creating a drought...

[Rick Shepardson]

Hello,

First off, this may not belong in the telecini section of the forum. However, I'm faced with an issue that might be solved in the telecini process.

Second, I didn't want to put "O Brother Where Art Thou" in the title of my post because I want to keep my options open.

This fall I will be shooting a short film about a little boy in the middle of a drought. Unfortunately, I am limited to shooting with in 50 miles of the school I'm attending. So, I have to make the lush foliage of Savannah, Georgia look dead and brown. The first solution that comes to mind is, of course, the process used in O Brother Where Art Thou. The problem is, this is a student film with a limited budget. Plus, I don't want to settle for a process or aesthetic just because it's the first thing that comes to mind.

Can anyone suggest a movie, preferably one shot before the DI process, that I might look on which creates a Drought like atmosphere? I'm already looking at Haskell Wexler's Bound For Glory.

Just so you know, the film I'm shooting is a comedy.

I almost forgot-I will be shooting on super 16.

Thanks,

Rick Shepardson

Edited April 18, 2008 by Rick Shepardson

[Paul Bruening]

If you can't DI then it is going to be tough. I assume the budget is too small to dress the locations. Sepia or similar filters come to mind. Can you shoot in the fall when the leaves are dead? That with a heat source in front of and below the lens to waffle the air might look usable. Green screen could do it but that's almost all DI these days as well. Good luck with it, though.

[Chris Burke]

Hello,

First off, this may not belong in the telecini section of the forum. However, I'm faced with an issue that might be solved in the telecini process.

Second, I didn't want to put "O Brother Where Art Thou" in the title of my post because I want to keep my options open.

This fall I will be shooting a short film about a little boy in the middle of a drought. Unfortunately, I am limited to shooting with in 50 miles of the school I'm attending. So, I have to make the lush foliage of Savannah, Georgia look dead and brown. The first solution that comes to mind is, of course, the process used in O Brother Where Art Thou. The problem is, this is a student film with a limited budget. Plus, I don't want to settle for a process or aesthetic just because it's the first thing that comes to mind.

Can anyone suggest a movie, preferably one shot before the DI process, that I might look on which creates a Drought like atmosphere? I'm already looking at Haskell Wexler's Bound For Glory.

Just so you know, the film I'm shooting is a comedy.

I almost forgot-I will be shooting on super 16.

Thanks,

Rick Shepardson

 

 

Not only are the leaves the wrong color, but they are healthy as well. In a drought, they would look wilted and dry, so even if you could retime the leaves only, they would look like brownish lush leaves. My suggestion is not to show them or really limit what you show. Stay away from wide panoramas where it is obviously not a drought ridden area. Sepia filters could help a bit. Also, there is a company in LA (I think) that does scans to the cineform codec rather cheaply. I am about to use them, but have not yet, so.......... For my 20 minute short, they quoted me about 900. Perhaps you should give them a call. http://www.pixelharvest.com

 

chris

[Michael Nash]

Production design is the tried-and-true solution for faking a location or environment. Hollywood routinely shoots snowbound New York in Los Angeles during the summer by loading up the set with foam, real snow, chicken feathers, or whatever. Now obviously on a student budget you can't afford to dress large areas to look dry, but you might be able to do some creative "cheats."

 

Use coverage to show what you want the audience to see, and not what you don't. Tighter shots mean less background to dress with dust and pale colors. For wide shots try to avoid any views that show green foliage. In editing use lots of cutaways and establishing shots of subject that say "drought," like wilted plants and dust blowing across bare patches of dirt. Then with the cinematography you can create a hot, dry feel with overexposed highlights and pale warm colors.

[Rick Shepardson]

Production design is the tried-and-true solution for faking a location or environment. Hollywood routinely shoots snowbound New York in Los Angeles during the summer by loading up the set with foam, real snow, chicken feathers, or whatever. Now obviously on a student budget you can't afford to dress large areas to look dry, but you might be able to do some creative "cheats."

 

Use coverage to show what you want the audience to see, and not what you don't. Tighter shots mean less background to dress with dust and pale colors. For wide shots try to avoid any views that show green foliage. In editing use lots of cutaways and establishing shots of subject that say "drought," like wilted plants and dust blowing across bare patches of dirt. Then with the cinematography you can create a hot, dry feel with overexposed highlights and pale warm colors.

 

Thanks guys.

After doing some research and looking at a few films I'm looking into the chocolate filter. It seems to contaminate the picture with a sickly warmth. The director and I have also disccused using a pro-mist filter or something that would add kind of a haze to the overall picture. The only problem I have with that is haze would indicate heat via humidity rather than dryness. Also, I'm really interested in capturing the asthetic that Greg Toland created for Grapes of Wrath.

And in general filters make me kind of nervous though.

Thanks again,

Rick Shepardson

[Michael Nash]

After doing some research and looking at a few films I'm looking into the chocolate filter. It seems to contaminate the picture with a sickly warmth.

 

Remember that filters work by canceling colors, not adding them. That means that in addition to "coloring" the frame they can also be used to reduce saturation of the complementary color, when colortimed back to normal. A pink/magenta filter would tone down the green saturation, but probably not far enough for you without screwing up the skin tones.

 

When the image is left left alone (not color timed back to normal), warming filters in the yellow-red range can actually make green foliage look more healthy and "Spring-like" by canceling the blue and enhancing the yellow. You can see the effect by eye, so try out a few filters.