Ok I had better get on with it and Finish this blog ,,, Now that I am back in Halifax for another Jesse Stone Film ,,, Stay tuned

I have been told by a couple of Up and Coming aussie camera Operators and 1AC's that they like to check out the blog for lighting and camera tips ,,,,,,,,, I will try to include more of those as I finish up the last couple of weeks of this Film

A Quick location Recce at the Western Hotel for the next 2 Nights shoot

All looks good for a Late Start tomorrow ,,,,,, a Bit of a Pre Light for Chistopher for the Hotel Entrance is going to help ,,,

When I started shooting with Robert out of the Picture ,,, I was feeling a little unfocused

FEELING UNFOCUSED

NOW

NOW I WAS FEELING VERY FOCUSED

Now just a couple of night shoots ,,,,,, Making us half way through ,,, A late call of course eating away your day off

Christopher had covered every base with light positions , we just moved some forward to hit the ground in shot and saved the ones we didnt need .

Dick had lined up a great tracking shot across to see Tom in the rear vision mirror ,,,, Nice simple story telling ,,,, but tighter than this still is .

Christopher had headed off early to sling some lights up at the dusk location we followed after the white shirt scene ,,, as always very early

Now because of not wanting to loose the skylight we always get there early and it is the cameramans job to keep putting off the requests to shoot tooo early ,,,,,,,, now you can shoot early for a totally different look if you want brighter skys ,,, if the scrips time allows . here is an unlit shot EARLY...

Here a shot now lit and later ,,,, You just have to bite the bullet and wait

,,, It is not very long ,,, 20 minutes or 3 minutes ,,, but with people breathing down you back waiting for the call it will feel like hours ,,,,,,,, The good thing is when it is DARK ,,, u warp ,,,, unless you have lightable close ups to do ,,,,,,,,, Multiple cameras at magic hour is a MUST .

more white shirt after lunch

Who need Lunch ,,,,,,,, Out for a recce to find a new Dusk location

I must say it was a LITTLE bloody minded of the crew person who rang about what they thought was hazardous waste at the original location ,,,,,, in places no one was going to go ,,,,,, It would have been better to make that call on the crew recce I would have thought ,,,

Anyway we moved around the corner to a new spot .... but first back to the studio for some food and more White shirts

We quickly change ( & I mean QUICKLY ) to a very Nice Moody tracking shot to music down the hallway Hangover Scene .

The one thing about moving quickly is the lighting compromise ,,,,,, The smoke was a bit thick and the backlight from the top of the set picked up a bit ,,, I was not able ( in the TIME allowed to fix it in post ) It could have been sorted in the effects budget days BUT .

I am probley the only person it really bugs ,,,,,,,, Along with about 100 other camermen I suppose . ( what was he thinking )

Now everone is waiting for The LAST dying words

Dick wants those last dying words ,,,The camera crew wants those last gasps ,,,, Its to much for ella ,,, so she trys working with her eys closed like chris did . All the Fun is STOPPED by the news that we have LOST the magic hour location and have to find another in a few short hours .

Gareth takes the time to do his tax on his iphone ,,, and Jerry is still trying to get the dying words

Bad Guy gets His just deserts ( rhubard & Custard )

After a couple of shot gun blasts in the chest ,,, he is not saying anything gerry ,,,,,,,,, get that mike in real close you might get a bubble of air coming out the holes ,,, go gerry go .

We wrapped for the day ,,,,,,,, Back tomorrow in the studio for more with a late call . Then a move to a magic hour scene on location

The Equipment for the Machine gun flashes

Anyone would think we were shooting real bullets

Shotgun FLASH tests

Keith Shoots several Blasts for the test ,,, in a perfect world you want all of these frames in a very random way and do several takes without moving the camera ,,, so they can be edited together ....

Now the scene we had all been waiting for ,, The Machine gun versus Shotgun shoot out down the hallway

We had , (with the help of Keith getting hold of an out of town Strobe unit ) done some flash tests because we didnt want to sync up with the flashes but reproduce a simulated flashing effect ,,,,, We didnt have a very long time to do the tests ,,, So I simplified them .. ......We shot at 24 , 30 , 60 fps ... We were shooting at t2 for the 60fps ... Which is what I wanted to shoot at and it looked best . When Shooting the shotgun you are ALWAYS going to miss some of the shots totally . So I would have just loaded the gun up and just keep shooting ,,,,,, That is what editors do .

But because of scripting we HAD to only use the 4 shots written . We missed some , got some ,,, leaving it to Steven to sort out in the edit ,,,,,,, No time ! gotta move on to the Machine gun part .

Chris was given the job of doing the Night vision Point of View ,,, & Gary adjusts his equipment in the background ....He is always busy doing that.

He had a lot of fun and said he could do it with his eyes closed ,,,,,,,, I took a Flash shot and caught him practicing with his eyes closed ,,, LOL ..We agreed to try one with his eyes open just as a safety ....... It all worked a treat ,,,, Imagine the day when we will be shooting the whole show on such a little camera ...... Not that far off .

And of Course the Colourful & talented Editor Mr Steven Cohen

Before I move on I would like to thank the Lovely Cheryl Stein for her efficient orginization during the Timing