Currently browsing the "Ladies and Gentlemen" tag.
8 Things I’ve Learned From Shooting Long Form Drama on the 5D That I didn’t Know Before I Started
Yeah yeah, long title for a blog entry but this is an important one. I consider myself pretty savvy about shooting on DSLRs and have made a monstrous heap of mistakes over the last eight months, enough to have learned some things. Having now wrapped production on Ladies and Gentlemen I think it’s only fair that I share a few things that I’ve learned that I simply wouldn’t have learned any other way. I’m not talking about moiré or rolling shutter, we all know about those already, more about the consequences of working with DSLRs over a protracted period on a big project.
1. Shooting handheld is nothing to be scared of
We all worry about the rolling shutter issue, and shooting handheld is a sure way to get that monstrous CMOS sensor jiggling like a jelly in a hurricane. Hurlbut shoots handheld all the time, he shot a bunch of marines (hoohah) running around and got away with it. If you’re properly kitted out (we had a fully featured Redrock setup) then those no reason to be scared of it. Oh but what about focus? – I hear you say. True that, focus is a problem, but only if you’re not ready for it. Don’t go shooting on an 85mm, wide open
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: THE FINAL DAY
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN – WEEK 7 DAILIES from Robin Schmidt on Vimeo.
We’ve wrapped, and I’m sad. Ladies and Gentlemen has become a big part of my life over the last couple of months, frustrating at times, infuriating at others, but what a thrilling journey. The unique challenges thrown up by shooting drama on a budget, coupled with the camera’s ability to deliver time and time again, have made this easily the most rewarding production experience of my career.
. . . . plenty of lessons have been learned which I’ll share in a future post, but if an opportunity like this falls in your lap, just say yes [and] get hold of a 5D . . . . We’ve shot a one hour drama pilot for $6,000.
Our final day was a night shoot, starting in a toilet and moving outside for the big climax to the show, a fight and a car crash that brings many of the cast together for the first time. As always, having no money means we
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WEEK 6 DAILIES
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN – WEEK 6 DAILIES from Robin Schmidt on Vimeo.
Week 6 dailies from Disclosure Productions (disclosureproductions.co.uk/) forthcoming one hour drama pilot ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’. Shot on the Canon 5D using L series primes supplied by Canon. Directed by Robin Schmidt (elskid), Produced by Robert Lucas, Jo Defendi and Linda Taimre, written by Robert Lucas. Full blog writeups can be found on photocinenews.com, more info about canon DSLR filmmaking on the el skid blog: elskid.com/blog
Music: Bloc Party – ‘On’
Follow the story of Robin Schmidt’s British TV pilot shot with Canon 5D MKII as he blogs about it for PhotoCineNews here.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WEEK 5: OH YES!
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN – WEEK 4/5 DAILIES from Robin Schmidt on Vimeo.
Praise be, a good day, no, a very good day. After the debacle of the week five weekend that was only a day with everything going wrong we really needed this weekend to be a monster but things didn’t start too well with our gaffer finding paid work that took him off the shoot, and the permissions we needed to shoot in Soho for our grand finale being denied at the last minute… Nonetheless Saturday dawned bright and sunny, and since we were
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WEEK 4: OH DEAR
Weekend four of this shoot and we just had one of those days where our luck ran out. Our main location was a bar and the big idea was that several disparate storylines would come together here, linking characters and creating a more unified piece. Problem number one: time and money are against us. The schedule for the weekend involved 13 scenes, and nearly 80 setups. Well-oiled tv crews can absolutely blitz setups, but they have the bodies and the experience to do that. We don’t. It was always going to be a big ask, but then other problems just exacerbated the problem.
You have to be creative when you have no money so it’s a challenge
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: DEVELOPING THE SCRIPT
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard people tell me that ‘everything comes from the script’ how they loved ‘the script’, how ‘you have to get the script right first’ only for the final product to be a bag of ass. These things are a bit like saying ‘I love you’, it’s easy to say, but it’s worthless unless you actually mean it, and will probbly get you into a large amount of trouble too. The thing is, it’s absolutely one hundred percent true, you really do, but producers and directors say it because it makes them sound like they know what they’re doing. For me, it shouldn’t even need saying. Scripts always need developing, and you will continually rewrite your story even into the editing process because until you lock the cut it’s all up in the air. Ever seen that trailer for Top Gun that makes out it’s a gay love story? That’s what I’m talking about.
There’s no room for scenes that don’t create a struggle
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: WEEK 3, MERLINS, MOISTURE AND MASTER SHOTS (OH AND WE SAY A GOODBYE TOO)
Exactly halfway through the shoot for Ladies and Gentlemen now and you can tell the novelty’s starting to wear off. We are on the skinniest of budgets and little things like a hot meal for the crew suddenly become a moaning point. Minor niggles we put up with initially are starting to grate now. This weekend was easily the most trying of the lot so far and though we’re hardly cracking it’s going to be important for us all to keep pushing on, enjoying the work as much as possible. We spent both days shooting in a legal office, a brilliant place with frosted glass walls, great depth, lines, wood panelling and space, sweet, sweet space. Filming in cramped flats becomes very wearing very quickly.
I think I just underestimated how essential a strong working knowledge of the 5D would need to be
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: WORKING WITH ACTORS
Directing is such a multi-faceted job, you’re required to be knowledgeable about cameras, art direction, wardrobe, screenwriting, editing and composition and above all else you need to understand how to work with actors. I watched a good number of the ‘Story Beyond the Still’ films and a great many of them suffered from truly abysmal acting which really reduces the credibility of the work. Often this happens in conjunction with awful screenwriting, but you have to accept that just shooting something on a 5D with L lenses ain’t going to make it good unless you learn a bit about the craft of acting.
I firmly believe that you have to devote as much time to crafting performances as you do into crafting your shotlist
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: SHOOTING ON A MICRO MICRO-BUDGET
Right from the outset we knew this project was going to be a guerilla undertaking. We always had minimal budget for hiring lights, equipment. Everyone on the project is working for free. This has major implications for how you work. When you are crewing up, you are at the mercy of whoever you can get hold of to give you their time while simultaneously considering whether they’re actually any good or not.
I work regularly with a couple of DOPs (Carl Burke and Benedict Spence. Do anything you can to work with them if you’re in the UK they are both outstanding.) Sadly, even though I have a good relationship with the both of them, the were unable to commit to the project.
I rely heavily on my DOP, constantly bouncing ideas off them and coming to a consensus about how to balance speed against quality. Working with new people is always a bit of a lottery. My art director is another key member of my team. Again, I have people I work with regularly, none of whom could commit to the project. That’s just the reality of guerilla production. We ended up with a crew that is pretty young, but they’re enthusiastic and knowledgeable. It makes such a difference.
We’re constantly juggling the budget trying to keep our costs down. Lighting is a category we watch most closely. Our first weekend was slow, which meant we had to cut a couple of scenes. The scenes are being rescheduled, but if we have any more slow days then we’re going to be seriously over budget. This forces you to be creative.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: WEEKEND 2, DAILIES
Weekend 2, dailies from the pilot shoot of Ladies and Gentlemen, shot on the 5d mkii, 7D, and various Canon L series lenses, 14mm L, 35mm L, 50mm L, 85mm L, 100mm f2, 24-70L. Directed by Robin Schmidt, written by Robert Lucas, 1st AD Pedro Rilho, Producers Joanna Defendi, Robert Lucas, Linda Taimre.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: DAILIES WEEK 2 from Robin Schmidt on Vimeo.
Follow the continuing story here.
