Akeelah and the Bee

[David Mullen ASC]

We spent the first two days of the week finishing all the scenes at the house of the main character. Since most of those scenes are early on in the story, I mostly used 5229 (Expression 500T) with no filtration, although there was some later scenes on 5218 with a GlimmerGlass diffusion.

 

The DVD dailies look fairly rich, sharp, and contrasty. I heard some vague rumors that some executive at the production company was concerned about how black my shadows were since I am hardly using fill light, just very soft key lights that roll off into black, ala Storaro or Deakins. I have to remind myself not to worry; my plan is that this story is a journey into light, so these early scenes are meant to be somewhat harsh and moody. I'm sure when someone sees a lot of the later scenes, they might express some concern with how bright some parts of the frame are!

 

We ended the shooting at the house with a night exterior, which I lit with HMI's with Full Plus Green added for a cyan mercury vapor look, sort of sickly by design (it's a scene where to girl comes home from winning an event to find her wayward brother being brought home to an angry mother by the police.)

 

On the third day of this week, we moved to USC to shoot one of our spelling bee tournaments. Actually, the first day was spent shooting a long dialogue scene outside of the event between three adults and our main character, the child. Since we were shooting a night exterior the day before, our call time wasn't until 10 AM, so I knew that we would be spending the last three hours of our day shooting a day exterior scene at night. So we staged the scene under the arches of a building on campus and I lit it with some HMI's shining through large frames of Grid cloth on 250D stock.

 

Doing a movie with a child actor in every scene has been a real challenge; right on the money, we lose her every day when her hours are up, so it becomes a real panick on the set to finish her shots. I've been using two cameras lately to help but that has its own challenges. Plus every time they send her to set school, she is gone in twenty minute blocks -- sometimes I'm lit and waiting for her to get back and once I was told to set up a shot with her, only to have her pulled off the set for school when I was ready because of some confusion.

 

We had an adult double for her who quit after the first week because she found that she didn't like movie shoots so now we're scrambling to find a replacement.

 

Our second day at USC was spend shooting our first spelling bee event. We spent an hour the night before in a meeting trying to reconfigure our shot lists. We had one hundred children on stage as contestants and because of our problems the day before, the AD decided to bring them in a little early and then put all 100 into school for a two-hour block to get it out of the way. Sounded like a good plan but that meant we had to start with reverse angles on the judges and pronouncers at the event since our adult principle actors had turnaround issues from the night before and thus we couldn't start the day shooting them either. But then one of our judges showed up late, leaving me waiting to shoot anything because now I had no kids and no principles to shoot. And the kids showed up for school late, so I ended up getting them later on set, etc. So we spent the day grinding out a bunch of two camera set-ups. Suddenly we're told that all the kids had to finish work in ten minutes so we were scrambling to shoot all the close-ups we needed of them at the mic, spelling. Then we started losing extras too, leaving us at the end of the day shooting our principle adult leads with a few extras in the background. It all worked out but barely.

 

This was a later scene so it was shot on 5218 with a GlimmerGlass diffusion. The setting was a large auditorium; I put trees of ParCans in the background of shots, flaring into the lens -- sort of looked like "Close Encounters" sometimes. The stage laready had a hudge array of Pars of its own and when I turned them all on, I was getting f/8 at 320 ASA, so I turned some down or off to bring the stage to an f/5.6 -- which I generally shot another half-stop more open to make the actors on stage look bright while the audience members were exposed one-stop under.

 

Today was tough; lots of day exteriors with all sorts of audio problems because we couldn't control the traffic much. On paper it looked simple but shooting it was a nightmare.

 

Ended the day shooting a scene of some characters watching Akeelah on TV compete a the National Spelling Bee. Being the last scenes in the movie, I lit this one and a previous scene of another group watching the TV with a lot of hot light. For the previous one, the watchers were backlit with a 6K HMI PAR with no lenses in it. For this one, I lit the group by bouncing the 6K HMI PAR into the white rug on the floor as if it were a beam of sunlight; at 160 ASA (how I am rating 250D) I was getting an f/8 in the room.

[Kevin Zanit]

Great post David.

 

You keep a level head through it all, pretty amazing. I think it just comes down to pure experience, a seasoned hand at work. Just shows that a bigger show can be as big a nightmare as a small one at times, so while doing the smaller ones, take those lessons to heart because they will come into play regardless of the size of the production.

 

 

Kevin Zanit

[J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR]

David, I'm curious what you think about the GlimmerGlass diffusion at this point? Are you mixing 1 & 2 for different shots?

[David Mullen ASC]

So far, I like it -- what's nice is that the #1 and #2 GlimmerGlass are closer together in strength than the #1/8 and #1/4 ProMist, so I feel less concerned about switching from the #1 to the #2 for close-ups.

[David Mullen ASC]

Today I went to the lab and saw four rolls of negative printed. I think someone at Lions Gate may have been concerned about my contrasty lighting style, I don't know, and asked for some stuff printed.

 

I thought it all looked pretty good. Rating the stocks 2/3's of a stop over and printing down has made the grain super-tight and the blacks good, even on standard 2383 print stock. Even though I am shooting at an f/4 or f/5.6 often, I think the director was a little thrown by how shallow the depth of field is with anamorphic. I had a medium close shot of two people sitting side by side on a couch and you can definitely tell that the focus is on one person (the one talking) and not the other. He asked why we didn't rack focus now and then to the other person but this was a rushed scene (like so many) and the director kept calling out notes to the talking actor to make adjustments in his performance so the AC wouldn't have racked the focus to the other person during this when it seemed important to be on the guy the director was directing. Now if we hadn't been rushed, we could have done a whole take where the focus was on the other person. But since we shot a B-camera close-up of that other person, we already have a shot of that person in-focus. Plus we have a wider two-shot of them both in-focus. So I can't cover every possible focus option in the time we have to work.

 

The Primo anamorphics look really sharp. I was concerned about using the #2 GlimmerGlass so much on close-ups in later scenes but the effect is pretty subtle and the image is still pretty sharp and clean.

 

The Vision-2 stocks are incredibly well-matched, from the 100T to the 500T; each of the four rolls printed were from four stocks (12, 05, 18, and 29) and they all matched pretty closely, with the Expression 500T (rated at 320) having slightly softer blacks and colors. Luckily the contrast of the stock is not high because this was one of the shots were they (the studio) were concerned about my lack of fill light; my approach has generally been to use less fill with the lower contrast stocks so that there is some black reference in the frame. I figure if the key light is soft enough and both eyes are lit, then why does the quarter of the face in shadow have to be filled-in? I like it when the soft light rolls off gently into a pure black. Hey, it works for Storaro...

 

So I guess I kept my job -- everyone thought things looked good. I was pretty happy too; I think we're making this movie look bigger-budgeted than it really is. But I suspect as I move up in budget, I'm going to have to deal with more notes from studios asking me to change this or that and I've going to have to decide how much to stick to my gut instincts. On smaller films, the company is usually more grateful that I'm shooting the movie in the first place so there is less questioning of what I'm up to.

[Tim Tyler]

But I suspect as I move up in budget, I'm going to have to deal with more notes from studios asking me to change this or that

 

David, Who got you the job? Are you fighting for the look you want all by yourself, or do you have support from a producer or the director?

 

Did anybody discuss the look with these people ahead of time, and maybe show them examples of films or shots you were intending to emulate?

[David Mullen ASC]

I have the general support of the director and producer, especially since I also am helping move things along, working fast, etc. The general idea is that we move from a darker to a brighter film, and from cold to warmth. The director has explained that to the studio and he's all for it and they seem to understand. It's only in the details where there are questions about this or that being too dark. Plus with an African-American cast, even when I am using quite a bit of fill light, it usually shows up more on the clothing than on the face. In some ways, edge lights are a better way of bringing up shadow detail than fill light.

 

You know, a lot of this is simply taste and I personally seem to like contrast more than a lot of other people...

 

The director had a DP named Chris Mosio who shot is his first feature (and who is doing second unit and B-camera on this film) and Chris could have shot this movie and done a fine job, but I suspect that the company and producers wanted the director to find a bigger DP for this show, so he asked Chris (who I have worked with before and know personally) and his sound person Matt Nicolay separately for suggestions and they both mentioned my name as a candidate. By coincidence, Matt also recorded sound on all three Polish Brothers movies plus four others than I have shot, so Matt and I go way back. So the director thought it was auspicious that two people he asked separately both came up with my name. I think the producer was a little more cautious because he saw "Northfork" and probably felt it was too dramatic, heavy, and stylized for this one -- but by coincidence, he then caught a screening of "D.E.B.S." and saw that I could do bright and slick as well, so he became less concerned. Plus I pitched my approach to shoot this in anamorphic as "I don't want this to look like some small indie film or an afternoon TV special -- I want the final spelling bee to have the slickness of the space shuttle launch in 'Armageddon', scope frame, big lights, crane moves, etc." Which is true, I want to make this small story look like an epic in scale as the girl succeeds academically.

 

But the concern was still over my ideas on the early section. The director and I feel that we have to make the character's accomplishment more dramatic by showing a visual progression from a rougher darker realism to something more slick visually. I probably would have gone much farther into a darker style more like "Amores Perros" left up to me, but we're keeping it pretty subtle, I think. Just colder and "down" visually, a little more somber.

 

But this is not a case where the director loved my work and sought me out -- instead this is a job where I was recommended to him by others. I'm not sure he even cares all that much for the visual approach used for the Polish Brothers films (luckily for me, he is a Kubrick and Polanski fan, so we have that in common). So to some degree, I have to figure out what he wants more than impose my style. But you also can't help using your own tastes as a guideline and the director understands that. He is not dictorial to creative departments if they can articulate and argue well for a certain approach, as long as it supports his story ideas.

 

Simple things like we had a scene in our early colder section of the girl walking down a commercial street. It had more warm tones than I wanted, but lucky for me, it was drearily overcast that day at least. She is carrying a flyer for a spelling bee. When I saw the flyer, it was yellow and I was concerned because it was out of our pallette. Now the director had been given a choice between yellow paper and blue paper and since the spelling bee represents where the girl was heading, he chose a warm color. But trouble is that I'm trying to find ways of visually "nailing" the intent of the early scenes by using blue accents and this yellow flyer was a visual distraction, so I argued for the blue flyer. Since at this point in the story, the girl doesn't want to do the spelling bee, the director reasoned that blue was OK since she doesn't see the spelling bee in a positive light, so he accepted my choice. I simply wanted to simplify the color scheme and walking down this street with some unavoidable reds and yellows, I felt that the yellow flyer was the last straw and we weren't creating the effect we wanted. I'm always trying to reduce visual clutter in a movie and keep it simple in terms of quality of light or color.

 

I'd say that overall this is one of my better experiences with a director because he focuses on acting and story primarily and doesn't micromanage the cinematography, yet he wants this to be a story told in visuals, not standardized coverage. Most of my problems are typical in that he is more ambitious than I can pull off for him, but the last two weeks have given him a hard taste of reality, especially the limited set time with his lead child actress, and he has handled the pressures like a seasoned pro. He's got that essential quality of a director, which I somewhat lack, in that he's a fighter and he doesn't shrink from a challenge, while I tend to avoid confrontation to the point of being passive-aggressive. I sort of get my way by being whiney and stubborn -- digging in --- more than by being confrontational. I don't like conflict; I'm happiest when everyone is on the same wavelength and the set moves along efficiently. But then, I'm sure the director feels the same way. I have just never seen him get depressed when random poop or set politics, etc. start being thrown at him.

[Guest fstop]

Simple things like we had a scene in our early colder section of the girl walking down a commercial street.  It had more warm tones than I wanted, but lucky for me, it was drearily overcast that day at least.  She is carrying a flyer for a spelling bee. When I saw the flyer, it was yellow and I was concerned because it was out of our pallette.  Now the director had been given a choice between yellow paper and blue paper and since the spelling bee represents where the girl was heading, he chose a warm color.  But trouble is that I'm trying to find ways of visually "nailing" the intent of the early scenes by using blue accents and this yellow flyer was a visual distraction, so I argued for the blue flyer.  Since at this point in the story, the girl doesn't want to do the spelling bee, the director reasoned that blue was OK since she doesn't see the spelling bee in a positive light, so he accepted my choice.  I simply wanted to simplify the color scheme and walking down this street with some unavoidable reds and yellows, I felt that the yellow flyer was the last straw and we weren't creating the effect we wanted.  I'm always trying to reduce visual clutter in a movie and keep it simple in terms of quality of light or color.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

You've turned into Vittorio Storaro, by the sounds of it!! :lol: I bet I'll read this next week to find the movie is now being shot in Univisium!! ;)

 

Seriously though, this is just as it should be, David- glad you are fighting for creative integrity!!

Edited February 18, 2005 by fstop

[Guest Tim van der Linden]

Well, I was walking around my campus the other day and saw some large frames with HMIs shooting through them, but didn't really take much notice since a lot of stuff films here. Then the next day I saw a bunch of kids hanging around outside of our auditorium, and then I stumbled across this:

 

 

 

And now I'm kicking myself for not investigating further! Although from the pace of your production it sounds like it would have been better for me not to peek a bit closer, but it would have been kinda nice to see our one and only Mr. Mullen in action!

 

...so you coming to usc anymore? :D

[David Mullen ASC]

No, just those two days. We'll be at a Middle School in downtown next week and then Venice High for three days and later, five days at the Hollywood Palladium for the final bee.

 

I'm not sure how Robert Richardson gets away with shooting in anamorphic at f/2.8 all the time -- I'm tempted to go up from f/4 to f/5.6 more often!

[Tim Tyler]

I'm not sure how Robert Richardson gets away with shooting in anamorphic at f/2.8 all the time...

I bet his 1st loves that.

 

But re: Bee... It sounds like once you get through this thing, you and the director will have something you're very proud of.

[David Mullen ASC]

Here's something from one day at USC, under the arches in Bovard Auditorium. I knew that we'd only get through half the shooting in the daytime so we tried to stage the scene so that I could light it at night for day, with only a few angles looking out into the daylight open spaces.

 

So even when I had real daylight, I lit the scene with some big HMI's through big frames or bounced so that the light would be consistent through the night.

 

Outside the big arch, off-camera was an 18K HMI shining through a 12'x12' Light Grid. Next to that, visible here, is a 6K HMI PAR with a frame of Opal in front to create a soft kicker. Inside the arches, to continue the side light from the arch, I put two 4'x4' beadboards against the wall and bounced another 6K HMI into them. Then behind camera, was another 8'x8' frame of Full Grid, with a 4'x4' frame of Full Grid behind that, with a 6K HMI behing that, to add soft fill.

 

 

These are some stand-ins in the lighting:

 

 

Here's two interiors at the house, not from the shooting angle (stand-ins on the couch), just to show that I was often keying with a 2K Stage Junior with a Chimera, sometimes with an eggcrate, and filling in with a Kino. The first was shot with the wrong color in the digital camera and blurred, so I tried sharpening it:

 

 

This was from another scene, the bluer light from the side is simulating a flickering TV effect.

 

[GeorgeSelinsky]

Dave, thanks so much for not only sharing your experience but posting stills from the set. I enjoy it very much and am sure others do too.

 

- G.

[J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR]

Here's something from one day at USC, under the arches in Bovard Auditorium.  I knew that we'd only get through half the shooting in the daytime so we tried to stage the scene so that I could light it at night for day, with only a few angles looking out into the daylight open spaces.

 

So even when I had real daylight, I lit the scene with some big HMI's through big frames or bounced so that the light would be consistent through the night.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I understand the gist of what you were doing here but obviously there is still a large amount of skylight bounce that is illuminating the underside of the arch. So did you have to compensate much as the sun went down? Did you save the closeups for then and lit them with more fill and background light or something?

Edited February 18, 2005 by J. Lamar King

[L K Keerthi Basu]

Dear David,

 

Iam really unexpected about these kind of posts with still during the location. Bravo! David I have learnt a lot above my level.

 

L.K.Keerthi basu

[Jayson Crothers]

As always David, thank you for the fantastic posts.

 

What I find particularly interesting is reading this one and then going back and re-reading older posts from past films and seeing how you've changed your approach or how you've changed personally/professionally. Tracing your growth and progress has been exciting and inspiring, and for me, shows that the most interesting work is whatever you're doing now or next because you (or perhaps I should now say "we", as cinematographers in general) are always in a state of perpetual motion and change.

 

Cheers David and thank you again.

[David Mullen ASC]

I understand the gist of what you were doing here but obviously there is still a large amount of skylight bounce that is illuminating the underside of the arch.  So did you have to compensate much as the sun went down?  Did you save the closeups for then and lit them with more fill and background light or something?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The background arches were natural daylight with some sodium ceiling lights.

 

After I shot the master, I shot the tighter coverage that way with two cameras. But after that, we had a dolly move that carried one person from the door to their mark. By the time I set up that shot, with all the arches still in the background, the sun was still up but darker, so there was a little mismatch as the sodium ceiling lights got a little brighter and my depth of field dropped (I lit the master to f/8 but added double scrims to get an f/5.6 to compensate for the darkening background.)

 

Otherwise, the reverse angle looked towards about three columns but it was a downish angle on the little girl, so I was mostly seeing ground and the base of three columns, which I lit up from the outside. The only angle looking straight out the arch was shot in daytime. The reverse angles towards the building were shot last but that was just a wall behind them.

[Jon Rosenbloom]

Mr. Mullen,

Was there any chance that you could have had film dailies instead of video? What kind of relationship do you have w/ you dailies colorist?

 

Anonymously,

J-Ro.

[David Mullen ASC]

Mr. Mullen,

Was there any chance that you could have had film dailies instead of video? What kind of relationship do you have w/ you dailies colorist?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I haven't had film dailies for ten years, the last time someone I worked for decided to cut their movie on a flatbed -- in 1985 I think. That was nice. Maybe if my budgets jump astronomically, I'll get film dailies, but by then, perhaps everything will be D.I. and I'll get HD dailies, who knows? I'm just lucky I'm getting DVD dailies and they seem to be using a high-end telecine (judging by how clean and sharp the transfers are.)

 

I haven't really talked to the colorist (just the supervisor about our framing problem) because they've been doing a good job, following my charts and notes. Everything has been looking more or less the way it should, within a range that makes me comfortable.

[F Bulgarelli]

Thank you David for sharing all your experiences with us, specially after so much work and pressure during the shoot.

It seems like you are using kinos a big deal. Can you tallk a bit as to why that is?

 

Thanks again,

 

Francisco

[David Mullen ASC]

I like Kinos because they can be switched between daylight and tungsten, they can be taken apart and tubes rigged to something, they are a naturally soft source without requiring a lot of grip diffusion work, they are lightweight, they pull very little power, and they don't make a set hot.

[quinn]

david,

 

i've seen you around on a ton of websites over the years and you've always been kind, gracious, and informative. So, thank you. And continued success.

 

Tom

[Grainy]

Hey, great break David Mullen -- looks like Starbucks picked up your film for its pilot distribution plan. Got points??

Grainy

[David Mullen ASC]

The new trailer is out now:

 

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/akeelahandthebee.html

[JA Tadena]

The new trailer is out now:

 

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/akeelahandthebee.html

 

Hey David I just saw the trailer. Looks like its gonna be a good film to see. :) Im just not sure if it will be distributed here in the Philippines.

Anyway, one of the things I really hate is working with an actor who wears eye glasses. Especially if they're required to wear it in all their scenes. I wonder how you have managed working with this through out the entire film. How do you avoid obvious reflections of your lights(ofcourse unless your using windows as available light or something)? I know theres always a sacrifice in the way you have to position your key lights.

Anyway, Congratulations. I hope to be able to catch it on print. Thanks a lot.

Edited January 22, 2006 by jatadena