So a few weeks back I wrote about a circular truss rig for the Teen Wolf promo shoot. Here is the season 5 trailer directed by Liz Epp. It’s pretty badass and I gagged the first time I watched. It definitely gave me some Matrix meets Susperia meets AMS vibes. Being a horror fan I loved it! Enjoy! :)
“The doctors will see you now”
Getting ready to film Kerry McLean and his patented Monocycle. Cinematographer Ian Bloom and 1st AC Camilla Fosci work in the background.
I love a compact rig. About two weeks ago I had to mount the camera to a cart for a Japanese Samsung ad. The clients wanted to get various shots of Kerry McLean's patented Monocycle on the road.
Because of the nature of the shoot and lack of a camera car I wanted to rig the camera to a 4x4 Kawasaki Mule. We couldn’t get one in time so I used a Deere HPX 4x4 instead which works just fine but is a bit slower. These carts have great rigging points on the chassis and the top frame accommodates speed-rail fittings nicely. Working from the top down the cart was rigged so we could shoot out the front, side and back. This allowed for quick camera changes so we could film as much as possible.
It’s a cute, efficient rig that works nicely but of course has it’s limitations. For cars moving at high speeds I would go with an Ultimate Arm or crane on a process trailer. And don’t forget that with car rigs, cute or not, safety and precise organization are key.
This week I had a special challenge on my hands. The rig requested was small in size and simple in concept but I'd never done it before.
I was asked by Director of Photography Matt Workman to build an underwater housing for the Cinema Magic Revolution. A very long, articulated, periscope lens.
The shoot was for a new waterproof product that the clients wanted to feature doing various water activities. Two of these scenes included the camera lens having to be submerged.
Because of the Revolution's peculiar shape, there isn't a specialty housing made for it yet. I have some experience working with the lens and figured that it could go into a simple rectangular box that was attached to the camera and sealed at the top. I drew up basic blue prints and tried to have one made but it couldn't be done in time. I had to make the box myself out of Lexan; a very clear, unwarped plastic that can be used to protect the camera from items directed at it. Because of its clarity it doesn't distort the image in any way. It must be treated carefully as it is easy to scratch.
I took the 1/4" Lexan, made a box that was 6"x8"x10" and waterproofed it with silicone sealant, marine epoxy and waterproof electrical sealing tape. I than bolted 3/8 16 receiver plates on each side so I could attach a camera-rod plate and a 750 baby pin point on the opposite side for bracing. I gave it a soft, black Visquine cap that fit snugly around the top of the box against a rubber lip and sealed it tight with a bungee. The cap also had an elasticized opening at the top that fit around the upper section of the lens. I bought almost all the products at Home Depot and the end results looked like this.
The ARRI Amira with the Cinema Magic Revolution Periscope Lens and my Plexi Box rig. The rig is supported by a 2-Axis Cartoni Lambda Head suspended from a 3' camera offset on a Fisher 10 Dolly.
The rig worked well and it helped the DP get the camera angles he desired. There are a lot of modifications I still want to make but I'm very happy with the first prototype. If I had more time I would've designed it so the Plexi sides on the rig could be replaced and maybe even accept a filter if needed. I would also make the top a lot more sophisticated. I will work on this for future shoots. For now I'll enjoy my first homemade, underwater Lexi Plexi Periscope Box. :)
This week I had to build a white circular cove with an inner diameter of 12' for the Teen Wolf season 5 promo. The cove needed a 20'x20' diffusion rag hung from it that light would be pushed through. Basically Cinematographer Matt Workman and Gaffer Justyn Davis wanted to create a glowing, concave wall.
Original Previs work of our shooting setup by Cinematographer Matt Workman. The Previs system helps immensely by showing us all setups and camera moves in a scaled, functioning 3D environment. The amount of money and time saved is beyond incredible. For more info on Matt's Previs system click here.
There were several challenges for my department besides shooting last minute and having a limited budget and rigging crew. At 47'x37'x16'/13' the studio was painfully tight for our setup. On top of that all of my contacts for truss in the city were out of 10' diameter box truss circles... which were too small anyway for what we needed. We also had a Fisher 23 arm which takes up a ton of interior space at 28 feet total, but is sectional so we sized it down to 22'. With the addition of three 20'x20' Ultra Bounces on the cove's perimeter to bounce 5 and 10k fresnels into, the set was not only small, it was hot.
For the cove, my connections sent me to Lou at Mutual Hardware in LIC. He was excellent and said it was fine for me to come down to the shop to check out their truss hardware. Lou told me that they had truss hinges in shop. This would be my first time using this hardware and I understood the benefits immediately. I could create my own custom curve. I could take another diameter and marry the pieces with smaller truss.
Now this isn't hardware I would use on a very big rig. The cove, having a 14 foot outer diameter with one diffusion rag hanging from it, was small enough for me to be comfortable with creating the custom sized piece. I sized a circle out of 4 pieces of 20 diameter circular 12x12 box truss plus 2 pieces of 4 foot and 2 pieces of 2 foot straight truss. Hinged together they made a nice circle with a 12 foot inner diameter. Because of the hinges the circle could actually be molded into an oval or other shapes. Just make sure to brace and hang accordingly. Because of everything I already had hung above (5k Sky Pans and a 20'x12' frame) I set my cove on 4 Avenger crank stands. The rig held well but do make sure to have enough guys to set this up. The hinges have play so balancing and rigging is delicate.
Here is a shot from the build day. I'll post the promo once it airs.
2nd AC Sean Joy and DoP Matt Workman build the Alexa camera with the CineMagic Periscope Lens on our pre-light day. Because of high speed shooting, powerful lights were needed.
Today Janelle Monae and her Wondaland crew released 'Classic Man' video by Wondaland member Jidenna. I worked along with the Gaffer Justyn Davis to help bring light and movement to the images imagined by the Director and Cinematographer. Because of budgetary, crew and time constraints we didn't get to tweak as much as we would have liked to but I still think this came out pretty fresh. I thought it was fun and had a message without getting to preachy. I hope you enjoy.
Late last night I wrapped a last minute, two day music video. I was the Key Grip and I had a limited crew and budget. With a Fisher dolly on board my guys were spread even thinner. Between the location moves, a walk up location, and no money we all agreed to keep the lighting setups clean and simple. This along with an excellent low light camera, in this case the RED Dragon, are a great approach to shooting a lot of content when the crew and budget are small. Because we went that way we ended up getting some really beautiful footage that I should be able to post in a few of weeks.
The video was directed by Alan Ferguson and the cinematography done by Arthur Jaffa. Both seasoned veterans in the industry. The catchy song and video introduced Jidenna, a talented up and coming Afro Pop artist whose career Im looking forward to seeing.
The hours were long and the weather extremely cold but the crew was great and I believe the video will come out well.
Welcome to my new site. This blog will be a diary chronicling some of the scenarios that I deal with working in the motion picture industry.
