Blood River

[Stuart Brereton]

I've just wrapped on my first US feature, Blood River. Shot in Nevada & California in 19 days. It's a kind of supernatural thriller, with a whole lot of Western thrown in too.

 

There was no budget for film, so we shot HD on an F900R, framed for 2.35:1. Lighting package was 6 & 4KW HMIs, Kinos and some tungsten.

 

Although we had some lit interiors to do, most of the film was day exterior in the desert, so bounce boards and white sheets were the order of the day.

 

I had intended to do a shoot diary as we went, but patchy internet connections put paid to that idea.

 

Here's some screengrabs. Hope you like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Stephen Murphy]

That looks absolutely gorgeous Stuart.

[Chris Keth]

I wondered if any stills would make it up here. Nice work.

[Xavier Plaza]

Beautiful work delightful especially the fifth frame (at the bar) wow, amazing... great work Stuart.

 

 

Xavier Plaza

[Stuart Brereton]

Here's a few more.

 

 

 

 

[Andrew Brinkhaus]

Absolutely gorgeous! What processes did you use to achieve such a soft, gritty feel? Very film like in terms of how HD generally looks (overly sharp.)

[David Mullen ASC]

Looks great -- just shows what HD can do in the hands of someone who knows how to light a scene...

[freddie bonfanti]

love it, Stuart...well done mate

[John Holland]

Beautiful images Stuart i agree with Mr Mullen shows what you can get when you are good and know what you are doing .

[Matthew Buick]

You are some cinematographer, Stuart.

 

10/10. :)

Edited October 25, 2007 by Matthew Buick

[Ignacio Aguilar]

You should be proud of yourself, Stuart.

 

I love dark silhouettes and underexposed faces in the foreground against a brighter background. The great Gordon Willis used to shoot this way, but your work seems to be more stylized with smoke and gels. Congratulations. It looks great.

[Toby L Edwards]

Wow' Those are some nice looking stills. I will have to put this on my list of movies to look out for.

Excellent work.

 

Toby

[Stuart Brereton]

What processes did you use to achieve such a soft, gritty feel? Very film like in terms of how HD generally looks (overly sharp.)

 

The camera was set up for a low contrast look. I switched the detail off, the ITU709 off, used one of the film gammas. I also lowered the saturation to -20. I had a 1/4 Black Promist on the lens all the time, switching to a 1/2 occasionally for closeups. All the interiors were hazed, which helped soften the image too.

[pascal Boyer]

The camera was set up for a low contrast look. I switched the detail off, the ITU709 off, used one of the film gammas. I also lowered the saturation to -20. I had a 1/4 Black Promist on the lens all the time, switching to a 1/2 occasionally for closeups. All the interiors were hazed, which helped soften the image too.

 

 

Hello ,

 

great work! It proves that even with a lack of budget solutions can be found on set and with creativity. I am very curious about how you lit the bar scene.. could you explain us a little?

thank you !!

[Stuart Brereton]

The bar was lit with two 4k HMI fresnels from outside the windows. The windows were gelled with full CTO, as the scene was set at sunset. The room was hazed, and that was it, except for a single 2ft Kino tube which hidden below the bar top which gave a subtle fill to the bartender. There was another scene in the same room which was lit with kinos and a china ball, but the scene at the bar was deliberately kept dark & contrasty.

[Gary McClurg]

Some nice grabs...

 

If and when you can post a trailer or clip from the film...

[Kieran Scannell]

Those stills look amazing Stuart, real craftsmanship! 2 questions.

 

What lenses did you use?

 

If you had shot this on film which stocks would you have considered and what differences would you expect to see in the end result?

 

I'm asking because when i try to convince people to go for film they see work like yours and say"i can't see the difference! except in lab costs!

 

Kieran.

[pascal Boyer]

The bar was lit with two 4k HMI fresnels from outside the windows. The windows were gelled with full CTO, as the scene was set at sunset. The room was hazed, and that was it, except for a single 2ft Kino tube which hidden below the bar top which gave a subtle fill to the bartender. There was another scene in the same room which was lit with kinos and a china ball, but the scene at the bar was deliberately kept dark & contrasty.

 

Thank you very much! Very usefull ! :lol:

cheers

[Stuart Brereton]

What lenses did you use?

 

If you had shot this on film which stocks would you have considered and what differences would you expect to see in the end result?

 

We used Fujinon HD Compact zooms. Nice lenses, very sharp, but prone to breathing on focus pulls.

 

If we'd shot film....well, probably Kodak 50D & 250D, with some 500T for our night scenes. The were a number of scenes in cars and under porches where I really struggled to build the lighting up to a exposure level where the sunlit areas wouldn't just burn out. On the whole I succeeded, I think, but it would have been a whole lot easier with film. I had my doubts about HD for a project like this with so much DAY/EXT (particularly in a desert), but it held up remarkably well.

 

I've just been given a copy of a trailer for the film. Click Here to see it

[Rolfe Klement]

Very nice - what did you use for the aerials?

 

I assume a RC heli from the lack of hair blowing on the fly overs

 

thanks

 

Rolfe

[Stuart Brereton]

Very nice - what did you use for the aerials?

 

I assume a RC heli from the lack of hair blowing on the fly overs

 

thanks

 

Rolfe

 

It was a Jet Ranger with a Tyler front mount. Had an amazing pilot named Dave, based out of LA.

[Gary McClurg]

It was a Jet Ranger with a Tyler front mount. Had an amazing pilot named Dave, based out of LA.

 

What was the last name of the pilot...

[Michael Nash]

Excellent looking stuff Stuart. Some questions if you don't mind:

 

What shutterspeeds did you use? It's hard to tell when viewing a QT on the web, but much of it looks to have a little extra motion blur (not talking about the obvious fast shutter shots).

 

Also, what detail settings did you use, if detail was even "ON" at all?

[Justin Hayward]

It all looks really good.

[Luke Prendergast]

It sounds like a pickup line, but I really like your black level. Helps very much to sell hot and dusty. Nice work.