash for a few hours and catch a 6PM flight out to Barcelona to shoot Messi... In and out of Turkey in less than 24 hours... Nuts.
Barcelona...
The Barcelona shoot was pretty much a repeat of what we experienced in LA with Kobe, but with the added measure that we were warned that Messi sometimes will show up and only give you 30 minutes of shooting time... AND doesn't like any other actors around him when on camera... We would have to shoot him in the environment against green, and then after we were done with him, come BACK and shoot the background talent around him... Thankfully, this did not happen and Messi was super cool. (Maybe because we didn't' waste his time and shot him usually in 1 take and moved on to the next scene... At first I think he thought he was being pranked because we'd walk him in front of camera, tell him to look this way, shoot it and say "Great!" Next!"
We went as far as to map out every angle on the floor and mark the lens, height and tilt to help move Messi along...
And doing so we definitely kept the pace moving and even finished him EARLY...
I wish I had a more "real" piece to show off the Dragon, but the subject dictated the shooting style as well as the post pathways... which was predominately VFX working from either 2K DPX or in some instances 4K DPX from transcodes with RedLogFilm... The VFX house was pleased with the latitude of the images and NEVER complain about extra resolution...
More Dragon goodness to come!
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