Theatre promo at DVinfo.net

Theatre promo · March 12th, 2009, 03:33 AM

Hi,
A friend of mine is directing a play, and asked me to come up with a short promo piece (have done this before for a few plays that I have been in). So I read the script, condensed some key scenes and shot it with lots of candles and my letus. Would be really interested to hear opinions on how it works!!

Don Carlos on Vimeo

Cheers,

Rob

Chris Swanberg · March 12th, 2009, 11:18 PM

Rob....obviously very professional. The titling to start (and end) was exquisite. I really liked the layered effect. The actors were, well, good actors. Your lighting was spot on for candlelight... I'd like to hear more about how you lit this. Overall a wonderful piece. I did wonder though about the length.... to long for a commercial or teaser or trailer, yet not long enough for??? How did you select the length? Depending on the use I might suggest you tighten up and shorten it to maintain tension.

Production quality though? 9.6.

Chris

ps. Audio was so good I never noticed it.

Lynne Good · March 12th, 2009, 11:27 PM

Okay.... wow! I really liked the way you set this up! The candlelight was awesome and the lighting was just right. It gave me a feeling of that specific time period and, like Chris, I would love to know how you managed the lighting for the actors/actress in this. I am assuming you will be posting this on the web site for the production so I think the length is acceptable. If not, like Chris said, you may want to shorten it a bit. I have a friend who appears in plays here in California and these types of promos are usually put on the web site of the theater or on YouTube.com so I am familiar with how that works. I seriously doubt that small theater groups have the financial wherewithall to place these types of promos on television.

For me, I would give this a 10 but I am not a professional, by any means. I have just been dabbling in birthday parties, anniversaries and other occasions for friends and families! Still, it would definitely bring me in to see the play!

Rob Evans · March 13th, 2009, 03:50 AM

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Lighting wise, it was pretty simple, I have a set of 250w tungsten lamps with inline dimmers.
The backlight was set to 45 degrees behind the right of the actors ( stage left) and set to about 30%, to pick out their outlines from the background. The other lamp was set to the right of the camera, slightly up and facing onto the talent, again at about 30% power. What that gave me was a clean shot without too much overexposure on their faces.
In post I used MB looks "spot exposure" function to highlight their faces, and also stretch the blacks out and enhance the light from the candles.
Length - yes this is something I too have struggled with, and in fact this has been taken down by about 20 seconds on the original script. I sat with the director of the play for the final edit tweak and he wanted to maintain the length - which was fine by me :-) Probably I would have removed one of the sequences entirely, or perhaps halved two of them.

I have also posted this to youtube, and the group are embedding it - It's quite a "new" concept over here, certainly at the amatuer level that this group operate, but it's something I am hoping to do more of.....

"Still, it would definitely bring me in to see the play! "

That line makes it all worthwhile!!!!

Cheers,

Rob

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

March 12th, 2009, 11:18 PM	#2
Chris Swanberg Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 820	Rob....obviously very professional. The titling to start (and end) was exquisite. I really liked the layered effect. The actors were, well, good actors. Your lighting was spot on for candlelight... I'd like to hear more about how you lit this. Overall a wonderful piece. I did wonder though about the length.... to long for a commercial or teaser or trailer, yet not long enough for??? How did you select the length? Depending on the use I might suggest you tighten up and shorten it to maintain tension. Production quality though? 9.6. Chris ps. Audio was so good I never noticed it.

March 12th, 2009, 11:27 PM	#3
Lynne Good New Boot Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Lakeview, California Posts: 15	Okay.... wow! I really liked the way you set this up! The candlelight was awesome and the lighting was just right. It gave me a feeling of that specific time period and, like Chris, I would love to know how you managed the lighting for the actors/actress in this. I am assuming you will be posting this on the web site for the production so I think the length is acceptable. If not, like Chris said, you may want to shorten it a bit. I have a friend who appears in plays here in California and these types of promos are usually put on the web site of the theater or on YouTube.com so I am familiar with how that works. I seriously doubt that small theater groups have the financial wherewithall to place these types of promos on television. For me, I would give this a 10 but I am not a professional, by any means. I have just been dabbling in birthday parties, anniversaries and other occasions for friends and families! Still, it would definitely bring me in to see the play!

March 13th, 2009, 03:50 AM	#4
Rob Evans Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Berkshire, UK Posts: 323	Thanks for the feedback guys. Lighting wise, it was pretty simple, I have a set of 250w tungsten lamps with inline dimmers. The backlight was set to 45 degrees behind the right of the actors ( stage left) and set to about 30%, to pick out their outlines from the background. The other lamp was set to the right of the camera, slightly up and facing onto the talent, again at about 30% power. What that gave me was a clean shot without too much overexposure on their faces. In post I used MB looks "spot exposure" function to highlight their faces, and also stretch the blacks out and enhance the light from the candles. Length - yes this is something I too have struggled with, and in fact this has been taken down by about 20 seconds on the original script. I sat with the director of the play for the final edit tweak and he wanted to maintain the length - which was fine by me :-) Probably I would have removed one of the sequences entirely, or perhaps halved two of them. I have also posted this to youtube, and the group are embedding it - It's quite a "new" concept over here, certainly at the amatuer level that this group operate, but it's something I am hoping to do more of..... "Still, it would definitely bring me in to see the play! " That line makes it all worthwhile!!!! Cheers, Rob