Today on the podcast we are looking at a monster of a commercial with lots of issues to tackle and problems to solve. A spot like this is why cinematography is such a fun career.
Always new challenges to overcome and get better.
Enjoy the behind the scenes look!
Patreon Podcast: Ice Cream You Scream
On the Patreon Podcast this week we change things up again. I’ve gotten a few supporters asking to do a Natasha Braier ASC ADF piece and so I thought I’d find some of her recent work and showcase that.
I cam across this commercial and wanted to break it down because it isn’t the “style” I would immediately think of when I thought of Natasha and her feature work.
Lots to unpack and fun to dive in and break down the spot.
You can find this week’s Patreon content by clicking the link below:
If you are a fan of the podcast and want more video content the patreon group is the place to be. Each and every week I release an exclusive podcast, video, or live stream just for the Patreon members.
Patreon members also get access to the Private Facebook community for the show. The podcast couldn’t exist without the Patreon support and I do my best to take care of the supporters.
The Wet Down: The Spot
Camera Gear:
Check out the gear I use on all of my commercial shoots by clicking the link below:
Wandering DP Commercial Cinematography Gear
This was pre-Mini LF days so we shot on the regular mini to take advantage of the weight savings paired with a set of Zeiss Supreme Primes.
We shot Prores 4444XQ, 3.2k, 800 ISO, 25 fps, 180 degree shutter. The motion control was a 29mm.
The Boards & the Challenges
The Location – The Street that Never Ends
This success of this spot weighed heavily in finding a location that ticked as many boxes as possible. In the end the production did a great job of tracking down a street that was:
1. Long Enough
2. Ended in a T so you could still see power on in the BG.
3. Was small enough they could actually shut it down for a night.
4. Had a house at one end that would allow us to film inside it.
5. Had enough off shoots on either side to fit the base of all the cherry pickers.
6. Looked halfway decent.
7. Had exposed power lines and a tree nearby that could actually drop a branch that size.
The Top Down View:
The Spot View:
The Reverse End:
The Fun Part @ 190 Feet (60 meters):
The Solution @ 164 Feet (50 meters):
The Spot – Shot by Shot
Pass #1 – The Bare Tree
The Shot
The first pass of the motion control sequence. Just the tree and the night sky as the camera pulls back 50 feet.
The Lighting
One M90 in a 180ft bucket that is visible in shot acts as the moon.
Two M40s in another cherry picker 65 feet up off frame right act as a BG frontal accent light and the other as a backlight for the main set.
There is also an M18 tucked behind the houses frame left lighting up the large tree in the BG.
Above the main set piece area is a 12×12 soft box with 2 S60 Sky Panels to act as toppy ambient tone rigged to a 45 foot knuckle boom to get the rig out and over the set.
Add a wet down and we are good to go.
The Result
Set Up #2 – She is Still Dark
The Shot
Pass #2 with added cones behind the branch.
The Lighting
Same as before.
Set Up #3 – Lights Out
The Shot
3rd pass adding cones in the foreground and a day-maker in the BG.
The Lighting
Same as above.
The Result
Set Up #4 – Let There Be Light
The Shot
Pass #4 is identical to #3 but now the day-maker is turned on.
The Lighting
Same as above.
The Result
Set Up #5 – Crew Arrives
The Shots
Pass #5 adds the crew and the trucks.
The Lighting
Same as above.
The Result
Shot #6 – Human Cross
The Shots
The last pass for the first run of the Motion Control track before moving it up the hill.
THe worker who passes the screen will be the edit point to wipe to the new track and stitch the two together.
The Lighting
Same as above.
Shot #7 – The 2nd Track
The Shot
Same as above but we now start the new track so we can get further away from the scene.
The Lighting
Same as above.
Shot #8 – The Car Wipe
The Shots
The last pass involves more crew on screen plus an emergency vehicle wiping across screen to get us out of the scene.
The Lighting
Same as above.
The Result
Shot #9 – The Elevated Closer
The Shot
Now we jump in another cherry picker with the camera to show the whole scene being taken care of. This is the final shot in the add before the super.
The Lighting
The only change here is we needed to move the 12×12 soft box that was directly over the set and place it camera right to get it out of the shot.
The Result
Shot #10 – The Same but Closer
The Shot
An over the shoulder shot of a woman in her house noticing the fallen branch and power line in the middle of the road. The power on the street is out.
The Lighting
The only change here was we needed to keep the 12×12 out of shot and up higher than it was for the motion control portion of the shoot. It is frame right and 45 feet up in the air.
Plus we used a Litemat 2l locally on the talent to help draw her out from the BG.
The Result
Shot #11 – Tears in the Rain
The Shot
The final shot of the night is the woman looking out her rainy window as a reverse of the previous shot. She grabs the phone to call the emergency services out.
The Lighting
We used the 12×12 soft box as a key by swinging the boom around and lowering it. Then inside we took creative license and added the Litemat 2l to edge her out from the flat, dark BG of the powerless house.
The Result
After one of the most popular, informative, and entertaining episodes in the history of the show we pause from the interviews to take a look at how a recent commercial I shot was put together.
This time on the podcast we break down a horse racing spot and talk lighting, lenses, schedule, and more.
Enjoy the behind the scenes look!
Patreon Podcast: Bad Times at the Backlot
Natasha Braier
You can find this week’s Patreon content by clicking the link below:
The Wandering DP Patreon Group
If you are a fan of the podcast and want more video content the patreon group is the place to be. Each and every week I release an exclusive podcast, video, or live stream just for the Patreon members.
Patreon members also get access to the Private Facebook community for the show. The podcast couldn’t exist without the Patreon support and I do my best to take care of the supporters.
The Wet Down: The Spot
Camera Gear:
Check out the gear I use on all of my commercial shoots by clicking the link below:
Wandering DP Commercial Cinematography Gear
We used the Alexa XT and an Alexa mini for the gimbal. The gimbal was the Ronin 2. We shot Prores 444.
The only kit not listed on that page is the set of Vintage Cooke Panchros we used on this one.
No lights on this one but we did make heavy use of 12×12 Ultra Bounces, Neg, and Highlight frames.
The Boards & the Challenges
1.
2.
2.
2.
2.
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2.
The Location – The Street that Never Ends
The entire spot plays outside on a racecourse. We had a single day and had to move quickly to get the sun in the spot it needed to be for all of the set ups.
The treatment called for high contrast imagery and we need a strong backlight (the sun) to make that happen.
Below is a diagram of the location. We moved 3 times on the day and those moves are also highlighted on the map.
The Top Down View:
The Spot View:
The Reverse End:
The Fun Part @ 190 Feet (60 meters):
The Solution @ 164 Feet (50 meters):
The Spot – Shot by Shot
Shot 1 – The Push Start
The Shots
The ad ends with a slow push in on a jockey as he eye balls the camera.
The Lighting
This was the hero shot of the ad so we made the best use of the location and the light and scheduled this shot as the first of the day.
We oriented the action so that the camera was facing North and used a 4×4 frame of highlight to cut the sun on the talent. Then we used a 12×12 of Ultra bounce to wrap the sun on his key side.
Finally we had two 4×4 floppies camera right to create the contrast we were after.
The Result
Shoot Location
Set Up #2 – The Push Finish
The Shot
Final position on the push in.
The Lighting
This is a continuation of the previous set up.
The Result
Set Up #3 – The Texture
The Shot
This shot wasn’t storyboarded but because we had two cameras rolling the entire shoot we were able to pick up extra textural moments as A cam was focused on the storyboard essentials.
The Lighting
We were now on the West side of the track looking East. The sun is starting to rise in the sky which meant our subject would be backlight if we shot towards the East.
We have a 12×12 Neg camera left and a 12×12 Ultra Bounce camera right.
The sun was ducking in and out of clouds so the effect of the bounce and neg is more or less impactful depending on the moment.
The Result
Set Up #4 – The Grand Wide
The Shots
This was the hero shot of the riders preparing to enter the starting gate.
The Lighting
We used the sun to backlight the rider then bounced a 12×12 Ultra from frame right and a 12×12 Neg was camera left to add some shape.
The Result
Set Up #5 – The Take Off
The Shots
The B cam angle of the previous shot.
The Lighting
See shot #4.
The Result
Shot #6 – The Fly By
The Shots
We moved back to the East side of the track to start the final sequence of the day. We needed shots of the riders and horses entering the gate. B cam was able to get this shot while A cam was frame right getting a profile of the riders in the gates.
The Lighting
Donuts.
The Result
Shot #7 & 8 – The Entrance
The Shots
The super shot.
The Lighting
All the lighting remained from the previous set ups as we hunted for various angles to lay the super over. They ended up choosing a frame with some dirty foreground window elements which always helps to create depth.
The Result
Shot #9 – Steady…
The Shots
We needed shots of the horse getting ready to exit the starting block. The B cam was able to grab these shots as the A cam got Shots 10 – 11.
The Lighting
See previous shot.
The Result
Shot #10 – In the Gates
The Shot
This shot kicks off a series of shots from inside the starting gates. We just roamed from frame to frame as soon as the horses entered the starting gate. We were low on time here so we hosed it down with coverage.
The Lighting
We blacked all around the camera so that the only light coming through was the direct backlight from the sun.
The Result
Shot #11 – The Same but Closer
The Shot
See previous shot.
The Lighting
See previous shot.
The Result
Shot #12 – The Dolly Zoom
The Shots
This shot was a dolly zoom as the gates opened to give the viewer an odd sense of the movement at the start of a race.
The Lighting
Donuts.