So, here's how the story goes...I think. Ken and I have shot a sunset before when we shot "Let Sleeping Squirrels Lie" for the Orlando 48 Hour Film Project. When we did it then, it was time lapse so we could adjust the aperture, as we kept losing light, in-between time lapse recordings. It wasn't perfect, but as you can see from the movie, it turned out pretty good. This time, we decided to let it record at 24fps, with the Letus Ultimate and some sweet Zeiss Prime lenses. "But Willie, if you did that you can't adjust the F-stop on the fly. What did you do?" Good question, half-pint. The answer is, "We didn't."
We set the aperture wide open. I think we had the 25 on, so it was at a 2.8? I'm sure Ken will correct me. Well shooting the sun at a 2.8 is a DP's worst nightmare even though we had a ND1 set...oh and some gradient glass. I don't remember if we lost a full stop or more with that or not. I think it was a stop and a half. Even with all of that, the sun was still blown out, but we knew that. It had to be blown out and we could only hope we had enough light coming into the lens to get the sun setting.
Once the sun had set, we pulled the gradient glass and turned off the ND filter. Ken also changed the batteries on the Letus. After spending a couple minutes in the pit, we pressed record on the camera again, and let it go for another half an hour or so.
In post, I did very little color correction. Didn't want to jack the blacks up too much because the footage was dark enough as is. So I brought up the whites and the saturation a little so the lights would glow more in the night shot. I had to speed up the footage, so I sped it up 10,000% except for the part when the sun actually sets. I only sped that up 3000%. I did a cross dissolve between the two clips (remember we stopped the camera to pull the glass, change batteries, etc) and made it look as seamless as possible. I spent about an hour putting together the score using Soundtrack Pro. Tossed it all together like a Caesar salad and called it done.
Whew! That was a lot of typing. Okay, before I get back to playing with After Effects, check out a few things I'm digging right now because they are WONDERFULLY produced:
I've become such a fan of Vincent Laforet. The stuff he does with HD-DSLR's is just innovating. Seriously, he's setting the standard for the future of filmmaking using this new medium and I'm in total awe. He did "Nocturne" and "The Cabbie". Both awesome films shot with a Canon HD-DSLR. Anyway, he recently released his latest production. The funny thing is Ken will watch this and know exactly what is going on in my mind:
It is always interesting to see myself on video. My first thought is, "Damn, I'm a big brotha!" Then I immediately notice my sense of humor. I am pretty funny...sometimes. Anyway, Cutty Lue shot some BTS footage as we were making the "Just a Thought" music video and he put this little treasure together:
Dusty called me out about me saying "pieces of creme". "Pieces of creme? What is that?" Well, since I'm a fast thinker, my quick reply was, "You know those little containers of creme you get at restaurants? That's a piece of creme." Based upon her response, my answer wasn't very convincing. Really though, it was after 1AM when I said that but, look at how happy we all are. That's why I do this people. For those laughing-at-1AM moments.
Many thanks to Cutty for putting up with us old folk. He really was a great sport about everything. Based on the footage we got, I'm pretty sure we're going to do all of his dedication credit.
There is something awesome about doing a thing you love to do, at least once a day. I would highly recommend it to everyone. It makes your days more enjoyable and your nightly dreams a LOT more vivid.
I've been terribly busy with doing something I LOVE to do. Create. I apologize for neglecting my blogging duties, which seems very foolish of me because it is yet another avenue for me to create. Just not enough hours in the day, but I try my best to make the most out of the precious waking seconds I'm given.
Okay, what have us crazy kids at CLP been busy with? I know February is almost over, but here's a look at what we did last month:
February started with a photoshoot with Kelli Cayman Cozlin. We really like working with Kelli because she's just so much fun. The sun wasn't cooperating at the beginning of the shoot but it eventually came out and made things a lot brighter. We also got to break in the new bounce boards Brenda made. They worked perfectly! I also got to learn the finer points of using a SLR camera properly. So continues the learning. Check out some of the final pics here.
We worked on a music video for a song called "I'm So Fly". I wish I could find a link to the song or even the group name. I have the individual names of the artists, but not the group name. All my attempts at Googling the solution have failed. Anyway, it was a late night for us and it was cool to work on the HD sound stage at Full Sail again. Many thanks to Martin for letting me play with the $100,000 camera jib. Kind of like playing a video game, just a VERY expensive video game.
We attended a couple film premieres. The first was for Wayward, a thriller by Carmen Treffiletti and the folks at DME Studios. Good flick and it was really nice to run into familiar faces again (Mike Santi and Wanda Gates). I don't know if Carmen is going to submit it to film festivals, but check it out if you get the chance. I bow to him for doing a full-length feature. Especially since he did it in 110+ degree temps with flesh boring critters feasting on their skin/blood. Good luck to Carmen and the cast and crew of Wayward!
Immediately after watching Wayward in Daytona Beach, we hauled butt back down to Orlando to catch the premiere of Grave Reality. Another thriller, but of a different flavor. This film also hosted the talents of Mike Santi and Wanda Gates. It was fun to see them twice in the same night. Especially Mike's parents who are the coolest. Yes Mike, I know I've got to call your mom about doing dinner. I PROMISE, I'll get around to it. Anyway, another cool movie and I really like the comic-book feel to it. It was done by Oliver Tosh and he's got a wonderful eye for editing. Maybe he'll read this blog and let me be a sponge on his mentals for a while to learn some of the editing skills he possesses. I'll bring the beer.
On Valentine's Day, we hooked up with SNAFU, to discuss shooting a little bio/documentary series with them. We went out to their rehearsal location and shot some really good footage. The funny thing is we didn't really plan on it. It was supposed to be just a recon mission, but we walked away with some great footage and cool energy. We're REALLY looking forward to working on this project with them over the next several months.
Immediately after that, we went downtown to hang out with Stuart and his condo on the 16th floor, facing towards the west and the city of Orlando. He was such a WONDERFUL host and I can't stop thanking him for allowing us to invade his property for a few hours so we could capture the sunset. It was an interesting experiment, trying to figure out what to set the aperture to and what filters/glass should we use to get the sun setting WITHOUT adjusting the f-stop until dark. From what we could see, we got some great footage and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Check out the stills we took. Thanks again Stuart for providing us with wonderful hospitality and a beautiful sunset!
Now I'm pretty much caught up. Last night we shot another music video for Cutty Lue's mixtape. It is for the song "Just a Thought". It is always fun shooting with Cutty. He's such a talented artist and it is only a matter of time before he's noticed by the masses. We got to set up the crane again, and we pulled off some spectacular footage. I'll be working on editing this over this coming week and I'll be sure to let you know when it's done. Brenda took some production stills of us in action (thanks Bren!).
WOW. February has been a very busy month thus far. But I'm doing what I love, so you won't hear me complain!
Sorry for not blogging more often folks, but I really don't have enough hours in the day. Trust me, I'm not complaining one bit. I love that I can entertain my creative side more often and I'm looking forward to the continued exploitation of that creativity in the days ahead.
Ken had a crane for a while, but it was missing some of the parts necessary for us to make use of it...safely. We spent a Sunday afternoon, putting it together and then playing with it. It was a LOT of fun and the shots we got were pretty damn cool. Check it out:
Me and my twisted thinking have come up with a short list of shots I'd like to get with it. Put the telescopic lens on it, a whip for the focus wheel and a remote for the zoom. Now strap the whole thing to the back of a pick-up truck and let's see what kind of magic we can make. ;-)
We also have been working on getting Cutty Lue's mixtape a little more recognition. Aside from the music video and bio, we've also put out a website for him to make distribution of the mixtape easier. Check it out: http://iamcuttylue.com.
Still working on keeping the pipeline full. This week we've got a photo shoot and another music video. Stay tuned!
