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In today's episode of the podcast we are breaking down all the steps that went into creating a recent commercial campaign.

In the spirit of run and gun we are taking about a spot that was almost all natural light with very little emphasis on traditional film lighting techniques.

These jobs are a great mix up and one of the joy's of working as a commercial DP is to bounce around on all sorts of projects.  

Patreon Live Stream: Break It Down...

The live stream on Patreon is starting to pick up some steam and it is great getting on each week and seeing familiar faces inside the stream.  

This week we are looking at more listener generated content and answering questions as they appear in the chat.  

Patreon has been a great hub for helping expand the scope of the podcast and I couldn't have kept up this schedule or pace without the generous support of the show.

If you are interested in helping the show you can go to the Patreon link:

Patreon Live Stream: The Wandering DP

From there you can get instant access to over 10 hours of extra content (videos, podcasts, live streams) all about cinematography.

The Gear: Arri Alexa Mini + Lomo Anamorphics

Standard Gear Package with an Alexa Mini paired with Lomo Anamorphics.

See previous show notes pages for a full gear list.

The Spot: Lomo Anamorphics

In this spot we follow a group of people to the western most point in Australia where a pizza restaurant is waiting for them.

The goal of the spot was to show how remote the location was a how great a distance the people had traveled out of their comfort zone.

Sequence #1 - The Country Pub

The Shot(s)

The main goal of this sequence was to show the local residents of the town closest to the remote pizzeria.  We needed to see and hear the country aspects of the talent to get a sense of where the tvc was taking place.

The Lighting

We were running and gunning the entire shoot and this sequence was no different.  With minimal crew and almost zero gear we had to make a location we had never seen before work.

We turned off all the practicals and covered all the windows with curtains.  Then we used Area 48 LEDs as our main units and diffused them with some 216 sheets.

The Results

Shot #1

Shot #2

Shot #3

Sequence #2 - The Remote Island

Shot #4

The Shot(s)

In this sequence we are on the island and had tons to get through in just one afternoon.

We had a phone conversation to shoot and also had to get arrival shots of the guests as they found the location.

The Lighting

Based on time and crew constraints we used some 4x4 poly bounces and some negative fill from 4x4 floppies to get the job done.

We used so basic blocking ideas to help get the best angles out of the sun and the contrast it created.

For the closing shots we had some xmas lights in tungsten to help set the mood.

The Results

Shot #5

Shot #6

Shot #7

Shot #8

Shot #9

Shot #10

Shot #11

Shot #12

Aerial Footage - The All Seeing Eye

The Shot(s)

The aerial footage was shot by a seperate unit as we were busy shooting the other set ups.

The Aerial unit was given two key instructions.

1. Always shoot into the light.

2.  Single axis movement only.

Sticking with these basic principles they were able to come back with some footage that really helped to elevate the piece.

The Results

Shot #13

Shot #14

Lomo Anamorphic - Behind the Scenes

About The Author

Cinematographer and host of The Wandering DP Podcast. You can see select examples of work at my personal site or follow me on instagram.

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