comedy show thingy...

Allen Achterberg · March 14, 2005

so my highschool video teacher decides he wants to broadcast a 5 minute comedy show to our school on fridays...i say okay, and I tell him i'd DP it. he says coo.

So as i watch the rehersals and realize the script sucks major pardon my french here but it sucks major balls. so after a few rehersals i set up cameras and look and decide how i would like to light it. so i look into the little tiny light kit and light it. it looked horrable. so the next day I bring my own C-stands, China Balls, MR lamp, and gels and dififusion. was better. but still needed a lot more light, and more fixtures. I am running into shadow issues and theres not much i can do about it.

My teacher really wants to shoot this with 3 cameras running all the time, but now tapes in the cameras. i mean, its DV for heavens sake. it wouldnt hurt not ONE BIT, it might actually save him. but he wants to run each camera through the switcher and go to vhs, And the whole time im running around in circles lighting it and setting the cameras exposures for the camera operators swearing to myself in german. I'm pretty sure my teacher is an idiot, but i dont want to say it that way. for example, he wanted me to all of a suddon make it dark (dim) and have one spot lit on our sibject who is talking. we have no dimmer, non of our lights would pull it off, and I just dont have anything to work with, image someone telling you to do this and have nothing to do it with. so i told him and the director who for some reason believed 2 weeks later i was still doing it, it aint gon' happen.

so tomarrow I reconstruct the lights, and shoot it, I am bringing my own personal minDV tapes, and we are going to shoot a rehersal. I will post pics as soon as i can for anyone interested in seeing a highschools production frame stils.

any advice would be nice, thoughts too

thanks,

Allen Achterberg

Jonathan Spear · March 14, 2005

I don't have that much on-set experience, but I shot a few video shorts in high school and had a teacher who sounds a lot like yours. <_<

Seems like what you guys need is a steady game plan. Decide on a lighting strategy and plan your camera choreography before it's time to shoot.

Basic pre-production, but you have to do it right or else.

And don't listen to your teacher if he's full of $%^. If you know what you're doing and he's just there to make minimum wage then maybe it's time to take matters into your own hands and show them what you know...if you're ready to.

March 15, 2005

If you can get some money from the school it might make your job a lot easier to build your own dimmers and use a lot of lanterns. You can buy regular single pole dimmers like you would replace a standard light switch with. With a little research you can make a very cheap in line dimmer for next to nothing. I pieced together a couple 1000w for about forty bucks each.

If you can control a bunch of lanterns with dimmers to create a base lighting level you can easily add final touches with your own lights. Not to mention it would be very easy to change when your teacher changes his mind at the last minute (not unlike working on the set of a film).

hope that helps.

James Tanouye · March 15, 2005

Hey Allen, Do you go to Santa Maria High School? I used to live in Arroyo Grande. I actually went to Hancock College. What brings you to a small town like Santa Maria? How do you like it?

Allen Achterberg · March 16, 2005

Hey Allen, Do you go to Santa Maria High School? I used to live in Arroyo Grande. I actually went to Hancock College. What brings you to a small town like Santa Maria? How do you like it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

random, no I actually dont go to Santa Maria High, Im at Righetti. Im actually in class right now. I lived here with my parents, and am waiting til I graduate to move down south but not before I go attempt to die in Germany. That should be fun. I went to hancock for 2 semesters, I may have seen you. what classes did you take? Oh, and I really dont like Santa Maria too much, I like LA area much better ofcourse.

James Tanouye · March 16, 2005

Oh ok, the purple and gold. That's cool. Yeah man, you gotta get out of that town. Michael Jackson is the biggest thing that Santa Maria has seen in a while, if not ever. I doubt you have seen me at Hancock though. I graduated in 2000. I actually only took one film class at that time. Wish I would have taken more. Anyway, good luck with school and maybe I'll see you around LA.