I'm going to be shooting a fake Army of One commercial, and I need anyone's advice on how to make a foliage-y, forest-y area look more jungle-y. There's plenty of trees about, as well as some deep grasses, and tangles of brambles and whatnot about, but somehow I don't feel that it looks like something from Platoon or one of those movies. I want this place to look more gritty and treacherous. Any tips? Obviously, keeping the pretty blue sky out of frame is essential (unless the day's overcast).

There's no budget, and the schedule will probably be pretty tight. I thought shooting at night would help, but none of the lighting available to us is battery powerable, and generators and the like are out of the question. We have a fog machine available, but offhand I believe those are not battery powerable either (I could be wrong though). Anyway, given all this, any advice? Any tricks in camera or in post?

Ummm lots of crawling shots? Lots of jarring handheld as you follow close behind a troop of soldiers?

The second "Ace Ventura" set in Africa was actually shot outside San Antonio, Texas. They used tight shots of jungle-looking clusters of foilage and also put big ferns amongst the native foilage in some places (that stand out like a sore thumb if you know the Texas landscape...but it works in the movie). Plus, they took some stock shots of Africa and weaved them into that footage.

Oh another thought. Forced condensation on the lens filter.

How do I accomplish the condensation without hurting my camera?

Also, keep in mind, it's an army of one (this is part of the humor) so there's no other soldiers besides this one guy. Ferns sound good.


Oh, and were the recommendations for night, day, or either?

Heck, make it easy and just shoot in daylight through a green filter or two and give it a "night shot" look. Might actually be kinda cool.

G

Green filter? NIght shot? Do tell. My friend told me to white balance to 3200K using the indoor preset on the XL1s, which tints it blue. Still doesn't look like night to me though.

On the condensation. Maybe a steam or mist on the outside filter, not on the lens itself.

Gotcha. I have a CaVision mattebox as well, that accepts 4x4 filters. Anything I could shove in there that would help?

what really helps is the sound. Do a lot of research on ambience and specific noise to a jungle it makes a massive difference.

zac

Do those Army of One commercials have ambient sound? From what I remember it's just the voiceover and maybe the sound of Godsmack selling out or some other heavy rock in the background. We're attempting to closely emulate the feel of these commercials.

all you need is lots of mud and wind then, some greens, closups and the appearence of a lot of wind, and guys yelling heaps, well moving their mouth anyways.

zac

There has to be some kind of "tropical garden or rain forest" in your area. Sort of a botanical garden or green house kind of deal.

See if they will let you shoot there after hours.....just an idea...

I've been told our local bird sanctuary is good place. I'll have to see.

Tread softly :)

<<<-- Originally posted by Josh Bass : From what I remember it's just the voiceover and maybe the sound of Godsmack selling out or some other heavy rock in the background. . -->>>

LOL!

ANyway, to keep things looking topically, I'd keep a spray bottle with me and soak everyone down for each shot. That'll keep it looking humid and sweaty.

Not bad. I like it. Keep 'em comin'.

Mix coffee grinds in with the spray bottle and that'll make the sweat really gritty.

Aw go whole hog. Pour ants on them.

Just like a windex bottle? Good one. Once again, if anyone knows any screw-in or 4X4 filters that would help, let me know what they are. I'm thinking of dropping the black level two notches in camera (someone said this would be like setting black at 0 versus 7.5 IRE)--this should give it a slightly more filmy look, as well as making it a little grittier. I was thinking a ground fog would be cool. One of our guys has a fog machine, but I don't think it's battery operable. Any easy cheap suggestions?

Frank G. had a suggestion of going into a Chinese store and buying joss sticks. Incense sticks. They should be fairly safe to use. They don't flame up and can provide smoke. Just add more.

Don't use a Windex sprayer, that's lighweight stuff. Go to Home Depot and pick up their cheapest insecticide sprayer for about $20. It'll hold 5 gallons of water and will be able to douse your poor actor and all the foliage around him.

Will the incense smoke hurt my camera?

I doubt it. I wouldn't bathe my camera in it for extended periods but I doubt it would leave residue that couldn't be wiped off with a cloth later.

Define extended periods?

Josh:

A fogger will help a lot. There are battery operated units available and also ones called Hudson sprayers that use a hand pump.

Filter-wise, try white Promists in strengths between 2-4 for maximum effect (these are actually just called Promists, as opposed to Black Promist). They will give you a glow around the highlights that will help simulate the hot humid feel.

the promists are drop in or screw on filters? Also, the hand pumped fogger, how much does it run and where can you find one?