AJ Young

How big of a boat(s) are you talking about? I shot a canoe sequence for a $500k feature with a private indoor pool: If you're talking two row boats, then you could in theory do it with a private pool of the size I used. Small, private locations aside, this company seems legit: https://www.filmpools.com/

Have a great time with the movie! Share your experience when you're done!

You may be splitting hairs, but LED's are always cooler. If you want to go with an M18, then go for it. But, if heat is a concern, then eliminate that factor with LED. ? Either option you suggested for lens will work. Diffusion on top will work; it'll create an even light, though. If you're looking for something different, you could just seal it with plexiglass and have a clear window for your light.

@Daniel O'Flaherty My pleasure! The downside to Red cameras are their poor performance in low light compared to cameras of the similar price range (excluding the Gemini's dual ISO). This is simply because so many photosites are packed into the sensor to reach the resolutions their known for. However, if the Helium is all that you have available, then push it to 2000 ISO. You'll have to make it clear to your director and producers that there will need to be denoising in post. Luckily, denoising is fantastic today with programs like "Neat Video". I cranked up the ISO on a Dragon sensor to 3200 and was able to save the footage with Neat Video. You couldn't tell the difference between base ISO and the cranked ISO. HMI's are actually quite hot; they tend to melt gels faster than tungsten. Hell, I even cracked a mirror with an M18 one time after it was shooting through it for an hour. Needless to say, if heat is an issue at all you'd better go with LED. Lens wise, all of the options you listed will be fine. You're shooting at a pretty deep stop; even the cheapest of lenses will look good when you're shooting at T11. ?

I'd recommend looking into the Sony Venice. It has dual ISO (500 & 2500 Base ISO), can record 120fps at 4k, and the image gives the Alexa a run for its money. Honestly, a lot of productions are starting to shoot on the Venice because it's a good camera. The Alexa actually doesn't seem like a good option for this job because it sounds like you'll need to keep your light levels low. If you're dead set on using Red, I'd recommend the Gemini because it too offers dual ISO (800 & 3200 Base ISO). Since RED cameras can crop in on the sensor, you could use S16 lenses and shoot the camera in a cropped mode to gain the wider depth of field. I don't believe the camera can record faster than 96fps at 5k, though. (But it also can record higher frame rates the more you crop in on the sensor!) Lighting wise, cheap LED's will most likely flicker at the high frame rate. I'd recommend Digital Sputniks (hard light) or Skypanels (soft light). --- Alternative idea: have you thought about using infrared light? BBC did it for Planet Earth (~1:56): Of course, you'll lose color which could be a deal breaker. MORE ALTERNATIVE IDEA: You could also use machine learning to color the monochrome infrared footage! One example of machine learning colorization: https://deoldify.ai/

Here's a question regarding artistic choice: do you need to see out of the window? Of course it adds depth, but there are tons of examples of just blowing out the windows, covering them with drapes/curtains, the windows are so dirty you can't see any details, etc etc etc. Deakins did it on Bladerunner (link, you'll have to log in to view) and it looked great. What are everyone's personal reasons for/against this? Of course, it depends on the look/style of the film.

Do you have some pictures? I'd love to see this!

Though we're talking about daytime interior scenes, Steve Yedlin, ASC shot day for night interiors by heavily gelling the windows and shooting during the day. I believe he used a hard gel? Not sure exactly what it was, but the result was obviously stellar: Food for thought regarding gelling windows! ?

As I'm sure you know, matteboxes come in two flavors: clamp on and rod based. If you're using a clamp on mattebox, then you only need to make sure there's enough space between the rods and lens. If you're using a rod based mattebox, then make sure you use one whose height can be adjusted. (Most can) Joseph's chart is definitely the goal, but if you're DIYing it then get as close as you can. Clamp on matteboxes give you the most wiggle room

Outside suggestion, but depending on what your final product is, you could also play around with your camera's dynamic range. If you're delivering in Rec709/P3, then you could get away with underexposing the camera and bringing it back up in post. It'll be noisy, but you can clean that up and get extra info in your highlights. You can't do just this alone, but it'll give you some more play in the color grade.

Roger Deakins, ASC's website (http://www.RogerDeakins.com) has a free members only section that shows a lot of his lighting diagrams for his films.

Definitely. They're modular, so you can connect three to six together. They start to look like small Maxi-brutes and are quite powerful.

I'm a fan of Ozu's pillow shots. Personally, I think locations are characters in and of itself; establishing shots can introduce the location, but I feel they should as a character. Ozu's pillow shots are antithetical to how establishing shots are used yet they simultaneously establish location, character, and mood while serving as transitions as well.

I'm a huge fan of stabilization in both the lens and camera body. In your case, only the lens. Do you need it for locked-off tripod shots? No. You can turn off stabilization on the lens. Obviously, watch the monitor while you interview to make sure framing is still good. At a technical level, the Sigma is the better lens. At a practical level, there's not much of a noticeable difference optically between the Sigma and Sony; that extra speed is splitting hairs too. I'd vote for the Sony. ?

@Simon Gulergun: Let us know how it goes! I'd love to see the results.

Oof, practical lights in camera are tough with D4N. Mad Max did a combo of VFX and color grading for their practical lights. If the helmet light doesn't need to be on the entire time, you could get away with shooting those specific shots during dusk for night. If you want to imply the practical is actually working regardless, an HMI faking the light source will be your best friend. You'll have to do some massaging and testing to find the right ratio of practical key light to sunlight. Since you're on 16, you won't get the luxury of checking the look with a LUT. But, because you're on Vision 3 (I assume), you'll have a lot of highlight detail. I'd err on the side of caution and over expose. (Of course, this depends on if you are building the D4N look in the color grade) If you're able to, bring a DSLR that can load up the LUT to take test shots. It won't be a one-to-one match of the look, but it'll give you an idea if the approach is working for when you roll a take on film. If you want a beam of light, you'll have to do VFX. Thankfully, Aftereffects is getting easier and there are a plethora of tutorials out there. It's all about time and testing. Test test test test test!

Stuart hit the nail on the head. @Jesse Colin: If you're tight for cash, try using a solid white shower curtain hung from a c-stand as your diffusion. You'll have to control the spill, naturally, with flags, but you'll get a soft box look cheap and easy with 3-4 c-stands. Of course, it's not as simple, self-contained, and pretty looking like a Chimera.

Menace arming a Skypanel is a bad idea. They're too heavy. If you're dead set on a Skypanel, you could goal post them with two sets of speed rail for extra strength (I've done it before). We also added extra support on the ends of the goal post like an a-frame. However, it depends on how wide your frame is; a goal post can only go so far before it's too dangerous. Do you have choice of location? If so, I'd look for a studio that has a grid. Then you can totally use a Skypanel overhead. ? If you're not dead set on a Skypanel, maybe look into digital sputniks with a chimera and grid on them? They're quite punchy, have DMX, and are RGB. Plus they're a lot lighter!

Mother of George got me hooked on Bradford Young. It's a great film! According to Cybel Martin, using color on black skin is a beautiful choice for cinematography. You might find some good insight and inspiration from an article she wrote: https://shadowandact.com/2014/02/04/the-art-of-lighting-dark-skin-for-film-and-hd/ I agree with Albion, the above frame is easy to get today via litemats and gels. (I think there is even an RGB litemat now)

Are you looking to purchase or rent a light? Based on your description, an HMI would actually work better. They're not cheap to buy, but cheap to rent! You could get a 575w or 1200w (hell, maybe even an M18) for less than £500 via renting. I take it you'll want soft light, so you can shoot the HMI either through or bounce on an 8'x8' frame of diffusion/bounce. Keep it far away from your subjects and the inverse square law will more than cover them. The key light should imply a large window off camera and will match your natural skylight well. I'm not sure any LED can match the output of an HMI for the budget you're looking for, especially if you're looking to buy and what you're hoping it can do. If your dead set on an LED, but you can rent, then a Sky Panel will do a good job. It won't match the intensity of an HMI, but it's pretty bright.

Spot meters are also great for checking your key to fill ratio! Once you get the lighting the way you like it, use the spot meter to check the value of the key side and the fill side of the subject. Write those down and reference them for the reverse and other angles. I'm sure it goes without saying, but make sure your meters match during camera prep. ?

Done! ? I'll add to these examples as I find the old pdf's. http://ajyoungdp.com/lookbooks.php

People can get severely injured with stunts on even the most experienced of sets. You need to hire an experienced stunt coordinator. Fight scenes require rehearsals, timing, and an exact blocking that if done by an inexperienced individual could lead to serious injury. Trust me, an experienced stunt coordinator is worth the money. They'll tell you exactly what you will need to do to keep your actors safe.

I'd say get the colored seamless that you're picturing in your head. It's definitely possible to make a white seamless look grey, but why go through the extra work when you can just order a grey seamless? Are you going for an Annie Leibovitz kind of look?

Email me anytime!