Got a gig HVR-Z1U in primetime...questions
 

Hey HDV'ers -

I just got contacted by the producers of "Fear Factor," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Big Brother". (just a few they produce)

Can anyone confirm that DV mode with a standard light kit looks ok? Has anyone shot sit down interviews yet??

I will probably be shooting in HDV, but I need to confirm that...just covering my bases!

Thank you! :)

No offense here Christopher, and congrats on the gig, but I'm just wondering how you got the job if you haven't even had any expierence shooting interviews with lighting.

Maybe I read something wrong in your post.

But anyway, again, congrats on the work!

Hey Christopher,
sounds like a good gig alright. The audio will rely more on your environment--as well as your mics. Air conditioner noise, fans, people talking in hallways, fricken airplanes....that can be hell.

We use Sony wireless mics, but the ol' wired Sony 77B Lav's sound better to my ears.

Do you have a field mixer and an audio op? With a good field-audio person, you can forget about the audio and concentrate on lighting and camera work. It's well worth having a solid audio person with you.

I light interviews- it seems to be all that I do. Are you using a backdrop, or shooting in a house, or on a location? That will affect the lighting choices and the equipment you want to pack.

I just spent a weekend shooting interviews on a rented backdrop (sandy color).
Used:
1- Chimera video-pro with a tota and a 750 frosty bulb. Honeycomb on front.

A 4x4 foamcore for fill onn a C-stand.

1 250Watt inky for backlight- no schmutz- armed over on a C-stand.

Lit the backdrop from the key-side/back with a 650 Arri with 1/2 CTO and some
opal to soften the light slash on the backdrop.

I cheated the white balance with 1/2 CTB on a white card.

I would light mens faces more sidey, women more fully on the facial plate, and walk the foamcore in to lessen the shadow gradient. The backlight is directly in line with the camera lense to get evenly lit shoulders and hair. Opal works nice to give some wrap-around on the shoulders. Safety everything. Dirt bags, etc..

Totally different if you are lighting with windows/lamps in the room however. Maybe look into hiring a small grip truck? Here you can get one for around $250 a day, and the guy that comes with it lights as well. Again- you can concentrate on the camera work.

Good luck and ask any questions you like. You know my email too, so email me directly if I can help.

Jeff Patnaude

Bryan, yes I've done 100 interviews. I haven't done any with the Z1U...that was my reason for posting. Just covering my butt by asking questions.

I've re-worded my post!

<<<-- Originally posted by Christopher C. Murphy : Bryan, yes I've done 100 interviews. I haven't done any with the Z1U...that was my reason for posting. Just covering my butt by asking questions.

I've re-worded my post! -->>>

Ah, ok. That makes more sense.

Just stuck me as odd, but now I get it.

Can't wait to hear how everything goes!!

Jeff, your information rocks man! Thank you!

It looks like all locations will be houses, so I'll probably do it in living rooms. I'm going to hire a seperate lighting and audio person for this gig...I want more in the future, so I don't want to mess it up. It's hard getting decent national work in the Boston area!

I'm looking for a small crew (lighting, audio) in the Boston area, so if anyone is reading this...contact me. It's a 1-2 day gig with multiple locations north of Boston.

Chris,
there's some great stufff called "roscoe Scrim" that I like to use on windows. It's a black, opaque, net that comes in a roll about 4 ft wide. You can cut it and tape it to window, and it'll buy you at least 2 stops. You could key with a Arri 2K ( or similar). Bounce a 4x4 and backlight with a Baby 1k, or use natural light if lucky.
Specials for plants etc.
I dream of using HMI's... sigh.

Motivated lighting of course.

Jeff P

I was on a shoot for one of my friends uni shorts and we used an HMI, placed outside pointing into the set to act as the sun. It was an absolute dream. I love them, and we got it for £40 ($75?) for 3/4 days. Absolute bargain!

I'm a big fan of the Kino Diva's for location interview shoots.
When you don't exactly have control over th entire location, it's nice to have the dimming control. Allows for a quick setup in a variety of locations.

Thanks for the info guys!

When we shot 3 Sisters late last year, we did a lot of close ups that looked good, and those are similar to interviews. Just make sure there's plenty of light.

heath

Thanks doods, just got back from shoot 1....having lunch and off for 2, 3 and 4. We have 8 hours of driving today...yeah!

Wow, when you mentioned this gig I didn't realize it was right around the corner.

Let us know how it turned out when it's all said and done.
Good luck!

That's Rosco scrim as in http://www.rosco.com

My "reality" shoot..
 

Hey all - details of the shoot:

The shoot was long! I left the house at 3AM drove 3 hours to the first shoot and it was none stop until about midnight.

Keene, NH shoot:
It was on the side of moutain...beautiful house. The family I shot were nice...they were the typical American family. We did more than what I thought originally was on the agenda. (Isn't that always the case?) The producer in LA wanted me to a "walk around". The "reality" (yeah right) thing where you capture people doing their "thing". If anyone has actually shot or even just watched reality programming you'll see everything that's happening is "heightened". People can't help it...things are exagerated. (i'm tired, so i might be spelling wrong)

My biggest problem on the shoot? My PA was to inexperienced and not as professional as I needed on this shoot. I needed someone with a lot of experience. He messed up bad - didn't turn the shot gun on for our first interview after I literally said, "don't forget to turn on the shotgun". How many times have you told someone to do something on a shoot and immediately afterwards they don't do it? That really ticks me off.

Anyway, then later we had abour 2 hours downtime and could go to my house. I wanted to re-charge our extra batteries because it was half full. He said, "We don't need it"...I said, "I want everything operating at peak at all times if possible...you never know when you need batteries, tapes etc.". So, he blew me off apparently and didn't charge the battery. Later, I got mad because...guess what? We needed the battery he didn't charge for our extra camera.

So, eventually we made it across the large state of New Hampshire to Rochester and Milton. We did 3 more shoots in 3 different locations....every single shoot we went to we ended up getting there exactly on time by 5 minutes! I was speeding most of the way...not good. I know, but hey..

All told almost 11 hours of driving, 1 mountain climb, 8 full setups with a lazy green PA I won't use again and a total of 10 kids yelling over every sound bite! Let's not forget total white out from snow outside leering into windows that don't have shades!!! Oh, I won't mention how I was ripped off on my day rate too. lol...oops, just did. It ended up being a 19 hour day because they sprung those last 3 locations on me the last second. Oh, and get this crap....I had the Executive Producer relaying some interview questions to me via cell phone right, and then after all this extra shooting I'm doing (exterior shots of the houses etc.) - I asked for them to pay for my tape stock and extra for transportation. I used Sony Excellence tapes...not cheap tape! Also, WAY more driving then originally agreed upon. Well, he pulls a mini-Hollywood tantrum right on the phone! He goes, "You are the reason Hollywood production costs have gotten out of control man. Everytime we talk this production keep getting more expensive." So, I'm like..."are you serious"?

The second family in Milton, NH will probably get on this show...way more eye candy and sound bites. I'll keep you posted on anything else that happens... :)