Turning 29 and "Roughing It"
Hello!
I had been quite busy since my last post. I worked for a TV network doing DIT work, worked the red carpet at the NAACP Image Awards, shot a short film on the RED EPIC, and ran 13 miles of the LA Marathon! All of this before I turned 29 on 03/10! Right now I have 29 days on set (coincidence?), I hope work stays steady over the next few months.
Last week I was working on the short film, "Roughing It", directed by Pierson Stone. I first met Pierson through a mutual friend in September 2012 and I shot his first project at the New York Film Academy. Since then we've kept in contact off and on. Back in January, Pierson contacted me to see if I was interested in DPing his final thesis film. Without hesitation, I said "YES!".
With over a month of preproduction, we were able to determine a look for the film and plan our shots effectively. This was my first shoot using some new apps on my iphone. I used "Lighting Designer" for my overheads. I was able to create lighting plots and camera angles into a PDF and send them to my Gaffer, the Production Designer, and the 1st AD via email so we were all on the same page come shooting. I am very happy with that purchase and I will write a separate blog focusing more on using that app.
The next app I used was Cadrage Director's Viewfinder. I was quite happy with this app. I was able to select our camera format (we bounced between RED EPIC 4k HD and 5K HD) and a lens length to determine where exactly I would place camera. I was also able to show Pierson dolly shot ideas and so forth. It was an amazing tool that really helped communication between Pierson and I on set.
The shoot was 3 days overall. I am very happy with the new crew I worked with. They worked hard and I am proud of the result. I cannot wait to see this filmed screened! On the last day of production, we had our exteriors. We had one scene along a dry creek bed. I wanted to dolly in the middle of the creek, which was all rocky. The AD looks at me and says, "you want a dolly down here? It'll be impossible to level". I told him I have faith in my crew, and we can make it happen. Needless to say, after 20 minutes of leveling and tweaking, we had a dolly shot. When the shot was finished, Pierson asked how it looked. I told him I just shot my favorite shot of the film.
Having a solid Grip team made this shot possible. I was lucky to have them on that shoot!
Till next time!
~Chris
