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Joseph Nesbitt

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Everything posted by Joseph Nesbitt

  1. Why not ask for some advice, you may find that with that 6,000 you can do a lot, advice here will save you money, asking what you can do with the budget you have will get you a great response, your thesis sounds interesting, you have a committed crew apparently, see what you can do with that.
  2. Hi I'm shooting a short soon, just for fun I decided to try replicating a David Fincheresque type of feel for the scene. Unfortunately I am at a total loss on how to achieve the look from Fight Club. Like Seven it's Neo Noir so I was thinking of high contrast and giving off that bleeding into the frame look, someone on the forums recently wanted to replicate that electric feel to some films, he wanted to achieve it for film, I would like to know how to do it on Mini Dv. The scene will probably be done with rented lights, I will most likely have three lights at my disposal, and maybe a couple of home depot work lights if I need them. The scene is a night Ext. it is the opening scene, it's a conversation between three people, I want an Ominous and fore boding mood, I am planning to light from the left side with one of the home depot lights pointed down from a boom to create the look of a weak street light and then beside that have a diffused professional light probably a 3k or 5k to represent moonlight, then backlight the actors with an un-diffused 3k. Any suggestions or ideas to replicate the gritty feel of Fight Club
  3. you may not be able to put enough ND to do it, or if it for an hour keep the results consistent, the light will be changing no mater what time of day, unless that isn't a bad thing. If I were you I'd get an HMI sunspot, it is small portable, not intrusive to the driver and will give the look of natural lighting, make sure that you don't get the light bouncing back into the lens though so position your light before you start driving and know how much you can pan. As far as the Nd goes do a test before you shoot the actual subject, find out what time you'll be shooting this, or get a ruff estimate, go out at that time a couple days before shooting and try a few different kinds of ND gel and see what is most effective at that time, is it is right in the middle of the day you'll need a ton so why bother, try using a filter on your lens, bring as many as you have with you and include that in the test, drive around for a while and film, marking how much you may need to change your f stop or when the method you picked may become ineffective, as far as the light goes I'd say sunspot for the day, but some companies design lights for this purpose, I've never been in this situation so try looking into it, there are lights available for day or night that are meant for this situation, however one situation you should avoid is if he will be driving around into day to night, that would be impossible to keep consistent, I'd let the director or producer know to make sure that such a situation would not arise.
  4. okay thank you for answering that Dave, one of the main themes is the expendability of the soldiers on the front lines, I am trying to convey both the separation from home threw some shots and blocking positions with that mechanized fleet of innocent men to the machine guns to convey the real expendability of these guys. Oh and btw if anyone wants the links I was able to fund this movie for under 2 grand for props and stuff, if anyone wants the links to the sites I used I can give them, I think it's a shame war movies become a dream of what you want to shoot, I know 2 grand sounds like a lot but all the weapons and costumes and stuff were very cheap. clothing plus props http://www.armysurpluswarehouse.com http://www.rddusa.com/ http://www.imsplus.com/enlisted-pin-on-rank-insignia.html http://www.armygear.net http://www.sportsmansguide.com http://store.colemans.com most of the guns I got here, you just need to put em together http://www.cushmanpaintball.com/ the rest were at a site called kapowee they have deals on broken airsoft guns with real wooden parts at low prices, I was amazed, just go to the boneyard section http://www.realistictoyguns.com/ they even have toy guns that look really nice, I couldn't really find any that I liked but I'm sure that if you give the site time some may pop up Alright well if anyone has anymore tips on how to create the feelings of either isolation, expendability or the reckless acts of war threw blocking positions I would be glad to hear any more tips I could use all the help that I can get, also how much attention should I pay to the effects of the film, lets say a tree gets blown up, obviously this takes a lot of time to do on set but in the real battle it was just something else that was happening, would paying a lot of attention to effects like this or gun shots, mortar strikes turn my movie into Transformers ( definitely don't want that by the way ) or would it help convey the terror of the battle, I felt band of brothers found a happy medium and it just help put you into the battle rather than saying Holy Sh** did that tree just blow up, I found myself saying could you imagine what it was like to be there, I think the best war movies produce the second result, what do you guys think and how can you achieve that?
  5. for that why not look at seminars people in that field may give (VFX) and even if you don't learn enough from them, maybe you might meet someone who would work with you just for the experience, or look around school, your talking about getting ahead of the competition, why not look talk some kids you think are talented, some of them may have a good VFX knowledge, or go to other schools try to figure out a safe way to pull this thing on before you waste a lot of time trying to learn to do it when you could be coming up with another idea for a different project.
  6. Yes it is a privilege to shoot and the script did have descriptions sorry if I didn't mention that, we are on a low budget so extra planning is definitely something I have kept in mind, but now I think I'll put more stock into the smaller aspects of planning I may overlook, the tree thing for example. I have a few more questions on how to bring out the emotional bits of a battle scene threw blocking. I know saving private Ryan and band of brothers would have a tendency to get right on the line of action, throwing us right into the action, however the older movies veered away from this, what do you guys think is more effective? I originally wanted to mix it up, for some scenes I planned to have the audience connect with the characters in battle more towards the end of the film, then as it progresses we start to give it that Saving private Ryan touch, and also shot size is another concern, to frame in all these explosions am I creating an environment I don't want as a director? If I have to zoom out enough to frame a falling tree my characters are suddenly in the bottom right hand corner of the frame and maybe in a scene where I want the battle going in there favor, and maybe a tree gets hit, I can break the emotion of the scene, or if I shoot from below and I am trying to make a character look weak just to frame a tree it seems like a lot of times in this movie I may have to make choices to make FX work opposed to the art of the movie and trust me I don't want to be the next Michael Bay, so anyways how should I frame scenes like that, without giving emphasis to the fx, I would like the explosions and blood just to be there, and not to put emphasis on them, yet still I want that production value that they bring.
  7. safety is key, but the theme is excellent, why not apply that story to something else more feasible, maybe someone lost at sea, or on a deserted island with no food ( is you are near water of coarse ) if you were imaginative enough to create that idea, just apply that story to something else, I don't want to destroy your very original idea but I think that you could create something very convincing in a more workable theme. At this point even if you did find someone to safely harness the actors and bought the expansive software to remove the cables ( Red has that ability ) you will be so focused on pulling off an effect that is over your head that you will loose sight of what you really want to do which is sell a story. I wouldn't recommend putting this in your back pocket, but rather applying it to something else, the people here will help you find out how to light it and direct it, pursue it, and if you do decide to put it in your back pocket, write the script, save it, with a printed and hardrive copy and then look back at it when you are more experienced, but if it were me, I'd find a way to make it differently.
  8. Hi I am currently story boarding my new WW2 film, set in the winter in the battle of the bulge, the script has 5 big battle scenes, I am completely lost on how to block these scenes. Most involve artillery barrages and then gunfights, now the main bulk of these sequences are following either a medic or a few troops but with so much movement I don't know where to start. I would like to follow a blocking setup up that starts out as an I or L pattern then turns into an A pattern, putting the key character in those spots then the rest in the background, but in a big chaotic scene how much does blocking really matter? obviously getting characters to hit they're key lights and stuff will be blocked accordingly but about scenes with just one guy running? can I throw out the handbook there? I know that some setups promote loneliness or isolation and for this movie I would like to use subtly as much as I can I don't want to throw emotions in the audiences face when they aren't ready for it. I'm sorry for sounding so vague but what I am looking for is guidelines on how you guys would set up scenes like this. Obviously the chaos on slaughter of the battle are essential themes I want to promote threw blocking set ups, I just don't know how to block a scene like that. So for one character running foxhole to foxhole, what setup would be best to point that out, and for 3-4 characters on a patrol how would these themes be established, any guidelines or input would be greatly appreciated
  9. I think the strongest preformances (I don't mean strong as in INVONERABLE lol but convincing), I have done come from discussing the script with the actors and seeing what they're idea are, and the most important thing is not just throwing these ideas away becuase you a smart director and you know anything but rather just to point the actors in the right direction with what they're ideas are, if they see a different emotion that they're charchter may have, and you feel differenly, ask them why they feel that would work before you tell them your ideas, sometimes even before we set up lights or block the scene or anything I like to sit down with my actors after they have read they're lines and see what they think the charachters want, from there I will maybe give them a quick tip, like try to act like you need to pee thing, I say things that will point them in the right direction, I think someone says things like that to avoid saying you are covered with explosives you just pissed your pants and a jury is right there, a brilliant director can find ways around pointing out the obvious so the actor can explore the role, if the actor gets lost a good director is friendly and approachable and will get you sounding like a true shaksperiaan another reference to an older post, but in your own way.
  10. Alright, I know that Children of Men, Atonement, Oldboy, Touch of Evil have had some amazing steadycam, or just long continuity shots which took a lot of rehearsing, my question is in reference to the children of men car scene where Julianne Moore is shot in the neck and the biker hits the car etc. etc etc, I want to know how to fake this convincingly, I want to create a long scene, and fake it in one charchter movement, whipping the camera and then setting up the next shot, and cutting on the camera whip, or blocking the camera behing something like hitchcock did in rope so I need help. What I mean is directing tips, lighting tips, continuity tips on how to keep a seemingly endless camera shot seem that way, without actually going threw all that trouble, the reason I posted this was because I've tried to do this by just doing whip pans, cutting on the pan to another shot but it doesn't work, not because of the editing, rather because the performances don't match, and neither does the lighting, so I need help in those two departments, and any other tips for scene continuity, in faking a continuous shot
  11. http://cgi.ebay.com/900-W-Fresnel-Spot-Flo...1QQcmdZViewItem how reliable are these things on ebay? I want something that can produce a fairly good 4:1 lighting ratio, and that will be able to light for more than one character, like a flood that would be broad enough to hit character's 1's fill and also act that way for character 2 and produce decent results, would investing these be worth the money?
  12. Hi guys, I'm thinking about investing in some professional lights, I'll probably go used, so far I've only been using those crappy home depot work-lights, does anyone recommend anything in particular, I want something that will produce hard light, not a florescent, and that is relatively portable with bulbs that are a reasonable cost to replace, so what are the best lights for the money? Budget by the way is probably 200-300
  13. Hi guys I've had the problem of lighting large Gun fights before, the main problem is that I can't really get good light on every single actor in a large scale gun fight scene, and that in these scenes everyone is moving in an out of places so far they don't stay in they're key light long enough for it to be worth putting there, so is there a couple techniques of tips you guys have on how to do this? Is it an issue of blocking the scene? I also would like to add I'm using some cheap home depot work lights and some clamp lights with 200 or so watt bulbs in them so is it an issue that my lights aren't powerful enough? for example would buying something from lowell or Omni give me a bigger key light spread allowing for more movement within that area? thankyou for any help, and I'm sorry if the post is a little confusing.
  14. hey, as far as a projector goes, most are very expensive so I'm assuming your renting, these things usually go up in price by how good the bulb is and I'm assuming the better bulb means more light so prepare to dig into your pocket, as far as screen I know that in natural born killers Oliver stone projected of brick walls and stuff like that so you can probably use like a pretty cheap screen there are photography sites that sell them in the form of back drops and ebay might have projection screens but you can always just by a canvas, cheap big but they wrinkle so be careful.
  15. hey listen it's really simple to do and there area million different ways depending on your budget, a good replica isn't always expensive, air soft guns are pretty cheap, just google air soft and you'll find what you need at a good price. The muzzle flash can be done in after effects with either flash, smoke, shell ejection or whatever you want, or you can get it threw special effects stock footage, another thing to google and buy some muzzle flashes from real guns or thirdly if you can go down to a range and do it yourself, but that's if you can, hope that helped
  16. I actually was able to get that senheiser MKH416 believe it or not so that's covered, thank you for all of your advice guys, Bryan that site is incredible, good job on that and keep up the good work, and thaks for your help guys
  17. Hi, I'm trying to learn about sound but so far the only thing I really know is that sound is the most important thing to the production, and that you should get the mic as close as possible. This is definitely not enough to know so does anyone have any advice, or links?
  18. these guys managed to do an omaha invasion scene with three guys, although the video showed all that got put into it, I have no idea how I would do it, so can anyone go step by step and show me how it was done, some specifics I want to know are 1- photographing something like a bunker, putting into your footage and then having someone run in front of it, or rather a lot of people like in they're case and two, what program to use to get all those actors in the same frame and cut it all together like they did, is there a specific roto program or is they're a good and easy way to do it with FCP. And is they're a better method than the way the did that, I don't have 1000 extras and 1,000,000,000 squibs but maybe some other manipulation strategies on how to achieve a similar effect. Finally I know that they used green screen a lot, does anyone know a good web site that can explain the chroma key method step by step and really get me to the point where I could do it with no problems at all in editing? Sorry for the long post and thank you for any answers.
  19. here's the pic Snapshot_2008_03_28_07_17_20.tiff
  20. think of that pic with no background... just overlay it on the video threw video tracks your clip is the one highlighted, it is one over the film noir image which is under it, so just add the video track.
  21. This is the link to 10 minute flick school, please don't delete this post it is for educational purposes. The first thing he mentioned that I was interested in was a spark gun for wall hits, he mentioned it 3:17 in the video, so a how do I get one? Any links? Or is there a DIY method to do this that you are familiar with? now second 6:29 into the video he is talking about compositing Banderas sliding down the stairs on the guitar case and hitting the actor, so how do you composite without a Green Screen, could a garbage matte work, or would you have to go frame by frame and crop out banderas manually, then stick the footage together?
  22. fortunately for you there already is this effect Effects-Video Filters-View finder , however if you don't like it, I chroma keyed your thing for you. it's attached. Try playing around with your software add a flicker to the record, brighten it, reduce the battery over time get creative.
  23. Also for some great info on lighting in general http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/ It's a photography blog I know but really great stuff on lighting in General that is really helpful, so some of it you won't use but still a good blog
  24. I saw No country for Old men recently and one scene struck me in particular, if anyone has seen it there is a part when he returns to this circle of cars at night where a heroin deal had recently gone wrong to bring a man some water. Anyways sorry for the spoiler a truck appears next to where he parked his truck so he runs, trys to hide and they attempt to stop him, he ends up getting away. So while this whole scene was going on it looked so natural like he was staying under the one source of light the whole time, like you were out there with this guy, only seeing him by the moonlight, but of coarse anyone who has taken a camera out into the night and tried to shoot a charachter with no lights , they will find it unsecessful. Does anyone know of a good time tested method to get good lighting at night?
  25. I'm getting ready to buy and am curious about what a good buy is considered for a Super 8 camera, and what the best camera for the money.
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