After Hours

 Over the past weekend I knew I wanted to get the shots of Eric watching and talking with the TV. But there was a slight issue, I needed videos that would play on the TV and projector in order to get accurate lighting and make the scenes look cohesive.

The first thing I did was sync the video and audio from the shoot at BECON-TV. I did that fairly quickly and when I finished I realized I needed something to help signal to a viewer that the show would be cutting to commercial. Music was the first thing I thought about so I added that in and then I realized that I needed some kind of wipe and logo graphic for the show. With not much in my head I turned to an old tutorial I used for video assignment 2 years ago, that I would use to prompt motion in the graphic. I then began looking through fonts and other talk show logos and landed on a simple yet effective, idea that would use two different fonts that would help the Trent Marley name stand out. I'd also be outlining the same, sort of similar to how Solo: A Star Wars Story made their logo. I ended up finding Budmo for the "Trent Marley" and I used one of the default fonts that came with Adobe, Broadway, for the rest of it.

I was going to make the design in Photoshop first, but I opted to design it in After Effects that way I can immediately begin to make it flow like a motion graphic. For the colors I went on Coolors.co to find a color palette that would be similar to the one I already have for the film's brand, but also fitting for The Trent Marley Show. I ended up going with a mostly cool palette with a bright magenta accent. When I went looking for.

With all of that I animated a logo graphic and add in some scaling just to add some more movement to the whole thing. Something felt off though about the flat Trent Marley look, so I went to search for a flicker I could add to the logo to give it some flashy looks and ended up find a "VHS Flicker Preset" and I immediately tried it out. The preset looked really cool, but there were a few quirks with it, but luckily for me I was able to adjust any and all parameters to get it to look exactly how I wanted it to look.

With the logo done, I needed a wipe to transition from the studio to the logo, and because it was getting late I decided to explore Premiere Pro's default transitions, and to my surprise at the very bottom I found "Sport Wipe 1" and it was almost perfect; the colors didn't match and it felt too quick at the beginning. I then saw there was a tab to edit the colors and then I reversed the speed of the wipe to get it to start slower and end fast. This was my final result:

The video above was later posted to the @whatyouwatchfilm Instagram account

And with the logo done, it was time to move on to the next stage in preparing to film for the night. I did initially want to film with Connor that day, but he had apparently felt really bad and we decided to reschedule the shoot. Connor not being able to film didn't change the fact that I wanted to film, at least the shots of just me in the TV Room that don't require other people. Similar to wanting to have a reference for The Trent Marley Show and the logo, I wanted to have a reference of the opening monologue. Without Connor I came up with the idea of filming a place holder with me to at least get similar lighting since I wouldn't be explicitly showing the TV, at least in these shots. 

I setup a C-Stand with curtains from my home hanging down from them with a few clips, and then I moved on to the camera and lights. I didn't stress too much because like I said before, the video wouldn't be explicitly shown. I then put on a black jacket to make my shoulder resemble a suit jacket, and talked to the camera for 3 minutes. With the videos wrapped, I then began to move around furniture to prepare for actual filming. I turned off the practical lights in my house and set up a COB light as a key light and a flat panel GVM as a hair light. I also connected my laptop to the TV with an HDMI cable so I can pull up the shots I needed.

I first decided to film the shot of me at the beginning that would jump cut to me at the train station. I used the same wide lens as the other shot and pulled up the shot on my TV so I could get similar framing. Since I was filming on my own, I used the Sony IEM app to remotely control the camera and view the shot while in front of the camera. 

Once I got the shot I moved on to the 3rd scene, where I'd be talking to Trent while he's interviewing a guest. I rehearsed the dialogue and timings in order to be in sync with Nicole as she spoke several times before actually rolling. Unlike the first shot, this one would need audio, so I setup a boom pole on the floor and a lavalier mic clipped to my shirt that way I had two channels of audio to choose from. The assortment of equipment and cables on the floor lowkey reminded me of Bo Burnham's Inside which I thought was cool.

For this shot I thought I'd try out using the projector as a visual aid to show what exactly is the TV is playing at a given point. Technically speaking its unrealistic, but the it worked to convey the effect and created a bit of cohesion between the different shots. It also just looks cool. I also then decided I'd film the TV playing The Trent Marley show for the final edit and to serve as something that I can post about on the social media.

By the time I wrapped for the day it was about 4 A.M., which unintentionally helped because my eyes were strained by the end of the filming session which can also look like I've been watching the TV a while. I was pretty happy with the footage I got that night, but I lowkey wanted to get a few more variations for some of the shots and make use of the fog machine I had. So the next night, I filmed some more! The only new stuff that looked better and/or different was footage I got for the social media account. And I think I'm going to have to do 1 more late night shoot after I film the finale with Connor so I can get a proper lighting reference, but by this point I know the setup like the back of my hand.

Kickin' it with Trent Marley

 For Day 3 of production, we traveled to the 'far away' lands of Davie, Florida to get to BECON-TV. Over the previous week, I had been in talks with the Executive Producer over at BECON, Jim Guarasci about using the studio space they have. He first had to double check with some of the other people there to verify the space wasn't going to be used for Friday Afternoon. 

Once that was confirmed I nailed on 1pm-4pm. Connor was returning from a trip that day so,  we couldn't schedule for earlier. Because of the later start time, I also thought it'd be best to prioritize getting the sit down interview shots for scene 3 in the script, since that needed the studio's set and props, where as the monologues can really be filmed anywhere I can prop up a curtain and lights. 

I drove over to BECON-TV with Nicole Piñeros and Sam Perez, they both helped me with brings props from the closet as well as with setting up. For the scene I choose 2 bold red chairs, a blue background, a table in the center, and place plants behind them. As for lighting, the studio had already 5 3200K lights in it's rig already turned on, so I used them as backlights. In order to properly light the subjects I grabbed two 5800K COB lights and place two big soft boxes over them. Each light would be focused at one of the subjects while also filling in the sides of the other subject.

 

By the time I finished tuning in the lights, Connor finally arrived in his 2 piece suit and tie. It was also around this time Sam had to leave, but it was fine since it meant it was just me and the actors. I was able to talk to Connor about Trent Marley and we landed on having him over exaggerate his movements, but still keep a semblance of grounded-ness to it. During the practice takes, I remembered how Nicole also had a background in Cypress Bay High School's American Musical Theater program which made sense as to why the two quickly had good chemistry.

I opted to record the scene from 2 angles, the wide of the two and a medium of Trent Marley. I technically shoudl've gotten a medium of Nicole's character too, but in the final edit, I'd be cutting between Eric and Trent while on the TV, so I wouldn't to shown Nicole's angle. After getting a 3 good takes from each angle, I called it a wrap for the day. I had gotten the shots I needed, and even material for a social media post. I found it super fun to work with Nicole and Connor (for the first time) as they both were very professional and focused on their work. Afterward we even had a conversation about the risks involved with the fields of film and musical theater and goals for later in life. In general I found it to be super cool. I'm also super excited to film the monologues and closing scene soon.

Ungraded Final Shot

Another thing that happened when we finished was Connor finding a piano to play:

Getting Kicked Out!

For Day 2 of filming, it was scheduled to film the 4th scene in a parking lot in front of a Target, which is massive. I landed on the location since the back end of the parking lot would not be busy, and far from the store. I got to the spot early with Sam to buy the prop bag and remote, and then we'd beginning filming the shots of just me. When I film on location I try to be the least intrusive as I could be, with bare bones equipment and personnel. The scene is fairly brief and shots were simple too.

Knowing the scene would take place in the later afternoon, I tried to look up where and when the sun would set, especially since day light savings recently just kicked in and has thrown off my sense of time. I would a website that did both and modeled when the sun would be at any given point of the day from any specific spot.  The sun would be setting in the direction of the store, so it'd work to back light Eric as he walks from the store and if I block the scene right the character can have the sun as a key light with the car behind them.

The first shot of me from the inside of my car reversing out "into" another person's car. Since I know that the sun would be behind me I brought a small reflector to have in the car and fill my dark half. I taped it to the side of the car to get just the right angle and then BAM, it worked at lighting me yet staying natural.

I then filmed the shot of me walking to the car only for Angelo to arrive as were finishing up with a take. He parks and I begin to walk him through his character and the purpose of the scene. Once we were good I decided we'd first film the shot where Angelo's character angrily marches from his car to yell at Eric, since it'd be the only shot that would show his car (we'd used perspective to hide the point of impact, but the car would still be shown) I wanted to get the shot done fast to avoid having Angelo's car parked in the middle of the street.

In directing his parking and enacting his path of motion, a security car pulled along side Sam and the tripod. I walk over to the side of the car as the man inside lowers the window and informs me that the the mall that the Target is part of has a no photography and filming policy, and that it extends to the parking lot. I mentioned how it was for a school project and he just repeated the same things as before. I then asked him if he knew of any place near that wasn't off limits and he said not here. After that, I took the camera off the tripod to signal we were leaving and recapped the situation to Angelo who was watching from his car. I told him to park normally as I put stuff away. It also wasn't until the broke apart the tripod that the security car finally left.

With the sun soon the set, it'd still be cutting it close even if security didn't stop by, so I called it for the day, and asked Angelo what other day he'd be free to film. He said Sunday (March 26), so that's our new filming day. For Sunday I'll look for a place closer to home that I've used as a filming location in the past to play it safe. In this whole experience I am happy though that we didn't film that much because if the same thing happened later in the process, then I'd potentially have to refilm a major amount of the scene that I already filmed. Anyhow, I never really liked that mall that much anyways.

FILMING DAY 1

 YEAH THE BIG DAY!!!! Let's go! For the first scene we drove over to the Dania Beach Train Station at 10 AM, to film the 2nd scene. As I like to do when I film on location, I did as much planning as I could do beforehand. This including storyboarding, know what equipment I needed to bring, picking a small crew, and planning for mobile setups. For the crew I got Sam Perez (left) to help in front of and behind the camera and Maria Ojeda (middle) to help behind the camera, specifically as a boom operator. As for me I'd be acting and directing. 

When we first got there I scouted out the station to gauge how busy it was and to look for a corner where we can setup without intruding much on everyday passer byers. I decided we'd first start with the part of the scene where Eric and the other person talk while sitting down on a bench. We got to the bench and first filmed Sam's part before getting the reverse shot to Sam's shot.

Once we were happy with the talking shots, we filmed an insert o Sam getting up to leave, and a final wide of me on the bench as a bus pulls in behind me (which looks real cool in camera). We then moved over to the ticket machine part of the scene. By this point we'd gotten an idea of the rhythm of the train station and around when a train or bus would pull in dropping off  more people, so we first got the close of me right by where we were filming since the close up doesn't show the machine (I loved lying about perspective). We then moved over to the actual machine when there was a trough of people at the station to film my half of the shots. Once we got them, a bus pulled in dropping off people, so we moved to the side where we took the time to look at the shot. When the crest of people fizzled away, we moved in and got Sam's shots.

With those shots done, we called it a wrap for the day, and drove to a Hot Diggity Dogs for lunch. About a year and a half ago, Sam actually was part of a team that made a News Story about the place, that went on to win a Student Suncoast Emmy and later went on to be nominated for a National Student Production Award, so we thought we'd stop by for fun. Anyways Day 1 was fun, and later I actually ended up filming with Sam for their Film Opening, so if you're curious about that check it out here.

Full Cast + Crew

With filming about to begin I' thought I'd take a moment to go through the major cast and crew that has been confirmed for the film. 

ERIC = Alex Duque

At the forefront of this story is Eric, who by this point needs no real introduction. Though I do want to shed light the reasoning behind the self-casting. Over the last several years of making videos and films, I've learned to balance work in front of and behind the camera. During the 2020-2021 school year, I single handedly had to act and film by myself, and even when schooling went back to in person, I still ended up acting in many of my own films and projects. Even for my portfolio project last year, I acted in it. And not only have I grown accustom to acting and directing, but when I decided I'm acting in a project of mine, I think of how I would shoot the film with out me behind the camera. That either means keeping the camera locked down to a tripod or having someone I trust behind the camera, and then of course I always after every take look at the shot with my own two eyes to see if I'm happy with it. 

TRENT MARLEY = Connor Lirio

I've already gone into detail for my reasonings for Connor as Trent Marley, so if you want a refresher or missed the other blog posting, check it out here.

UN-NAMED TRAIN STATION PERSON = Samantha Perez Laurenza

I think I've mentioned Sam in a previous blog posting, but for those who don't know, they're a frequent collaborator of mine who is currently taking AICE Media AS. We've worked on a number of projects together and for our portfolio projects we were both going to take the lead on our respective projects, but still needed some help in terms of acting and behind camera stuff. We made a deal in which I'd help with their project and they'd help with my project, hence Sam appearing on this list. The reason I choose Sam for this role was due to the fact that their character would need to connect somewhat with Eric in order to positively reinforce his behavior. I like to think that Sam and I have good chemist with everything we've worked on, so the role was filled.

DRIVER = Angelo Zervos

Now Angelo is someone I know I haven't mentioned before because he doesn't even go to the same school as I do. He's a friend who is fit and generally lets his facial hair grow out, so I thought he'd make a good fit for someone who'd get easily angered over someone bumping his car. I've also seen him when he's angry and it's not fun, so I think it'd work.

CELEBRITY GUEST = Nicole Piñeros

For those who don't know, Nicole is a lovely person, and I excited having her on the crew. She's someone I've met through the TV Production program I've been in for the last 4 years, and she's also someone I've convinced to take AICE Media next year. I knew the role was minor, so I had freedom to pick anyone really; I choose Nicole because I wanted her to get a feel for being on set (especially while at BECON) because at least when I was a Sophomore I would've loved opportunities like this to help out with. And I have a feeling she's going to be doing some cool stuff in the future. 

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As for the crew it's more of the same names, though I do want to bring to attention to Maria Ojeda. She, like Nicole, is an amazing person who I'm glad is on the crew and helping out. She's also a Sophomore, but she's actually taking AICE Media Studies AS Level now, so I thought it be cool to give her a sneak peak of the A level portfolio experience she'll be having next year. Last year, I had a similar opportunity to help as a Production Assistant last year and thought it was super fun, so Male if you're reading this, that's why.

WRITER & DIRECTOR = Alex Duque

PRODUCER = Alex Duque

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY = Alex Duque

CAMERA OPERATORS = Samantha Perez Laurenza, Alex Duque

BOOM OPERATORS = Maria Ojeda, Samantha Perez Laurenza, Alex Duque

I set off the fire alarm!

After taking a day to rest after my trip, I picked up equipment from BECON-TV. I was lucky enough to have been able to check out all the equipment I had wanted; basically everything I checked out I've used in the past, with sort of an exception with the fog machine. Yes I did try to use it in the past, but it didn't work for what I wanted to do. Not to mention the fact that I left my friend in charge of it since I didn't know how to use it. So my goal for the day was to see if I could get the fog machine working the way I wanted it to work.

As detailed in  How not to burn down a house I never had the best luck with this sort of stuff. Now I have reason to believe the fluid I used last year was either old or just very dense, hence why it fell down to the ground instantly. When I went to pick up equipment today though, there were two new looking bottles of high density fluid. I decided I'd test the fluid before going out of my way to buy one.

For this test trial, I used my sister's old room for it's size and far distance away from my mom's room since it was 11 PM. I first emptied the fog machine of any pre-existing fluid it had in it before going to pour in fluid from the smaller (and slightly newer-looking) bottle. I then set up the projector to be on its default home screen and I plugged in the fog machine. Now while plugging in the fog machine, I saw there was a cable that ran to a small red button with a warning label above it, but I opted to read it later. 

With power going to the machine I flipped the the switch on, and only a couple poofs of fog came out in irregular intervals. Confused I grabbed the end with the red button and clicked it, only for a quarter of the room to fill with fog almost instantly. And surprise surprise, the alarm went off waking the whole house. Whoops... 

Anyways, I dispersed the fog a bit to make it less smokey in appearance, and IT WORKED! 

I'm actually really happy with how well the fog and projector worked together. The fact that my crappy budget phone could capture the light rays from the projector, makes me confident about using this technique in the film. I'm SUPER SUPER SUPER EXCITED to make use of this!

Social Media Strategy

Up until this point I've post twice to my social media page, @whatyouwatchfilm on Instagram, on a 1 post per week bases. While slow at the moment I do plan on ramping up activity the closer I get to the release of the film; another benefit of this strategy is that the closer I get to the release, the more material I have to work with. 

Since my social media account is the most prominent reference for my brand, at least until I release the final film and postcard, I want to be very thoughtful about what I post on there. At the moment with the two posts and the profile picture I've established that blue hues are going to be reoccurring throughout the rest of the social media and brand. I also want to establish aspects of the film that will be prevalent for the film, such as it's harsher lighting, locations, props, and characters. And if I can for these posts, I want to make use of the medium and tools I'll be using for the actual short film. 

For my second post for example I wanted to share that the script for the film was seemingly done and ready for production. Often when a director makes a social media post teasing the completion of a script they usually take a causal looking photo and share it to their personal social media account; for this production though I wanted to take the idea of teasing a script's completion, but go a step further with making the post seem fitting with the rest of the brand. 

For the script cover tease, I placed it on the floor of the location I'd be filming in as Eric's TV Room and I wanted a source of light to be projected on to it as if it were the TV. Initially, I set up a GVM flat panel and cast a blue light on the coming from above the top of the page, but I didn't like the simplicity of it, nor the fact that it just looked like a blue light was above it rather than a TV casting light on the floor. I then remembered about my PVO Projector and set it up to cast the image of a static TV screen on the script cover. After taking the photo and with a bit of Photoshop trickier, I was able narrow the cone of light "coming from the TV" into to include some negative space in the frame. 

For this since I'm out of town and don't have new photos to work with, I may either conjure something up in photoshop or post a larger image of the profile picture to maintain the once a week activity. Next week since I'll have storyboards, props, and even footage, I'll have more material to work with. I'd likely first post a couple behind the scenes photos, and then move into making specific posts that highlight certain characters or props. 

Toward the end of the social media cycle I do want to post some mini teases and even some of the clips that will play on the TV, like the commercial for the remote or highlights from the Trent Marley show.

Shooting Schedule

Since I'm going to be filming this upcoming week, I thought it'd be best if I made a post that would splits up the script into possibly shooting days and/or call times. I've been delaying this post for a little bit since I've been having to form this plan in coordination to Samantha Perez Laurenza, since we both will be helping each other with our respective projects. We'd also be sharing equipment, since a lot of what we wanted to use overlapped and because were two student from the same school, borrowing practically the same equipment from BECON-TV, so we thought it'd make sense.

3/21/2023

I'm scheduled to pick up the equipment on March, 21 at BECON-TV, so there's not much else besides securing that and finalizing a story board. It's also nice because the afternoon before I return from my 5 day trip to California for the Student Television Network's National Convention (STN).

3/22/2023

On Wednesday I'm getting up early, to get to Dania Beach Train Station around 9 or 10 A.M. I'll be filming the second scene that day on location, and I'll be keeping it fairly simple with most of it consisting on shot/reverse shot. The scene only shows Eric and the Person he interacts with at the train station, so besides Sam and me, I'll be inviting a 3rd person to serve as the boom operator.

Later in the evening, I'll be assisting Sam with their project; they're aiming  to film all they need that day, but if not, the remaining scenes will be picked up the next day.

3/23/2023

Depending how filming for Sam's project goes, I'll be able to film the 4th scene in a parking lot in the later afternoon. For these scene it'll need my character, another person to play the Driver, and then an extra pair of hands that'll most likely serving as a boom operator primarily.

3/24/2023

For Friday, I'm planning to film the shots of Trent Marley in his studio set. I've already mentioned the interest in filming at the BECON-TV studio to the person who is in charge over there, Mr. Guarasci, but I'm going to send another message to confirm since currently he's preoccupied with his responsibilities as a chaperone for Cooper City High School's tv program, as they go to the STN convention, and also as a board member for STN.

Since it'd be a studio environment, the time of day doesn't matter, so I think it'd be nice to get it all out of the way by filming earlier in the day. And if need be, I could film the parking lot scene later that day, if I'm not able to film the day earlier.

If I don't have to film the parking lot scene I might try and get ahead on the final scene in Eric's TV Room, since it would need Connor to be there. And in the case that I can't film the scene that day, I could still film on Saturday.

3/25/2023

Saturday will be the dedicated day for filming all of the scenes in Eric's TV room. I wanted to save this for after filming the studio shots for the Trent Marley Show, so I can have the footage of Connor both as a reference to bounce off up and to capture lighting that would be a practical base for other additional fixtures. And while I'm at it I can get the footage of Connor on the TV as Trent Marley in order to compress and dirty up the raw footage.

And like I said before if I'm not able to film the shots with Connor on Friday, then Saturday is the day I wrap filming.

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This is the plan I have so far, but for a worst case scenario schedule, that's simple to read, here's the tl;dr for filming:

S2 - Ext. Dania Beach Train Station - 3/22/2023 8 A.M.

Trent Marley Show - Int. BECON-TV - Aim for 3/24/2023 11 A.M.

S4 - Ext. Best Buy Parking Lot - 3/24/2023 6 P.M.

S1, S3, S5 - Int. My house - 3/25/2023, Basically any time in the day since 2 of the 3 scenes is just me in my house. And then for the final scene with Connor, that might end up being towards the early evening since it'll be darker outside by that point

Post Card Research

 

The front side of the card includes the title, key art, director name, award wins, the tag line, and theatrical release date. The backside includes social media accounts for the film, quotes from positive reviews, rating, and list of credits at the very bottom. The post card sticks with the color palette for both sides. The lighter colors and soft lighting on the actress create a juxtaposition to the written text that details/teases to more intense moments in the film. The post card also bolds the words the advertisers want the consumer to notice first. I can definitely see myself making use of thin and bold text to emphasize parts whether having to increase the size of the font on an already small surface area. I'd love how the both sides share a similar color gradient which makes the color seem cohesive.

The majority of the space on the postcard is dedicated to a still from the film. The still image is left justified, allowing the graphics and text to go on the right to create a sense of balance in the frame. The title and narration credits are the most eye catching aspects of the frame, both in bold red. The tagline, festival laurel, production credits, and website are typed in white. In the credits section, the names of cast/crew members of written in a larger size than the positions; this technique brings attention to the names involved rather than general position titles. For my promo postcard, I think it'd be cool to make use of colors in the text, and possibly even the key art, to draw in the eyes of the consumer. And if I decide to fill the negative space of a frame for text, I'll plan to make sure the image is left justified since people naturally see things left to right, so the consumer would first see the eye catching image and then they'd see all the nitty gritty details like the title, socials, and date/place of the premiere

Equipment and Technical Jargon

 For What You Watch, I want to make use of the resources available to me to create the best possible product I can. I'm in the process of coordinating with the people over at BECON-TV to see what equipment is available for checking out. 

First and foremost, I need a camera. In a perfect world, I'd use a Sony a7 III. I've used this camera in the past for my documentary, Instilled, my music video While We're Young, and for a couple short films here and there. I've grown a liking for these camera in part for they're full frame sensors and color profile. For this film I'm going to be filming outside during the day and inside in the dark, so I want a camera that can handle both scenarios. While I'll do what I can with the lighting I have, the full-frame sensory is known to be good in low-light because the sensor's has a physically larger surface it can use to capture light. If the camera is unavailable, I'll make use of Canon Mark IV that I can borrow from a friend during Spring Break (for it's full-frame sensor) or my own Canon EOS 90D (it is a cropped sensor, but if I have no other options, then this is the move); Canon camera are also well known fort heir auto-focus so that's always a thing thing to have.

Macro shot taken on the Tamron 90mm

Moving on from the camera body, for lenses I'm thinking of sticking with primes if I could. Primes lenses have the benefit of having fast apertures that would allow for more light to enter the camera (helpful for low-light); these lenses if opened up all the way can also give off a cinematic look with their shallow depth of field. If using a full-frame camera, I'd want to use a 24mm, a 50mm, and a Tamron 90mm lens. For the 24 and 50 I have no real preference over which brand, but the 90mm Tamron I specifically want because it can also be used as a macro lens for shots like the close up of my eye. If lenses are unavailable I'll stick with my 18-135mm kit lens and borrow a 50mm lens from a friend.

For audio, I'm keeping it basic with a shotgun mic, boom pole, XLR cable, and an audio box to record to. I've used similar setups for past projects, so I'm comfortable with this arrangement. I'd be using the boom primarily for the exterior scenes where dialogue is being spoken and its hard to hide mics, and I can use it during the final scene. For the Trent Marley show, I play to use a lavalier mic, since those are used on actual talk shows and there's no real stress about keeping them completely out of sight. I'd probably then play back the audio from the talk show through a speaker and record it again with one of the mics I have, so that the audio isn't complete polished to put the viewer in the perspective of Eric. And if options are unavailable I'll borrow a phone lavalier from a friend and potentially use my Audio technica 2020.

Now for my favorite part, the Lighting! I know I'll be making use of my 2 flat panel GVM RGB lights like I did last year for general lighting indoors. If able too I'll check out 4 NP-Batteries, so I don't have to keep the lights tethered to the walls. I'd also be checking out a C.O.B. light since it's more powerful than a flat panel and more flexible in the sense that I can add on to it. If I wanted I could attach a soft-box to soften the light or a reflective cone to focus the light to a specific spot. I'll lightly be using a cone and C.O.B. as a key light for Marley when he's giving his monologue. If available I'd use the RGB option, but if not, the daylight C.O.B. will do with the help of a few colored gels (like blue, yellow, and red). Also being used for lighting I'd be using my 48(?) inch TV as a source of practical light. And for more detailed and expressive light, I'd use my PVO LED projector. For the exterior scenes I'll check out a reflector, since I'm not going to bother using a battery powered flat panel to over power the Sun, and the practical issue of using a COB light without a nearby out lit is something I don't want to deal with. I also want to try to borrow a fog machine if I can to capture of the light rays "coming from the TV".

And lastly some general equipment I'd want to use. Since the story is fairly contained I'm sticking with tripod for most of the shots, except for maybe the ending sequence where I'll likely switch to handheld to convey the sense of hecticness and fear going on. I'd also likely make use of a C-stand and arm for the monologue set like I detailed in the previous blog post. I'd also want to use a monitor of come kind in order to see the shots that I'm in; I'd either use an Accsoon wireless transmitter and app on a phone, or a wired monitor I can put on a stand. And finally, I'm either going to get a clap board or I'll just clap with my hands in order to sync video and audio together in editing. 

I'll be picking up equipment on March 21, since both me and Mr. Guarasci from BECON are going to be out of town for a majority of next week.

Coincidence? I think Not!

***Quick context: Last summer, I had to opportunity to intern for BECON-TV, Broward County Public Schools' TV Channel, where they have a full studio environment, props, and professional equipment ready to use. 

Last Friday, my former boss messages in the intern chat we had saying that a small budget production would be filming at BECON and that they were looking for interns to help out on set. I then followed up saying that I would be down to help out for Friday, since I thought it'd be a good opportunity to learn and potentially network. 

When I got to BECON on Friday morning, I was introduced to the producer of the production who then pointed me toward some of the other production assistants. Most them were dedicated PA's who've been signed on to work for the entirety of the shoot, so at the first half, I spent most of my time with them. After breakfast, the producer then asked me if I'd want to shadow the camera department or lighting department, and I told him I'd like to know the lighting department; he then introduced me to the Director of Photography and more importantly, the Gaffer, Aaron Kudja. 

***From this point on, I'm going to the production details vague since it's still being made.

In talking with him, he told me that the scene we'd be filming was going to involve a talk show, and the moment he mentioned that the light bulb in my head turned on. I already had a few vague ideas for how I wanted to shot the Trent Marley Show for What You Watch, but today was going to show me how a proper production would go about filming a fake talk show. 

I believe one of the reasons the production crew choose BECON, was for it's studio space that they use regular to film shows such as School Duel; I've even gotten the chance to film there!

From BECON-TV

BTS Photo during Internship

For this production, they focused on building 2 sets, first for the opening monologue and the second for the proper sit down interview. For the first set they used a C-stand with an arm to hang a curtain from (similar to how they did in the King of Comedy). The actual set wasn't super wide either, since the DP only planned to show a medium shot of the host. For the shot they also made use of a Leko light in order to spot the hot, with a bounce board being used to lift the shadows on the far side of the face. While not as nice as a Leko, I have achieved a similar (albeit harsh) shot with a GVM C.O.B. Light for my documentary, Instilled. The setup gave me confidence that I could achieve a similar look.

Instilled, Dir. Alex Duque & Clara De Luca

For the talk show set, they decided to go with a two seat setup rather than a couch and desk set. While I say the crew build the backdrop, I wasn't quite sure about the rest of the set, so I asked Mr. Guarasci from BECON who then verified with the prop master. Besides the backdrop, everything else including, the chairs, talk, plants, carpet, and decor were borrowed from BECON's props closet. I then went back there to see what other props they have at the ready. While I was at it I spoke with Mr. Guarasci about how I was in the process of planning a short film where part of it would include a Talk Show set, and asked if I'd be able to use the studio space over spring break (3/20/2023-3/26/2023); he said that it should be fine since BECON is pretty barren during that week, but to remind him again since he's busy preparing for his trip to the Student Television Network's National Convention next week.

While on set, I actually got to spend a lot of time with the Gaffer, Aaron, who would guide me through his train of thought when it came to light certain scenes. Based on the given location or direction of the camera, he wanted to make the lighting make sense with how to location looked in camera. He showed me how he made use of negative fills and flags to reduce the spread of certain light fixtures and to eliminate the light coming from a street lamp that the crew had no control of, when they filmed a night time exterior shot. He also showed how he made use of the bounce board he had to still subjects in a softer manner than an unfiltered leko. Aaron was cautious of the way he lit the set, make sure that props and backgrounds still had light to convey depth in the camera. 

There's a lot of other stuff that'd love to share about my time on set as well as some BTS photos I got, but I have to wait until the production is released. As you can maybe assume I learned a lot during my 14 hours on set, including terminology, positions on set, the thought processes behind decisions, and etiquette to name a few. And I feel I got really lucky with the fact that they were filming a talk show. I thought the experience was amazing and I even exchanged contact info with a few of the people on set, so who knows what the future holds.