The last time I worked with both Jennefer Ludwigsen (writer/actor) and Hilary Barraford (actor/producer) was for a timely political themed viral video over the unbelievable comments by Todd Akin and legitimate rape (I still can’t spell that word). This time around, the comedic duo decided to comment on our nation’s government shutdown.
We went from script on Tuesday (10/1) to shooting–as soon as everyone was available–Sunday (10/6) to picture lock the following night! This time, Jennefer stepped up to director and did a great job her first-time at bat. She enlisted Garett Johnson to edit and we are proud to share the final product with the world.
Hilary, Jennefer, and I share a wonderfully talented and generous friend, Will Barratt, who provided some extra gear to ensure that Jenn’s debut would look pretty. He added a Kino Flo ParaBeam 200 & 400, C-Stands, an ARRI kit, some bounce cards, and various other grip gear to supplement my recently acquired Kin Flo 2′ 4Bank fixture and ARRI 650W fresnel. In fact, Will first introduced me to Hilary back in 2008.
The ParaBeam 400 was often my key light because it is a strong, soft, daylight balanced source. I hadn’t had much experience with that particular fixture and was very impressed with how bright it is. Believe it or not, it was even our key light for the shot with the cyclist outside (it was about 1.5′ from his face) and the mechanic under the car! Like it did for those two scenes, it also served as the singular source for the opening shot with the woman drinking coffee and the man with his gun at the table.
Because I knew we had little time for post-production, I utilized a preset picture mode (Sharpness 3, Contrast 0, Saturation 0, Color Tone 0) on my Canon 5D Mark III instead of my preferred CineStyle, which requires color correction (it is a very flat/dull image to maximize one’s options in post). Thankfully I didn’t have an awful lighting situation where I really needed the extra dynamic range that CineStyle affords. With the exception of the running scene where I needed the extra depth of field for focus pulling, I was either at a T4.0 or T3.5. The ISO primarily stayed at 320 and I used a Fader ND to keep my exposure down while outside.
Jenn channeled the vibe of 70’s PSAs and I wanted to keep things pretty natural. The shot with her running required no gear thanks to golden hour’s wonderful light around 6pm at our Studio City location. Speaking of which, was it obvious that everything was at that one diverse locale?
The only complicated shots were of the couple doing sit-ups and the two folks in the amazing green bathroom. I wish I had more time and grip gear for the former, but the latter was difficult because of the layout and tight quarters. I had two C-stands pinning my tripod into the corner of the room so I could rig the two smaller Kinos in an optimal position. The 4Bank was a soft top-light and the ParaBeam 200 (through light grid cloth diffusion) had to come as far camera right as I could manage with the wall there. Finally, I bounced the ParaBeam 400 into the white wall that ran parallel to the tub for fill. Stakes are always high when you have people near lights in water, but we had just enough grip gear to keep it safe!
Unfortunately, it wasn’t all roses in post for us. When Jennefer sent us all a YouTube link late Monday night sharing the fruits of our labor, I was alarmed to see a low contrast/super magenta version of our film! It turns out that Adobe Premiere has some issues with color shift when using the 5D Mark III. When I watched our rough cuts on Vimeo, the shift wasn’t super alarming, but YouTube’s transcode was awful. In search of a remedy, I shot and uploaded a color chart early Tuesday morning.
Communication was slowed because Jenn and I were on separate sets on the westside, while Garett did an excellent job trying to crack the color code in Premiere that would accurately display our images in the valley. I’m not completely satisfied with how it looks online, but it is leaps and bounds better than where we were last night. To think that I was finally over my years of hating YouTube, I’m officially back on the Vimeo bandwagon for image quality!
As an added bonus, Hilary brought one of my favorite dogs in the world to set, Della. Every work day needs a little fun with pets! If you want to see more shots of the adorable “Muppet Dog,” then check out this Facebook album from March ’13.
How is the shutdown affecting your life? Let us know in the comments below!
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