duraid's Journal

10:33pm: MOVED
This blog has moved to http://dpduraid.blogspot.com

It's just a little easier to manage over there.

remeber, update your bookmarks!! http://dpduraid.blogspot.com/

6:29pm: ZPN "Dieux Sur Terre" Music Video
This will be a short post - didn't take nearly enough pictures due to a bit of a crazy schedule. Next time I'm handing my digital still camera to a PA.



The decision to shoot with the A-Cam was made early in order to save money for the green screen effects, Spirit transfer, etc.

It was a somewhat of a painful decision, due to a number of reasons mentioned earlier. The A-cam, as much of a little wonder it is, has some serious realities to consider: no reflex viewing, limited number of lenses to realistically use, lack of a proper mattebox system, no use of grads (or at least, limited use), 100' loads.

If you try to throw a camera like this into a general music video scenario, it will be painful to use it as the "A" camera. It's only with the 'particular' video where this camera excels: remote locations, skeleton crews, tiny budgets, 'low profile' shooting, etc.

But, because it is a relatively inexpensive camera to own, the daily rental is significantly lower than with even the cheapest of rental houses (for a super 16mm camera - multiple speeds, videotap, monitor) for a similar package. Therefore, using this camera would allow for that extra day of editing, CGI effects, transferring with a Spirit instead of a Quadra (or similar).

On the other hand, as mentioned before, I can't look through the lens, therefore I can't 'feel' the shot, therefore I can't see the results of using subtle diffusion filters (and therefore won't use them, thereby relying more on the transfer), or of grad filters.

So .... it was painful :-)

This is the first time I've used a different lens than the 9mm the camera is supplied with, and we approached with trepidation.

The most important aspect of using different (i.e., longer) lenses is the day of the camera test. Not only should there be a sharpness test, but also an infinity test. And the Camera Assistant has to be sure that when he/shes sets the focus at say, 5', then that's where the focal plane is set at.

On the day of the shoot, the director brought his printer to the set, measured the monitor, then printed the mattes supplied by Ikonoskop.

The mattes allowed us to use a 16mm and 25mm lens.


Here is Salvador cutting the matte. Not the most exciting thing to be doing Saturday at 7am.

Below, is the results of the effort. For those confused by what I've been talking about, the next two shots should clarifiy things.



In his left hand is the 25mm matte, and the 16mm matte is in his right hand.



Is this making sense? Or am I sounding like an über-nerd-meister explaining pejoratively ??

I'm sure you can see how this can serve to drive a cinematographer nuts! "You mean, not only am I not seeing the actual image, but now my tiny monitor is even smaller by the estimated matte?"

Well, it turned out to be pretty accurate. But we only found out for sure during the transfer session.

Not sure if I can post frame grabs from the transfer session (they look amazing, btw), but I will try to get something in there.

9:38pm: extra picture
One more frame grab....

9:08pm: Finally !!! Some frame grabs from the Dominican Republic
First off, I'd like to apologize for the delay.

Secondly, I'd like to apologize to all thoe who wrote me without getting a reply.

Life got in the way, but I am back now ... expect an email any day now :-)

So, these are "frame grabs" from the transfer session at Notch a couple of weeks ago. Notch is an excellent boutique transfer house here in Toronto http://www.notch.ca

Tech : transferred on a C-Reality, colourist was Chuck Noseworthy, the frame grabs are simple jpeg snaps. As you can see, they are full frame grabs. so you see the gate as well as before/after frames.

The images have not been resized since getting them from the transfer house, yet keep in mind these are merely frame grabs and should only be seen as reference points.

Pix 1: kid by waterfall

Pix 2: kid on boat

Pix 3: waterfall wide







There are plenty of other frame grabs, anyone curious about seeing more can email me.

I hope to have a small quicktime clip of the video soon.

11:14pm: Last day of shooting
I'm writing this blog entry from the side of the road between Moca and Sosua. We are in the middle of nowhere waiting for JosÈ the driver to pick us back up. Night has fallen, the fireflies are out and the insect are sounding oh so loud around us. It is pitch black here until a car come around every once in a while and blinds us.

Getting up today was the most difficult. Did not go to sleep until after 2 in the morning (on account of Cervezas by the beach with Burt and Mathieu). Before that we visited a (seemingly) call-girl bar called Saloon Girls, where (you guessed it) young ladies would walk around, shake their booties, and sit on clients' laps. There was one plump German guy who looked like the human version of Huey the duck, thrusting his crotch against a young girl's behind as she danced lasciviously behind him. It was very disturbing - actually the whole experience was strange and not in a good way. We finished our beers quickly and took off to the Playa.

Set the alarm for 6:45am, yet couldn't keep myself from hitting that snooze button repeatedly until 7:30am. Everyone else seemed to be running late - Jose the driver with Salvador and Christopher (the kid) got in after 9am.




We went back to the river tour place, where I got a bunch of pix of their pets - a couple of parakeets, a hawk, vultures, iguanas and a little crocodile. The crocodile looked practically dead until the owner grabbed it for us to see, where it moved lightning fast. How does it move so fast with so little exercise ??

The bridge we crossed was menacingly low today since the water level was higher, you had to totally duck into the boat to avoid getting your head lobbed off.

More coverage shots of the kid paddling, the kid off the boat, mock dolly shots following the kid walking down the bankside.

Later we had lunch at the top of the hills on the way to Moca. While seated we set up the a-cam for a timelapse shot, and I got a rare panoramic shot with the digital stills camera.



Back to the shoot, we drove to a location with wonderful rolling hills, walked about 15 minutes while adroitly avoiding cow dung and knee high mud. Secretly I was cursing the director under my breath, as I suspect the rest of the crew were doing. It's all love, though (^_ï), as we got some beautiful shots that were well worth the walk.

Up in the hills we set up for the band shots, and the band members were Dominicans cast cause they were dark and 'African' looking. Once I saw them, I wonder if we would actually get away with it, since they looked very Latino.




We captured the last of the performance shots as the sun was dying, then had once last set up of the kid sitting by the fire at night before we left.



Which brings me back to the beginning of the entry - finally JosÈ showed up, and I'm writing this on the back of the SUV as we travel 2 hours to get back to homebase.

So that's it! The shoot's over!! If you see no picture on this entry, check back in a day and they should be up.

Tomorrow we pack up, check out, find something to do for a few hours, then catch a plane back home.

This has been a particularly challenging blog to write, given the remote location, long hours & relatively long number of days.

Next time I hope to blog on a music video that's like, one or two days.

Check back next week for color corrected frame grabs of the video, and eventually a link to the finished clip.

In terms of the transfer, I'm worried that there's a lot of work to do, more than the 3 hours we've been alloted. The pressure's always high on tight budgets like this, where crew members really have to prove their mettle by staying on the ball, focusing, blah blah blah. Burt turned out to be a blessing, extra pair of hands, much needed comedy relief, and a provider of good herbs (you know, the cooking kind).

Mathieu, who we have annointed as Matteo, was great as usual, and Salvador's been great, especially through all the disasters we incurred.

Not to forget JosÈ, the warrior driver who never quits.

By the way, Matteo send his regards to all in Canada.

-d

9:18pm: The shoot recommences !!!


Today was a half day off, so after my usual guilty pleasure of fried cheese (actually, I'm getting really sick of it), I hit the beach, knowing it was probably the last time. It was bittersweet (I'm sure my Canadian friend feel really sorry for me right now).



So today Burt showed up at the airport, carrying rolls of kodak's new motion picture film, the 7205 (vision 2 250D). I was almost as happy to see him as I was the film stock!

We started at around 2:30pm, drove about 20 minutes to capture some river shots.

The place was basically a family operation that rented out boats for their 'jungle river tour'.

In this sequence the boy travels by boat in his search for the village.



We started out with POV shots, followed by wides and mediums of the kids, then were just able to squeak out the last few shots as the sun disappeared behind the trees.



Even as the light meter screamed ìgo home!î, I captured some undercranked shot of the river as we traveled back. I'm crossing my fingers on those last shots.



Oh yes, during the beginning and end of the boat trip, we had to DUCK! or risk getting our heads lobbed off. Kinda hard to anticipate at night. Especially when planning to take a night shot with a flash




Tomorrow's our biggest day, which will probably be around 12 hours or so of shooting, plus the driving, prep and breakdown.

-d

8:32am: Starting again
So the solution the production found was to send someone here with film stock.

This time we're getting new Kodak stock (yay)

No update last night because we did not shoot, spent most of the afternoon fighting the waves on the beach.

Our film arrives at 2 this afternoon, so we have the morning off as well.

I will hopefully update by tonight or tomorrow morning with the usual assortment of pix.

Cheers, d

12:33pm: December 8th - Production grinds to a halt
From my last post I mentioned that there were 8 rolls of film that were wound wrong. When we got back to the hotel we found out there are actually ELEVEN ROLLS that are not wound properly.

This is most likely the worst circumstance in this situation. There is no way to get film stock here in DR in enough time to continue shooting.

so today is a day off, and we are waiting to find out what homebase has to say about this.

F*&!!

Later this afternoon the director and I are going out to film some b-roll footage. Time lapse of te landscape, Close-ups of plants, insects, etc.

10:55pm: All about faith
That's what it's all about when it comes to the A-Cam.

When it comes to cinematography, there are a number of elements I consider when lighting and composing a shot. One of the main things I like doing is looking through the lens, and seeing how the glass (with or without filters) is affecting image quality.

With this camera I can't do that. So basically I have to draw upon past experience and simply look, to judge a shot. This is a bit difficult, and it would take some getting used to before I'm completely comfortable with it.

I'm on fire !!! (this is for Mathieu)

10:54pm: December 7th in DR
Dragged myself out of bed at 6:30am, bedtime was 1am.

Did I mention that breakfast, lunch and dinner are all buffets? One of the more interesting items they have for breakfast is called ìfried cheeseî, which is really deep fried slabs of thick, old cheese. I prefer to call it ìheart attack on a plateî, but boy does it taste good. Yes, it's a guilty pleasure for a vegetarian who's trying to convert to a vegan.

Today was the big day - we knew we were traveling a total of 6 hours on winding roads to get to our location and back.

The crew members fell asleep in the vehicle almost as soon as we started driving.




The location is a national park called Salto de Jimenoa, which had 2 spectacular waterfalls and some amazing scenery.

When we got there, the first thing we did was set up our videotap. Now, beacause we did not have the right connectors before we left (no prep time), we had to jury rig something on the spot. The issue was that we needed to power up the videotap itself (which is essentially a video camera on the side) and the LCD monitor, all off of one 12V battery. The battery we had was an Anton Bauer, which had two sources to plug into. With a little bit of wire stripping and carfeul check of polarity, we were able to get it to work.



The hike up the mountain was kinda crazy & either we were trudging up shifting muds and slippery rocks, or we were climbing vines and holding on to cliff edges (no joke!).



It would have been much easier if we didn't have to drag equipment up with us, and if I had hiking boots rather than sneakers. Come to think of it, walking on bare feet would have been easier.

We finally made it to a clearing up near the top of the hill, and decided to set up some shots there.



This is where disaster struck - and kept restriking!

We rolled out, and upon setting up the next roll, I noticed in the bag that the roll I opened had its perfs on the wrong side (a-wind). Normally when the film is unwound the perfs are facing down in order to engage with the sprockets.

The film the producers purchased was from a short end company that (for now) will remain nameless. The original negative stock came from longer rolls that were rolled off onto daylight spools. In orfer to maintain the perforations to maintain themselves on one side, each film roll has to be rolled off all the way to the end on one roll, then rolled back onto the daily spool. If this sounds confusing, that's because it is. Look up Kodak's website for the difference between 'a-roll' and 'b-roll' for more info.

We discovered that there were EIGHT ROLLS like that. That 8 rolls out of 20! The rest of the 7217 we brought with us to the location were all like that, and we were forced to use the backup 7218 stock that Mathieu had.

After shooting more walking shots with the Christopher, we got to the performance shots. Because we had spent so much time reloading stock till we found one that was rolled the right way, the performance was filmed towards magic hour. The last setup of the day looked pretty good as the light faded almost completely.





We started the 3 hour journey back to the hotel at the beginning of nightfall. Having run out of food hours before, we raided a gas station store on the way back. There, I discovered ìChokoBananenî, which was chocolate covered fake bananas, a taste Mathieu could only describe as ìhorribleî. It was a hit with the three dominicans, though, plus myself.