Ed Hill
April 8th, 2004, 10:09 PM
Hi,
Things are going pretty well today with our dramatic re enactment footage for the documentary. Shooting in Zone 6 of Atlanta. Supposedly an area with the highest murder rate and robbery rate in past years. The neighbors here in Kirkwood and Edgewood have come out to watch and have volunteered to helped move light stands, hold reflectors, etc. Drug dealers have given us technical advice on how drug deals happen in their neighborhood. Last night reenacting drug dealer dialog on Mayson street after dark: ATL police came by and asked us what we were shooting, then asked if we really wanted to be there after dark. Most of the neighbors seem like thy're just normal people trying to raise a family, while a smaller group starts drinking 40 oz Malt liquors at 10 am. Sounds like a stereotype but residents of a house we were shooting at had beer for breakfast while we were there.
Have been shooting a lot of interiors and few exteriors, but today was the first good day for EXT scenes. Previous days were brutally sunny (bad contrast ratio for the HD10). Plus way too windy for the 10' X 10' scrim (butterfly).
Finally today no wind, so the butterfly was usable. Plus it was overcast most of the day and the colors were saturated. Almost reminds me of 16mm film. Depth of field was manageable with .9 worth (3 F stops) of ND filters. Plus we used the reflector boards and used the sun as the kicker (hair light). Plus shooting in shadow of buildings in late afternoon & evening also helps manage contrast ratio.
Biggest irritation: a 10 yr old kid who managed to sneak into the background of 3 crap game shots and ruin every one of them yesterday. We reshot today. So no problem. Funniest moment yesterday: an ATL police car drives by our phony crap game at the same time that one of the real drug dealers is smoking a massive (grass filled) blunt on the porch. Meanwhile a Pizza Hut delivery driver appears unbidden and sells one of our guys a pizza he couldn't deliver. Very surreal. It's a different world there, but the people are treating us well.
Shooting Friday and Sat too. I'm tired and sunburned. Good night.
Ed
Things are going pretty well today with our dramatic re enactment footage for the documentary. Shooting in Zone 6 of Atlanta. Supposedly an area with the highest murder rate and robbery rate in past years. The neighbors here in Kirkwood and Edgewood have come out to watch and have volunteered to helped move light stands, hold reflectors, etc. Drug dealers have given us technical advice on how drug deals happen in their neighborhood. Last night reenacting drug dealer dialog on Mayson street after dark: ATL police came by and asked us what we were shooting, then asked if we really wanted to be there after dark. Most of the neighbors seem like thy're just normal people trying to raise a family, while a smaller group starts drinking 40 oz Malt liquors at 10 am. Sounds like a stereotype but residents of a house we were shooting at had beer for breakfast while we were there.
Have been shooting a lot of interiors and few exteriors, but today was the first good day for EXT scenes. Previous days were brutally sunny (bad contrast ratio for the HD10). Plus way too windy for the 10' X 10' scrim (butterfly).
Finally today no wind, so the butterfly was usable. Plus it was overcast most of the day and the colors were saturated. Almost reminds me of 16mm film. Depth of field was manageable with .9 worth (3 F stops) of ND filters. Plus we used the reflector boards and used the sun as the kicker (hair light). Plus shooting in shadow of buildings in late afternoon & evening also helps manage contrast ratio.
Biggest irritation: a 10 yr old kid who managed to sneak into the background of 3 crap game shots and ruin every one of them yesterday. We reshot today. So no problem. Funniest moment yesterday: an ATL police car drives by our phony crap game at the same time that one of the real drug dealers is smoking a massive (grass filled) blunt on the porch. Meanwhile a Pizza Hut delivery driver appears unbidden and sells one of our guys a pizza he couldn't deliver. Very surreal. It's a different world there, but the people are treating us well.
Shooting Friday and Sat too. I'm tired and sunburned. Good night.
Ed