dudeguy37

Thanks James! I've been looking for something like this for a while. So the general consesus is good on these guys?? Peace, -Harry

Alright...ya got me. I have no idea what a lantern lock china ball is...do you have a link? Sounds kinda cool from the description. Would love to see one, thanks. Peace, -Harry

I'm not so sure about the exposure side of it, but at the very least you will have one very noticable difference in that on the right side of your frame (with the real actress) you will have fluid filmic motion that we are all used to, and then, within the same finished frame, you'll have very choppy motion where the puppet is because motion blur can't occur in stop motion because you aren't using the shutter and advancing the film in sequence like you are with regular shooting. That's a technical explanation though, and for all I know it may look great when finished and give just enough strangle look to the puppet...who knows?! Anyway, good luck with the shoot. Peace, -Harry

Though I don't really scout locations the "real way" since I'm not at all a professional, one thing that is incredibly helpful when locations have it is a dedicated staging space. If we have room to set up all the gear in a completely separate space that will be out of all the shots yet close by, in increases the efficiency of the shoot many times over. Obviously you could stage in the shooting space if you had to, but you'd be moving stuff around constantly, or the other option is to send someone back and forth to the truck/car, even slower. While a staging area shouldn't make or break a deal if the location itself is perfect, it certainly is a nice luxury. Peace, -Harry

Thanks a ton Michael. That makes perfect sense...now just to find my maglite :D Have a good one everybody. Peace, -Harry

Hey Matt First of all, I've been checkin' out your journal latley and it's been incredibly helpful for me to see some basic but very inventive techniques as I am a young aspiring DP and generally speaking have the same type of equipment as you (minus the HMIs and no M2...yet) so it's nice to see that really nice stuff can come out of those circumstances. Anyway, the one question I had for you was if you could explain what you mean by this quote: Thanks in advance. Peace, -Harry

Oh my gosh...that's even cooler. I love people who go back to old school methods and make it work so dang well. Kudos to everyone involved on this production. And thanks for telling me J, I appreciate it. Peace, -Harry

I just popped on to YouTube and watched part of the video, trying to find an answer to your question. My guess is that he did it on a print because of certain shots where there was obvious chroma key work, though the scratches span each layer (i.e. the band in the foreground and the changing backgrounds) without break and are consistent even when the background changes. Either way, very cool video. Peace, -Harry

Hey Brian- I'm not positive about this, but I feel like I've seen these on the B&H website before. Obviously not in California, but if that's not a requirement, you might do alright there. Peace, -Harry

My intitial reaction to the question was also Twelve Angry Men...what an incredible film. Another good one (though more contemporary) is "Tape" featuring Uma Thurman and Ethan something...can't remember his last name. Anyway, it all takes place in one motel room if I remember correctly, and though the story and dialog are certainly the main catylyst for moving the story forward, the use of camera angles and locked/handheld shots keep it at least somewhat dynamic visually speaking. Good question, Peace, -Harry

If I remember correctly, the DP on Tony Scott's "Domnio" did this for hot backlighting on a scene set in the top of the Strasophere Hotel in Las Vegas. I don't remember all of the details, but there was an article about it in AC Magazine. You might look that article up. Peace, -Harry

Hey Jaimie- I:m not quite sure what price range you:re looking at (it would be helpful for making suggestions) but I:ll give three basic categories at three differentprice ranges. Cheap - Look at Britek lights from rostronics.com While I:ve heard both good and bad things about these, but they are certainly a cheap beginning as far as lights made for production go. Mid range I would suggest a kit from Lowel. Lowel.com and bhphoto.com will be good places to browse through the options. Finally, if you can afford it, go for a 3 or 4 piece kit of Arri Fresnels. Check them out at bhphoto.com All of these kits will vary a little bit, but the most important part of lighting is controling it with things like flags, snoots, scrims, gels, etc. (you can check all that stuff out and bhphoto.com if it's gibberish to you) I made the mistake of not buying light control stuff, and have been slowly beuilding a package of home made with some namebrand control stuff. While it's not a very good story, the moral is look atyour budget and make sure you are getting control stuff. Even if you can only get Britek lights with a great kit of light controllers, it'd be better than a bunch of 'naked' Arris. Hope some of that helps. Peace, -Harry

Hey Natx... Obviously I'm not Kevin, but from the picture it looks like he used a 2x4 wall spreader. Basically 2 metal fittings that slip over the ends of a 2x4 (construction stud) and get fastened down and than wedged between 2 walls, offering a grid like fixture to hang a relatively small amount of weight from. I believe a few different manufacturers make them, but I know for a fact that Matthew's does. As for the exact mount Kevin used to get from the lumber to the kino, I can't tell in the picture, but it looks like it may have just been a baby plate nailed to the 2x4 and than a kino boomed out on a grip arm (usually found in c-stands) If the names of the grip equipment are lost on you, you might want to go to msegrip.com (matthews studio equipment) and read through their "griptionary" or at least look up the specific names you need to know. Anyway, I hope that helps and that Kevin will clear up any errors I made. And a question of my own: Kevin, when you say you just put diffusion on the outside, are you using something heavy (216 I think is the Rosco #) or something light, just enough to get rid of hot spots? Peace, -Harry p.s. Kevin, thanks so much for posting this journal ("These Days," I believe it was?") Anyway, I read the whole thing on DVXuser.com and than read all of your replies here and there and felt like I was on set with you. It was awesome.

What about shooting it during magic hour and using the brights, than tweaking everything in post so that the headlights will still be the brightest things in the frame but everything else will have exposed on the film speed you have. Maybe that'll work. Peace, -Harry