Breakdown of Scene 2, Shot 2&3

I am making this movie with a DVX100a which means I will be running 24P. In addition to this, the Micro35 adapter will give me the shallow DoP that 35MM film cameras get. So with this set-up, I am able to get a look that is very similar to film but with the low-cost of MiniDV video. My entire budget for this production is much, much lower than a comparable short movie being shot on Super16mm film. And since I own all this gear (instead of renting), I can theoretically make another movie for just the cost of tape and food for the cast & crew.

There are some things that may slow me down with this set-up though. First of all, the image the Micro35mm creates is upside down, which means that I must digitally "flip" all my footage (HEY! My title has a dual meaning!!!). That will add to my overall rendering time when it comes time to rendering the finished product. Also, when the camera is fully loaded, it weighs in at just under 10 pounds. The DVX100a was not meant to be so front heavy, so it tends to tilt downward when held by the hand-grip. To remedy this tiltage, my producer bought us a FigRig. The FigRig works wonders with my camera. It evenly distributes the weight so I'm able to move the camera in a way that looks good cinematicaly and doesn't kill my forearms! (The best of both worlds).

Having a camera that is easy to handhold is a good thing because there is a scene in the movie that involves a camera move from a hotel hallway to inside a hotel room to over by a large picture window... in one take. If I didn't have the FigRig, I wouldn't be able to get this shot in one take. Also, since we won't have permission to shoot in this Hotel, I'd like to be as unobtrusive as possible.

One shot I am really looking forward to is one of the first shots we will be filming. In the San Diego hotel location, there will be a shot of Aldo (Played by Jarrod) sitting on his bed watching TV. I know what you're thinking, "Wow, what an amazing shot that will be", but I will be doing a push-in on him as he changes channels on TV. This will be inter-cut with the same push-in move being done to the TV he is watching. At the end of the shot, we'll end on Aldo as he is about to fall asleep.


Here are my crummy drawings. They are done on yellow notebook paper, but I B&W'ed it to save space. To get this shot, we'll have to lay down dolly tracks parallel to the bed. Then, on the dolly I'll put the tripod and crane. Then I'll put the camera on the end of the crane and we'll be ready for the move. This shows the intense kind of acting needed for this scene. Actually, Aldo is supposed to be falling asleep, but my drawings made him look retarded. So he is smiling instead. The shot will end just as a phone RINGS and we cut to a new angle. Getting this shot right will be more complicated than it seems, because my First AC (Geoff) will be pulling focus for the whole shot. Since the auto-focus feature will be disengaged to use the Micro 35mm adapter, all the focusing must be done manually. This means that Geoff has to be turning the follow focus whip the whole duration of the shot. Considering that Geoff has yet to ever use a Follow Focus, this will take a few tries to get just right. But, once we get it, it'll be a great show. Certainly not one you expect to see in such a low budget film. There are other shots like this but, I'll leave them to a later post.