Digital Video - February 2009 - (Page 19)

with a very heavy French accent. When he gets excited, it gets heavier. And judging by his work in the past, you can tell he doesn’t look at something and shoot it straight on. He directed the episode called “The Australian,” and we had all the light sources bounce off the floors, walls, kitchen counters and tables to light the people. He didn’t want the normal, realistic approach that I take to lighting. He cares about screen direction, and once you get a lot of business going with people moving here and there, it makes shooting the scene with three cameras more difficult. Almost every scene in that episode is different from the way we normally shoot Conchords. How do you normally light the two leads? Stewart: When they are in their apartment, I want to make it look as real as possible. This year, because we have a slightly higher lighting budget, I bring the sun or moon or streetlights — depending on what time of day it is — a lot deeper into their apartment than before. Just as in season one, I could not have achieved shooting this show in this manner [time frame and budget] without my Litepanels. The four 1'x1' panels I have in my kit, in addition to the two Minis, have been used in basically every scene of the show — definitely my most important tool. They are in the first case to arrive at every location and the last to leave. We use Rosco VIEW extensively in the show. It was a time-saver as well as a budget-saver in the long run. It works as a polarizing ND gel. In other words, instead of being locked into a single ND exposure without having to add or subtract to the original layer as the external sunlight fluctuates, you add it to the windows once and dial up or down the corresponding lens polarizing filter to whatever exposure you need. You can make the view beyond the gel and windows almost transparent or almost black. I also use it for effects shots. For instance, we put a 4'x8' sheet of it on a Plexiglas frame behind Jemaine. At a certain point in the scene we needed to segue into a music video where his background needed to go to black in camera. At that point, we simply dialed down the polarizing filter on the lens, and voilà. Troy, you have a unique combination of titles: executive producer, director and Steadicam operator. How did you end up doing all that for this show? Miller: James Bobin is the show runner-writer and the principal director. My company, Dakota Pictures, produces the show, so I’m the executive producer kind of by default, overseeing the look from a production company standpoint. I do a lot of comedy, and when I direct, I also do the operating because I can be shooting while I’m talking to the actors. I’m pretty aggressive with camera moves, and because I’m operating, I don’t have to talk to a dolly grip or focus puller and talk to the actor while I’m doing some improv. With the Segway, I can do a dolly shot while I’m panning and tilting and talking to an actor right there. Juggling all those balls at once makes me a better director, and I have a direct connection with the visuals of the film while I am shooting it. DV NEW WITHOUT Litepanels Micro Litepanels Micro ™ WITH Litepanels Micro The perfect camera light fully dimmable & powered by AA batteries ADVANTAGES > Bright, soft output > Heat-free LED technology > Dimmable from 100% to 0 with minimal color shift > DV affordable > 1.5 hrs run time from 4 AA batteries* * 7+ hours runtime using Energizer®e2 Lithium AA batteries ® Ph: 818 752 7009 • Fax: 818 752 2437 • W W W. L I T E PA N E L S . C O M http://WWW.LITEPANELS.COM http://WWW.LITEPANELS.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - February 2009

Digital Video - February 2009 Contents Stasis Flex Black Diamond Essentials Instant Expert Close-Up: Larry Blamire They Like to Rock the Party Close-Up: Gregg Kita Click to Play DV101 Production Diary

Digital Video - February 2009

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