Shane Hurlbut, ASC, Author at Filmmakers Academy

How to Extend “Magic Hour” on Motion Picture Film

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 22:48:24 +0000

Every filmmaker loves “Magic Hour.” That fleeting window just after sunset provides the most flattering, ethereal light known to cinema. But when you are shooting on film, this time of day is terrifying. As the sun dips below the horizon, your light levels plummet by the second. On a digital camera, you might just crank the ISO. On film, you have to be smarter.

In this excerpt from the Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass, we extend a 15-minute window of twilight into a 40-minute shoot.

(Watch the first 6 minutes of Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass for free.)

What You Will Learn in This Article
The “Twilight Filter Stack”: Why combining an 85 and 81EF filter is essential to correct the extreme 8800K blue shift of twilight on tungsten film. How to Double Your Shooting Window: A location scouting strategy (using buildings/mountains) that turns a fleeting 15-minute “magic hour” into a 40-minute shoot. The “West-First” Rule: The critical shooting order you must follow to ensure your talent remains lit by the fading sky for as long as possible. Why 500T is the King of Dusk: Why choosing high-speed tungsten stock (Kodak 5219) is the secret weapon for seeing into the dark outdoors. Reflector Strategy: When and why to switch from white bounce to silver reflectors to maintain eye light as ambient levels drop.

What You Will Learn in This Article

The “Twilight Filter Stack”: Why combining an 85 and 81EF filter is essential to correct the extreme 8800K blue shift of twilight on tungsten film.
How to Double Your Shooting Window: A location scouting strategy (using buildings/mountains) that turns a fleeting 15-minute “magic hour” into a 40-minute shoot.
The “West-First” Rule: The critical shooting order you must follow to ensure your talent remains lit by the fading sky for as long as possible.
Why 500T is the King of Dusk: Why choosing high-speed tungsten stock (Kodak 5219) is the secret weapon for seeing into the dark outdoors.
Reflector Strategy: When and why to switch from white bounce to silver reflectors to maintain eye light as ambient levels drop.

VIDEO LESSON EXCERPT: HOW TO EXTEND MAGIC HOUR

THE CHALLENGE: THE BLUE SHIFT

When the sun sets, the color temperature of the world shifts dramatically. The warm sun disappears, and you are left with the ambient light of the sky, which skyrockets to a very cold 8800 Kelvin or higher.

If you are shooting on standard daylight film, your footage will look aggressively, unnaturally blue. If you are shooting on tungsten film (which expects orange light), it will look even bluer.

THE FILM STOCK STRATEGY (500T)

To combat the dropping light levels, we need speed. I always choose the highest speed stock available: Kodak Vision3 500T (5219).

Why 500T?

“T” stands for Tungsten (3200K). This stock is designed for indoor artificial light. This seems counterintuitive for an outdoor shoot, but 500T is the most sensitive stock Kodak makes. We need that sensitivity to see into the dark.

THE FILTER STACK (THE “WARM-UP”)

Because we are shooting Tungsten film outdoors, we need to correct the color temperature.

1.	85 Filter	This is our baseline correction. It converts the outdoor light to match the tungsten film.
2.	81EF Filter	This is our “secret sauce” for twilight. Since the ambient sky light is so cold (8800K), a standard 85 filter isn’t enough; the image would still feel cold. The 81EF adds an extra layer of warmth (about 0.7 stops worth).

The Exposure Formula

With these filters in place, we are losing light. To compensate, I rate my light meter to 160 ISO (overexposing the 500T stock by roughly 2/3 of a stop) at 24 fps. This ensures a thick negative that captures rich color even as the light fades.

EXTENDING TIME WITH GEOGRAPHY

Most filmmakers wait for the sun to hit the horizon to start their “magic hour” clock. That gives you 15 minutes, tops.

PRO TIP: Block the sun early. Find a location with a large building, a mountain range, or a dense tree line to the West. Position your talent in the shadow of this object while the sun is still up.

By using a building to block the sun, we create “artificial dusk” 20 minutes before actual sunset. This simple location choice doubles our shooting window, giving us 40 minutes of usable soft light instead of 20.

THE SILVER BULLET (REFLECTORS)

As the light levels drop, a white bounce board becomes useless. It simply doesn’t have the punch to reflect the weak ambient light.

Switch to Silver.

We bring in a Silver Reflector (or shiny board) to catch the remaining blue sky ambiance and redirect it into the talent’s eyes.

THE “WEST-FIRST” SHOOTING ORDER

This is the most critical logistical rule of twilight photography. You must shoot your coverage in a specific order to survive the fading light.

Shoot WEST First (Camera facing East).

Why? Because the “source” of your light is the setting sun in the West (behind the camera). The Western sky is the brightest thing in the universe right now.

Shot 1 (Facing East)	The hot Western sky is behind the camera, acting as a massive softbox illuminating the talent’s face. You get a beautiful reading (e.g., f/2.5).
Shot 2 (Facing West)	Once the light drops further, then you turn around and shoot toward the sunset. Even though the subject is now backlit and darker (e.g., f/1.5), you have the bright, colorful twilight sky in the background to create a silhouette or moody separation.

If you shoot the silhouette first, by the time you turn around to shoot the face, the “softbox” in the Western sky will be gone, and your actor will be in the dark.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Shooting motion picture film at twilight is all about logistics. By choosing the fast 500T stock, stacking warming filters, blocking the sun early, and shooting West-first, you can squeeze every photon out of the day.

UNLOCK THE FULL MASTERCLASS

Understanding filters is just one piece of the puzzle. To truly shoot motion picture film, you need to master the light meter, understand stock personalities, and know how to manipulate the chemical process itself.

In the Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass, Shane Hurlbut, ASC takes you through every step of this journey.

JOIN FILMMAKERS ACADEMY AND SAVE $50!

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The post How to Extend “Magic Hour” on Motion Picture Film appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

The “Tony Scott” Look: ND & Color Grads

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 02:16:52 +0000

In the digital age, we have become accustomed to fixing exposure problems in the color grading suite. If a sky is too bright, we simply draw a Power Window, track it, and bring down the highlights.

But when you are shooting on film — or even pushing a digital sensor to its limits in a backlit scenario — relying on post-production can be a fatal mistake. If you blow out the clouds on your negative, that detail is gone forever. It’s clipped. There is nothing to bring back.

To solve this problem in-camera, we turn to one of the most powerful tools in the analog cinematographer’s kit: Graduated Filters (Grads).

(This article is a deep dive into a lesson from the Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass. Learn how to control contrast without a monitor in the full course!)

What You Will Learn in This Article
The “Tony Scott” Aesthetic: How the legendary director used Hard Grads (specifically the “Tobacco” filter) to create his signature high-contrast, dramatic skies. Hard vs. Soft Grads: The key differences between these two filter types and the specific scenarios (horizons vs. uneven terrain) that call for each. The Geared Matte Box Technique: A step-by-step breakdown of how an operator and AC work together to “hide” a grad filter during a tilt shot. Why Digital Still Needs Glass: Why relying on Power Windows isn’t enough when shooting in high-contrast, backlit environments where sensor clipping is a risk.

What You Will Learn in This Article

The “Tony Scott” Aesthetic: How the legendary director used Hard Grads (specifically the “Tobacco” filter) to create his signature high-contrast, dramatic skies.
Hard vs. Soft Grads: The key differences between these two filter types and the specific scenarios (horizons vs. uneven terrain) that call for each.
The Geared Matte Box Technique: A step-by-step breakdown of how an operator and AC work together to “hide” a grad filter during a tilt shot.
Why Digital Still Needs Glass: Why relying on Power Windows isn’t enough when shooting in high-contrast, backlit environments where sensor clipping is a risk.

THE “GRAD MEISTER”: TONY SCOTT

If there was one filmmaker who defined the use of graduated filters, it was Tony Scott. From Top Gun to Man on Fire, he was the “Grad Meister.” He didn’t just use them to balance exposure; he used them aggressively to paint the frame with color and contrast. He was experimental and fearless — he didn’t care if you saw the filter line during a pan or a tilt. For him, the artifact was part of the aesthetic.

While you may not want to be as extreme as Tony Scott in every film, understanding the tools he mastered is essential for controlling exposure on celluloid.

1. THE HARD GRAD: PRECISION CONTROL

The first type of graduated filter is the Hard Grad. As the name suggests, this filter has a sharp, defined transition line between the clear glass and the tinted (ND or Color) section.

The Look:

It creates a hard edge in exposure. You can clearly see where the effect starts and stops.

The Tony Scott Signature:

Tony’s favorite was the “Tobacco” Hard Grad filter (seen famously in Top Gun). It turned boring white skies into a rich, menacing orange-brown, adding immediate drama and heat to the image.

WHEN TO USE IT
Defined Horizons	When you have a distinct, flat horizon line, such as in an ocean scene or a desert.
Cityscapes	When you have a row of buildings that are all roughly the same height.
Flat Hillsides	Where there isn’t much undulation to reveal the straight line of the filter.

2. THE SOFT GRAD: SEAMLESS BLENDING

If the horizon is uneven or you need a more subtle touch, you turn to the Soft Grad.

The Look:

This filter features a very gradual, feathered transition from clear to dense. There is no harsh line. Instead, the tint slowly “dives” into the deeper tones of the image.

The Benefit:

It is much easier to hide. It allows you to darken a bright sky without darkening the top of a mountain, a tree, or an actor’s head that might cross into the upper part of the frame.

WHEN TO USE IT
Uneven Terrain	Mountains, forests, or city streets with varying building heights.
Dynamic Shots	When the camera is moving, and a hard line would be too obvious.

3. THE “BEAUTIFUL DANCE”: THE GEARED MATTE BOX

Using a grad filter on a “lock-off” (static) shot is easy: you slide the filter down until the line sits on the horizon, and you leave it.

But what happens if you need to tilt?

If you tilt the camera up without adjusting the filter, the dark part of the grad will remain static in the matte box, effectively wiping down over your subject’s face or the middle of the frame. It looks like a mistake.

To solve this, you need a Geared Matte Box and a skilled 1st AC.

THE TECHNIQUE
6×6 Filters	We use larger 6×6 glass filters (instead of the standard 4×5.65) to give us a more vertical range of travel.
The Gear	The filter tray has a gear track on the side.
The Whip	The AC attaches a long focus whip to the filter tray gear.
The Dance	As the operator tilts the camera up, the AC must simultaneously crank the whip to raise the filter tray.

It is a synchronized performance. The goal is to keep the transition line of the grad “pinned” to the horizon in the image, even as the camera moves physically. When done correctly, the audience never knows a filter was used. They just see a perfectly exposed sky and a perfectly exposed subject.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Digital sensors have incredible latitude, but they still clip. Film has incredible highlight retention, but it still needs help to see into the shadows. Graduated filters bridge that gap. Whether you are using a Tobacco Hard Grad to channel Tony Scott or a Soft ND Grad to save a cloud formation, these pieces of glass allow you to paint the image before the light ever hits the emulsion.

Ready to Master the Analog Workflow?

Understanding filters is just one piece of the puzzle. To truly shoot film, you need to master the light meter, understand stock personalities, and know how to manipulate the chemical process itself.

In the Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass, Shane Hurlbut, ASC takes you through every step of this journey.

YOU CAN ACCESS THE FULL MASTERCLASS IN TWO WAYS
BECOME A PREMIUM ANNUAL MEMBER	Get unlimited access to this masterclass, plus our entire library of hundreds of courses, monthly live coaching, and an exclusive community of filmmakers.
A LA CARTE PURCHASE	Buy the standalone masterclass for a one-time fee of $129.99 and own it forever.

Forget “fast.” Choose timeless. Master the process.

This masterclass was produced in collaboration with Kodak.

The post The “Tony Scott” Look: ND & Color Grads appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Exposing Film in Harsh Sunlight Backlit Scenes

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 07:46:04 +0000

When shooting on film, you don’t have the luxury of a high-resolution monitor or waveform to check your exposure. You have your meter, your eye, and your knowledge of the craft. One of the most beautiful yet challenging lighting scenarios is the classic backlit sun shot. It creates separation, a stunning hair light, and a sense of depth — but if you miscalculate your ratios, you risk blowing out the highlights or losing your subject in the shadows.

In this excerpt from the Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass, we go on location to break down my exact methodology for exposing daylight-balanced film stock in a high-contrast, backlit environment. This isn’t just about reading a meter; it’s about understanding how to control light, calculate filter factors, and make creative decisions about skin tone exposure that are baked into the negative.

(This article is a detailed breakdown of a lesson from the Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass. Discover how you can access the full course at the end!)

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS ARTICLE

The “Hand Cup” Metering Technique: How to get an accurate incident reading in harsh sunlight without false inflation.
Calculating Filter Factor: How to adjust your light meter to account for ND filters and ensure perfect exposure.
Managing Contrast Ratios: How to use bounce light to bring a high-contrast scene into a cinematic range.
Strategic Underexposure: Why underexposing skin tones on film can create a richer, more natural look, and how to adjust for different complexions.
The T-Stop Decision: How to balance aperture, filtration, and lighting to achieve a specific depth of field.

THE SCENARIO: SHOOTING DAYLIGHT STOCK (50D)

For this setup, we are shooting with Kodak Vision3 50D (5203). Because this is a daylight-balanced stock (5600K), we do not need an 85 correction filter. However, the sun is bright, and 50 ASA is still sensitive enough that we need to control the amount of light entering the lens to achieve our desired aperture.

My goal is to shoot at a T-stop of around T2.0 to T2.5. This aperture provides a beautiful, cinematic depth of field that separates the subject from the background. Without filtration, the sun would force us to stop down to f/16 or higher, ruining that aesthetic.

STEP 1: METERING TECHNIQUE – THE “HAND CUP” METHOD

The first step is to get an accurate reading of the light. I use an incident light meter with a dome (not a flat disc), but technique is critical.

THE PROBLEM	When measuring the shadow side of the face (fill light), if the bright sun hits the back of the meter’s dome, it will artificially inflate the reading, telling you there is more light than there actually is.
THE SOLUTION	I use my hand to cup the dome, blocking the direct sun from hitting it while allowing the ambient fill light to enter. This ensures I am measuring only the light falling on the shadow side of the subject’s face.

INITIAL READINGS
Backlight (Sun)	f/8.3
Fill (Shadow side)	f/2.5

This creates a massive contrast ratio (about 3.5 stops difference). While dramatic, I prefer a more controlled two-stop backlit scenario for this kind of beauty work. This means we need to bring up the fill level.

STEP 2: FILTRATION AND THE FILTER FACTOR

To get our T-stop down to my preferred T2.0–2.5 range, we need to cut the light. I chose an ND 0.6 (Neutral Density) filter, which reduces light by 2 stops.

PLACEMENT MATTERS

I always place the ND filter in the matte box tray closest to the lens. This minimizes the risk of internal reflections and ghosting, especially when shooting directly into a strong light source like the sun.

UPDATING THE METER

Before taking any new readings, I must update my light meter. I go into the menu and program a Filter Factor of -2 stops (for the ND 0.6). I also confirm my film speed is set to 50 ASA and my frame rate is 24 fps. Now, the meter will do the math for me.

NEW READINGS (WITH ND 0.6
Backlight	f/4.3

STEP 3: SHAPING THE LIGHT WITH A BOUNCE

To reduce the contrast ratio, we bring in a Circle Bounce (a bead board or similar reflector). By positioning it high and reflecting the sun back onto the subject, we create a beautiful, soft fill light.

FINAL READINGS
New Fill (with bounce)	f/1.4

STEP 4: THE EXPOSURE DECISION

Now comes the artistry. We have our readings:

Backlight	f/4.3
Fill	f/1.4

I decide to set my lens aperture to T2.5. Here is why:

1. UNDEREXPOSING THE FACE

By setting the lens to T2.5 when the fill measures T1.4, I am intentionally underexposing the face by about 1.5 stops. For lighter skin tones (like our talent, Kira), this protects the highlights and keeps the skin looking natural and rich, rather than flat and over-lit.

NOTE: If the talent had darker skin tones, I would only underexpose by 1 stop to ensure rich detail in the shadows.

2. OVEREXPOSING THE BACKLIGHT

With the lens at T2.5 and the backlight measuring T4.3, the sun is now 1.5 stops overexposed. This creates a beautiful, glowing rim light that feels hot and sunny but retains detail without blowing out into a digital-looking clip.

THE RESULT

A perfectly balanced image with a 3-stop dynamic range between the key and the rim, all calculated precisely before rolling a single foot of film.

THE BOTTOM LINE: CONFIDENCE COMES FROM KNOWLEDGE

This lesson illustrates the precision required to shoot film. You aren’t guessing; you are calculating ratios and making deliberate creative choices about how to place your exposure. By understanding your meter, your filters, and your film stock’s latitude, you can walk onto any set and confidently shape the sun to your will.

UNLOCK THE FULL MASTERCLASS!

This article covers just one lighting scenario from our comprehensive Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass. In the full course, Shane Hurlbut, ASC, takes you through complex setups including side-lighting, tungsten stock in daylight, pushing and pulling film, and the “twilight combo” for extending magic hour.

YOU CAN ACCESS THE FULL MASTERCLASS IN TWO WAYS
BECOME A PREMIUM ANNUAL MEMBER	Get unlimited access to this masterclass, plus our entire library of hundreds of courses, monthly live coaching, and an exclusive community of filmmakers.
A LA CARTE PURCHASE	Buy the standalone masterclass for a one-time fee of $129.99 and own it forever.

Forget “fast.” Choose timeless. Master the process.

This masterclass was produced in collaboration with Kodak.

The post Exposing Film in Harsh Sunlight Backlit Scenes appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Exposing Film Stocks: 16mm Film & 35mm Film

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 06:41:58 +0000

In an age dominated by digital “fixes,” false color overlays, and the ability to change ISO with the scroll of a wheel, the true, hands-on craft of exposing celluloid has become a rare and vital skill. We see the “film look” imitated everywhere. Grain overlays, halation plugins, and LUTs designed to mimic Kodak Vision3. But how many modern filmmakers truly understand the nuts and bolts behind it all?

Film is making a comeback. From the IMAX spectacle of Oppenheimer to the gritty texture of indie darlings, directors are returning to the medium. But shooting on film is a discipline. It demands that you stop relying on a monitor and start trusting your eye, your tools, and your knowledge.

That is why I partnered with KODAK to create the Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass. Drawing from my experience lensing over 23 feature films on 35mm, 16mm, and Super 8 since 1986, this course demystifies the process of exposing film.

Below is an in-depth look at the foundational principles covered in the first chapter of the masterclass. We are going to strip away the digital safety net and look at the science of film stocks, the difference between negative and reversal, and the glass filters required to paint with light.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS ARTICLE

How to decode Kodak’s film numbering system to instantly identify formats (35mm vs. 16mm) and stock types.
The specific characteristics of Kodak Vision3 Color Negative stocks (50D, 250D, 200T, 500T) and when to use them.
The difference between Color Negative (ECN-2) and Reversal Film, and why films like Three Kings utilized the latter for a unique aesthetic.
The science of Analog White Balance, specifically how to use the 85 Filter to shoot tungsten stock in daylight without ruining your image.

PART 1: UNDERSTANDING YOUR CANVAS (FILM STOCKS)

Before you can expose a single frame, you must understand the physical medium you are loading into the camera. Unlike a digital sensor, which has a fixed native sensitivity, film allows you to change your “sensor” every time you change a roll.

DECODING THE NUMBERS: 35MM VS. 16MM

Kodak organizes their film stocks using a specific numbering system. Understanding this code is the first step in professional film logistics.

THE PREFIX
52	Indicates 35mm film (e.g., 5203, 5219)
72	Indicates 16mm film (e.g., 7203, 7219)
THE SUFFIX	The last two digits indicate the specific emulsion type (ISO and Color Balance).

COLOR NEGATIVE FILM: THE INDUSTRY STANDARD

The vast majority of modern motion pictures are shot on Color Negative film. This film produces an image with inverted colors and tones. When printed or scanned, these colors are reversed to create the final positive image. Color negative is processed using the ECN-2 chemical process.

WHY USE NEGATIVE?

It offers superior dynamic range (latitude). It is forgiving in the highlights and can dig into the shadows, giving the cinematographer immense flexibility in the color grading suite (or timing lab).

CURRENT KODAK VISION3 STOCKS
50D (5203 / 7203)	A Daylight balanced (5600K) stock with an ISO of 50. It has the finest grain structure, perfect for bright exteriors.
250D (5207 / 7207)	A faster Daylight balanced stock.
200T (5213 / 7213)	A tungsten-balanced (3200K) stock. The “T” stands for Tungsten.
500T (5219 / 7219)	The high-speed workhorse. Tungsten balanced, ideal for low light and night scenes.

COLOR REVERSAL FILM (VNF): THE “NEWS” AESTHETIC

Before video cameras took over, news broadcasters used Reversal Film, often called Video News Film (VNF). Unlike negative film, reversal film produces a positive image directly on the strip — like a slide projector image.

The Aesthetic Trade-off: Reversal film has significantly less dynamic range (latitude) than negative film. If you miss your exposure, the film is unforgiving. However, this limitation creates a unique, “cranked” aesthetic.

NATURAL, PUNCHY COLORS	The colors are often super-saturated and vibrant.
UNIQUE BLOWOUTS	When overexposed, reversal film doesn’t roll off gently like negative; it blows out in a distinct, harsh, yet artistic way.

CINEMATIC EXAMPLE

David O. Russell’s Three Kings (1999) famously utilized color reversal stock (specifically Ektachrome) to achieve its bleach-bypass-style, high-contrast look. The result was deep, unnatural blue skies and stark, golden-white sands that heightened the surreal nature of the narrative.

PART 2: ANALOG WHITE BALANCE (THE ART OF GLASS)

On a digital camera, if you walk from a tungsten-lit room (3200K) out into the sun (5600K), you simply dial a knob to change your white balance. In analog filmmaking, your white balance is chemically baked into the film stock. To change it, you must be a craftsman.

THE PROBLEM: SHOOTING TUNGSTEN FILM IN DAYLIGHT

If you load a roll of 500T (Tungsten) because you love the grain structure or need the speed, but you shoot outside in daylight without modification, your image will be overwhelmingly blue. The film expects orange light, but you are feeding it blue daylight.

THE SOLUTION: THE 85 FILTER

To correct this “in-camera,” you must place an 85 Filter in front of the lens.

WHAT IT IS	An orange-colored glass filter.
WHAT IT DOES	It physically converts the 5600K daylight entering the lens into 3200K light before it hits the film emulsion.
THE COST	Placing glass in front of the lens cuts light. You must account for this Filter Factor when calculating your exposure (typically a loss of 2/3 of a stop for an 85 filter).

This is the essence of analog filmmaking: solving problems with physics and glass, not software.

STOP CHASING THE “LOOK.” MASTER THE SOURCE.

What we’ve covered here—identifying stocks, understanding ECN-2 vs. Reversal, and filtration — is just the first six minutes of a deep, comprehensive education.

Shooting on film requires you to be both a scientist and an artist. You cannot rely on a waveform monitor or a false-color overlay to save you. You must understand lighting ratios, you must know how to use an incident meter and a spot meter, and you must understand how to manipulate the chemical process (Push and Pull processing) to achieve your vision.

READY TO MASTER THE CRAFT THAT ENDURES?

In the full Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass, I take you on location to master high-contrast backlit scenes, harsh side lighting, and the precise techniques for extending “magic hour.” We dive deep into filter factors, the philosophy of the “thick negative,” and how to control contrast using graduated NDs and attenuators.

YOU CAN ACCESS THE FULL MASTERCLASS IN TWO WAYS
BECOME A PREMIUM ANNUAL MEMBER	Get unlimited access to this masterclass, plus our entire library of hundreds of courses, monthly live coaching, and an exclusive community of filmmakers.
A LA CARTE PURCHASE	Buy the standalone masterclass for a one-time fee of $129.99 and own it forever.

Forget “fast.” Choose timeless. Master the process.

This masterclass was produced in collaboration with Kodak.

The post Exposing Film Stocks: 16mm Film & 35mm Film appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Cinematography Tip: Are LED Lights Replacing HMIs?

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 20:46:46 +0000

For over a decade, one light has been the gold standard on my sets for punching through windows or bouncing into massive frames: the ARRI M90. This HMI has been a powerful workhorse, a tool that expanded my creativity and could beautifully replicate the sun. It was an oldie, but a goodie. But as filmmakers, we must constantly ask ourselves: Is there a better, more efficient, more versatile way to achieve the looks we need?

The answer is a resounding yes.

We are in a revolution in the lighting world. High-powered LEDs are now ready to challenge the reigning champions. In this Cinematography Tip, we’re putting the legendary ARRI M90 HMI head-to-head with the Nanlux Evoke 5000B LED. I’ll walk you through a series of tests that reveal the frustrations of older tech and the incredible versatility of the new, showing you why modern LEDs are increasingly replacing HMIs in my arsenal.

THE BENCHMARK: UNDERSTANDING THE ARRI M90 HMI

To understand the evolution, we first need to appreciate the benchmark. The ARRI M90 is a powerful 9,000-watt HMI known for its incredible punch.

In our test, positioned 30 feet away, it delivered a reading of f/45 and three-tenths at 800 ISO and 24fps when set to its full 15-degree spot. It has the power to rip through backgrounds and fill huge diffusion frames.

However, this power comes with classic HMI challenges.

THE HMI CHALLENGE 1: CUTTING AND SHADOW QUALITY

The M90 uses a parabolic reflector, which creates a beautiful beam but is notoriously difficult to control for a clean, hard shadow. In our test, we brought in a 4×8 piece of foam core to create a cut.

At full spot, the M90 produced six distinct, soft-edged shadows. This messy cut is far from ideal when you need a sharp, defined line of light on a wall or across an actor. Even when adjusted to a 45-degree beam, it still produced four separate shadows.

THE HMI CHALLENGE 2: HEAT AND EXPENDABLES

The second major issue is heat. When we tried to add a Rosco 179 Chrome Orange gel to create a golden glow, it began to smoke and melt almost instantly. The only solution is to use a heat shield and create distance, which is cumbersome.

As I’ve seen throughout my career, this intense heat means you “end up blowing through gel left and right,” creating significant and often wasteful expendable costs on your production.

THE CONTENDER: THE VERSATILE NANLUX EVOKE 5000B LED

Now, let’s turn to the Nanlux Evoke 5000B. This high-powered LED is designed to compete directly with large HMIs. While the M90 has about 1 1/3 stops more power at its absolute tightest spot, the Nanlux offers a suite of accessories—including 30, 45, and 60-degree reflectors, a Fresnel, a bare bulb attachment, and a parabolic beam attachment—that give it unparalleled versatility. With its parabolic attachment, the 5000B was able to perfectly match the M90’s output at a 30-degree beam angle.

This is where the advantages of the LED become clear.

SOLVING THE SHADOW PROBLEM

When we put the Nanlux 5000B through the same shadow test, the results were dramatically different. Using the Fresnel attachment, it produced one beautiful, hard shadow—a clean, perfect cut. Even with just the 30-degree reflector, which I expected to create multiple shadows like the M90, it still produced a surprisingly clean, hard cut.

For the absolute hardest shadow possible, similar to taking the lens off an old tungsten Tweenie, the Nanlux offers a bare bulb attachment. This gives you ultimate control over your shadow quality, a level of precision the HMI simply cannot match.

SOLVING THE HEAT PROBLEM

With the 5000B, heat is a non-issue. We placed the same 179 Chrome Orange gel right in front of the 30-degree reflector at full power. The result? A beautiful, golden glow with absolutely no smoking or burning. This saves time, reduces expendable costs, and is significantly safer on set.

BEYOND THE BASICS: THE LED ADVANTAGE IN CONTROL & EFFICIENCY

The benefits of modern LEDs like the Nanlux 5000B extend even further, solving some of the most persistent frustrations of working with HMIs.

PRECISION COLOR CONTROL

One of the biggest challenges with HMIs is color consistency. As an HMI bulb ages, it shifts green. A new bulb might be slightly magenta. You’re constantly adding gels to try and balance it to a perfect 5600K. The Nanlux, however, is incredibly stable.

In our tests, we dimmed it all the way down to 1% output, and it maintained a perfect 5600K color temperature with a negligible .1 magenta shift. This is unheard of with most LEDs, which often go significantly green at low intensities. The ability to dial in your color temperature (from 2700K to 6500K) and precisely adjust your tint (+/- Green/Magenta) gives you complete creative control without ever touching a gel.

SIMPLICITY AND EFFICIENCY

Look at the M90 setup, and you’ll see the head, a long head cable, and a separate, heavy ballast. This creates multiple variables and points of failure. If the light doesn’t strike, is it the bulb? The cable? The ballast?

With the Nanlux 5000B, the ballast is built directly into the light head. There are no head cables to run and no separate ballast to move. This streamlines the setup process, reduces the number of variables, and makes the entire system more efficient and reliable.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A NEW ERA OF LIGHTING

While the ARRI M90 is a legendary light with incredible power, this comparison makes the evolution clear. The Nanlux Evoke 5000B LED offers vastly superior versatility and control. You can shape it into a Fresnel, a PAR, a mole beam, or a bare bulb source. You have precise, stable control over color temperature and tint. And its efficient, all-in-one design simplifies the on-set workflow, saving time, money, and labor.

The cinematography tip is this: it’s time to re-evaluate our reliance on older technology. For many on-set applications, the creative control, stability, and efficiency of modern high-powered LEDs now outweigh the brute force of traditional HMIs.

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This episode is proudly lit exclusively by Nanlux-Nanlite Lights and sponsored by B&H and Hollyland.

Featured Nanlux Lighting

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Rigging a Condor Boom Lift: Weight, Safety & Strategy

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 02:17:51 +0000

Rigging a Condor Boom Lift: Weight, Safety & Strategy

Imagine lighting a scene that stretches for hundreds of yards, under the cloak of night. How do you achieve even, controlled illumination at that scale? The answer, often, is a Condor boom lift. I’m Shane Hurlbut, ASC, and in this exclusive excerpt from our Film Production Rigging course, we’re going up — way up — with a 120-foot Condor, revealing the real-world planning, rigging, and safety considerations that go into creating cinematic magic. Joining me are my trusted gaffer, Tom Sigurdsson, and key grip, Brendan Riel, to break it all down.

WHY A CONDOR? CHOOSING THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB:

For this particular night exterior, we have a challenging scenario. Our scene involves a car traveling down a road, covering approximately 150 yards. We need to light that entire stretch of road evenly and consistently.

While there are many ways to approach night exteriors, a Condor boom lift offers several key advantages in this situation.

HEIGHT AND REACH

A 120-foot Condor allows us to get our light sources high above the surrounding trees and obstacles, creating a broad, even wash of light.

STABILITY

We’re opting for a straight-arm Condor, rather than one with a jib or knuckle. Straight arms offer superior stability, especially at significant heights and with heavier lighting payloads. Jibs, while offering more articulation, can be prone to swaying or failing under load.

CONTROL

A Condor provides precise control over the positioning of our lights, allowing us to fine-tune the angle and direction of the beam.

THE LIGHTING PLAN: EMULATING A MAXI BRUTE WITH LEDS

My go-to approach for lighting large night exteriors has often involved Maxi Brutes — powerful banks of incandescent PAR lights. They create a beautiful, directional beam that can be “wasted” off the set, creating an even wash over a long distance. However, technology has advanced, and we now have LED options that offer similar (or even superior) performance with greater flexibility and efficiency.

For this setup, we’re using four Nanlux 2400B LED fixtures. These powerful lights, combined with 30-degree reflectors, will effectively mimic the output of multiple Maxi Brutes. The narrow beam angle allows us to create a focused, long throw of light, minimizing spill and maximizing control. The idea is to “full spot” the lights and then position them so the beam just grazes the top of the set, creating an even wash of light from the base of the Condor all the way to the end of our 150-yard stretch of road.

ADDING DIMENSION: MOVING LIGHTS FOR BACKGROUND HIGHLIGHTS

To add depth, dimension, and visual interest, particularly for wide crane shots, we’ll also incorporate moving lights (often referred to as “rock and roll” lights) into our Condor rig. These remotely controllable fixtures allow us to highlight specific elements in the background, such as trees or buildings, creating a sense of scale and visual separation. We can also adjust their color temperature slightly differently from our main moonlight source, adding subtle color contrast to the scene.

THE SETUP: A DETAILED BREAKDOWN

It’s time to break down the technical details of our Condor setup. Gaffer Tom Sigurdsson explains the mounting, power, and control systems that will bring our lighting plan to reality.

The four Nanlux 2400B fixtures will be mounted in a custom cage. This cage allows us to remove the yokes from the individual lights, reducing weight and creating a more compact unit. This cluster of lights will be positioned at the top of the Condor basket. Power will be supplied by a Santa Fe fleet battery tow plant, providing clean and reliable power for the duration of the shoot.

Crucially, we’ll use a lunchbox with data connections to allow for remote control of the lights. This means our lighting programmer, positioned hundreds of feet away, can adjust color temperature, intensity, and the movement of the moving lights without needing to be in the Condor basket itself. This is a huge advantage in terms of efficiency and safety. The use of the LED lights also bring a benefit over the older, traditional Maxi Brutes.

RIGGING AND SAFETY: THE PARAMOUNT CONCERN

Now, let’s get into the nuts and bolts of rigging the Condor. This isn’t just about attaching lights; it’s about understanding weight distribution, capacity limits, and the engineering principles that keep everything safe and stable. Key Grip Brendan Riel breaks down the essential considerations, from weight restrictions to the rigging plan.

WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS

Every Condor boom lift has specific weight capacity limits, both “restricted” and “unrestricted.” The “unrestricted” capacity (in this case, 500 pounds) applies to the full range of the boom’s movement. The “restricted” capacity (1000 pounds) applies to a limited range, typically at higher elevations and with less extension. Exceeding these limits is extremely dangerous and can lead to equipment failure.

THE RIGGING PLAN

Traditionally, lights would be mounted on “candlesticks” (vertical speed rail) attached to the Condor basket. However, due to the weight of the Nanlux cluster and the cage, additional support may be necessary. Brendan outlines a plan that involves using 6-inch Module X truss, strapped to the bottom of the basket, to provide a secure mounting point for the moving lights.

CALCULATING THE LOAD

Brendan meticulously calculates the weight of every component: speed rail, cage, lights, movers, truss, cheeseboros, cables, etc. This detailed accounting is essential to ensure we remain within the Condor’s safe operating limits. In this particular case, the total weight with the moving lights comes to 929.2 pounds. Without the movers, it’s 682.2 pounds.

THE TRADE-OFFS

Because our total weight exceeds the 500-pound unrestricted capacity, we’ll likely need to operate within the “restricted” range. This may limit the maximum height we can achieve, potentially to around 100 feet instead of the full 120 feet.

FINALIZING THE PLAN: SAFETY, FLEXIBILITY, AND COMMUNICATION

The final stage brought together myself (Shane), Brendan, our key grip, and Tom, our gaffer, for a crucial discussion. We needed to weigh our creative goals – lighting that 150-yard stretch of road – against the very real practical limitations of the Condor, namely weight restrictions and potential height limitations. This is where the rubber meets the road, where the ideal plan confronts the realities of physics and safety.

And safety is always paramount. That’s non-negotiable. We would never compromise safety for the sake of a shot, no matter how ambitious. If the weight calculations or the lift’s inherent limitations prevented us from achieving our initial vision, we would absolutely adapt. That might mean scaling back our lighting package, perhaps using fewer moving lights or opting for lighter-weight fixtures. It could even mean modifying the entire rigging approach. Flexibility is essential in this business; you have to be prepared to adjust your plan based on real-world conditions.

This adaptability hinges on open and honest communication. The DP, gaffer, key grip, and, crucially, the Condor operator, must be on the same page. Everyone needs to understand the plan, the limitations, and the safety protocols. There’s no room for ambiguity or assumptions when you’re dealing with heavy equipment at significant heights.

In this particular instance, after reviewing Brendan’s meticulous weight calculations and the Condor’s specifications, we determined that operating within the restricted range was the only safe option. While this might limit our maximum height to around 100 feet instead of the full 120, we collectively agreed that this was acceptable for the specific location and the desired look. We proceeded with the rigging plan, confident that we had a solution that was both creatively effective and, most importantly, safe.

THE BOTTOM LINE: PLANNING, PRECISION & ADAPTABILITY

This pre-rig exercise demonstrates the complexities and considerations involved in using a Condor boom lift for night exterior lighting. It’s not simply a matter of sticking a light on a lift and sending it up. It requires careful planning, precise weight calculations, a thorough understanding of the equipment’s capabilities and limitations, and, above all, a commitment to safety. It also requires teamwork and clear communication.

This lesson is just a small glimpse into the world of production rigging. To gain a comprehensive understanding of rigging techniques, safety protocols, and the art of shaping light on a large scale, we invite you to explore the full Film Production Rigging course, available exclusively with a Filmmakers Academy All Access membership or as a one-time purchase.

You’ll learn from industry experts, gain practical skills, and elevate your filmmaking to new heights. Don’t just light your scenes — control your light, shape your world, and tell your story with power and precision.

NIGHT CINEMATOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS

This Condor rigging lesson gave you the how. Now, are you ready to see the why? In our Night Cinematography Masterclass, you’ll witness the stunning results of this very setup in action. We’ll break down how the principles of Condor rigging, combined with expert lighting techniques, create truly breathtaking night exteriors. You’ll see how the theory translates into practice, and learn how to apply these techniques to your own films. Don’t just learn about rigging — see the cinematic magic it unlocks!

Get the Night Cinematography Masterclass now and transform your night shoots.

The post Rigging a Condor Boom Lift: Weight, Safety & Strategy appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Cinematic Light Quality: Silver Bounce

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 00:14:56 +0000

Cinematic Light Quality: Silver Bounce

Tired of flat, lifeless lighting? In this excerpt from the Cinematic Light Quality Masterclass, I, Shane Hurlbut, ASC, will show you how to use silver bounce to add dimension, sparkle, and a touch of magic to your images. We’re moving beyond basic white bounce and into a whole new realm of possibilities.

While white bounce provides soft, diffused light, silver bounce introduces a specular element, creating a quality of light that can add depth, shimmer, and a touch of magic to your images. This is not about creating harsh, uncontrolled reflections, but rather about subtly shaping and blending hard and soft light to achieve a specific look.

YOU WILL LEARN:

Understand the unique properties of silver bounce lighting
Identify specular highlights
Layer different light qualities
Control light with diffusion
Emulate natural light
Experiment with different setups
Build a silver bounce setup
Apply principles to other light sources

More Lessons on Cinematic Light Quality:

THE INSPIRATION: LIGHT IN THE WILD

Let’s start by looking at light outside the studio. See that glint of sun on wet pavement? Notice the sheen on a polished floor? Those subtle highlights from distant reflections? That’s not the soft, even light of a white bounce. Rather, it’s specular light — directional, with a beautiful sparkle. That’s what we’re after with silver bounce.

THE SETUP: COMBINING HARD AND SOFT

The core concept of this technique involves bouncing a relatively hard light source off a silver reflector and then, often, further diffusing that reflected light. This creates a blend of hard and soft light, giving you the control of a directional source with the added benefit of a subtle, specular highlight.

For this demonstration, we’ll be using…

LIGHT SOURCE — VORTEX 8 LED PANELS

These powerful, color-tunable LEDs provide a consistent and controllable source. SkyPanels are also an option. The key is a source that can deliver sufficient intensity to bounce effectively.

SILVER REFLECTOR — HONEYCRATE SILVER BOUNCES

We’ll use Honeycrate silver bounces. These are lightweight, rigid reflectors with a textured silver surface. There are two primary options:

Full Silver: This provides the most specular reflection, the “hardest” quality of the silver bounce options.
Silver and White: This combines a silver reflective surface with a white diffusion layer, softening the light slightly while still retaining some of the specular quality.

DIFFUSERS — HALF SOFT FROST & MAGIC CLOTH

We’ll experiment with adding layers of diffusion in front of the silver bounce to further modify the light quality. Specifically, we’ll use:

Half Soft Frost: This provides a moderate level of diffusion, softening the light without eliminating the specular highlights entirely.
Magic Cloth: This is a heavier diffusion material, creating a very soft, even light.

THE DEMONSTRATION: LAYERING LIGHT QUALITIES

Let’s put theory into practice. In this on-set demonstration, we’ll build a silver bounce lighting setup, layer by layer, and explore the impact of each modification on the final image.

HARD SILVER SIDE LIGHT

We begin by positioning one Vortex 8, firing into a full silver Honeycrate bounce, as a side light on our subject. Observe the quality of light. Notice the sheen and highlights, particularly in the eyes. This is the “hardest” version of this setup.

SILVER AND WHITE WRAP

We then introduce a second Vortex 8, bouncing into a silver-and-white Honeycrate, positioned to wrap around the subject’s face (the fill side). This adds a softer, more diffused light, filling in the shadows created by the harder side light. Notice how the combination of the two sources creates a beautiful blend of highlight and shadow, with a subtle specular quality that adds life to the eyes.

ADDING DIFFUSION: HALF SOFT FROST

We now place a sheet of Half Soft Frost in front of the harder, full-silver side light. Observe how this softens the light slightly, reducing the intensity of the highlights but still retaining some of the specular quality. The light becomes more subtle, but the directional nature of the silver bounce is still evident.

ADDING DIFFUSION: MAGIC CLOTH

We then replace the Half Soft Frost (or add to it) with Magic Cloth. This creates an even softer, more diffused light. The specular highlights are further reduced, and the overall effect is more subtle and gentle.

Adding Half Soft Frost & Magic Cloth Diffusion Together

ADJUST THE FILL

With the Magic Cloth softening the key light, we can bring up the intensity of the fill, which has been created by a silver and white bounce. Bring it to a level that wraps into the eye of the model.

KILL THE FILL

Now, we can see how effective the side light with magic cloth is, and experiment by lowering and raising the intensity of the fill light.

ADJUST TO TASTE

Experiment with the levels of fill light, and adjust for personal taste, as well as for the story of the shot you’re trying to create.

KEY OBSERVATIONS AND PRINCIPLES:

What have we learned from this demonstration? What are the key principles that make silver bounce such a powerful and versatile lighting technique? Let’s break down the essential takeaways.

KEY ON KEY

This technique involves layering different qualities of light. We’re using a harder, more specular light (from the silver bounce) as our key, and then wrapping it with a softer, more diffused light (from the silver-and-white bounce and/or diffusion). This creates a more complex and nuanced light quality than using a single source alone.

EYE LIGHT

Pay close attention to the effect of the different light qualities on the subject’s eyes. The specular highlights created by the silver bounce add life and sparkle, while the diffusion helps to soften the overall look.

SUBTLETY

The goal is not to create an overly “silvery” or artificial look. The specular element should be subtle, adding a hint of sheen and dimension without being distracting.

EXPERIMENTATION

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different combinations of silver reflectors, diffusers, and light sources. The specific look you achieve will depend on the materials you use, the distances involved, and the overall lighting environment.

THE BOTTOM LINE: THE POWER OF OBSERVATION

The key takeaway from this lesson is the importance of observing light in the real world and then creatively adapting those observations to your cinematic lighting setups. Don’t be limited by conventional wisdom or pre-conceived notions about “hard” and “soft” light.

Experiment with different materials, different combinations of sources, and different levels of diffusion. By understanding the fundamental principles of light quality and developing your own eye for light, you’ll be able to create truly unique and compelling images. This lesson has been an excerpt from our larger Cinematic Light Quality Masterclass.

GET THE FULL MASTERCLASS!

This exploration of silver bounce and foam lighting is just a small part of the Cinematic Light Quality Masterclass. To unlock the full power of cinematic lighting and learn from detailed, on-set demonstrations, purchase the complete masterclass today!

You’ll gain the knowledge and skills to transform your lighting from ordinary to extraordinary and to tell stories with light in a way you never thought possible.

More Lessons on Cinematic Light Quality:

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Cinematic Light Quality: Batten Lights (Unlocked Lesson)

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 19:38:13 +0000

Welcome to this in-depth exploration of batten lights, a surprisingly versatile and often underutilized tool in the cinematographer’s arsenal. I’m Shane Hurlbut, ASC, and throughout my career, I’ve learned that mastering cinematic lighting isn’t just about knowing what lights to use, but how to use them to shape mood, enhance the story, and create a truly believable world on screen.

In this lesson, part of our larger Cinematic Light Quality Masterclass, my colleague, gaffer Tom Sigurdsson, and I will guide you through the unique properties of batten lights. We will compare them to more traditional sources, demonstrate practical on-set applications, and reveal how simple materials can unlock extraordinary light qualities.

YOU WILL LEARN:

About the Batten Light and its unique light quality
Batten Lights vs. Fresnel Lights and how they compare and contrast
How they compare in an on-set demonstration
How to fine-tune the Batten by adjusting for length, intensity, and color
A sample lighting setup along with ratios and placement
About the magic of Foam Lighting
How Foam Bounce stacks up in an on-set demonstration
The science behind light softness

Watch the Video Portion for Free…

This lesson provides a written overview, but to truly grasp the nuances of batten lights, you need to see them in action. Get exclusive access to the video demonstration with Shane Hurlbut, ASC, by clicking here!

THE BATTEN LIGHT: A UNIQUE LIGHT SOURCE

What exactly is a batten light? In essence, it’s a linear fixture, a strip containing multiple light sources arranged in a row. While commercially available batten lights exist, the ones we’ll be focusing on today are custom-built by me. These babies allow us to explore the fundamental principles behind their effectiveness. However, the concepts we’ll discuss apply regardless of the specific fixture you choose.

The defining characteristic of a batten light, and what sets it apart from simply placing several individual lights side-by-side, is creating a unified line of light. Our custom-built battens achieve this by using 85-watt spot globes, each with a narrow 20-degree beam angle. These globes are housed within a simple structure — often constructed from a 1×4 piece of wood and a length of PVC fence post. They have small holes drilled to accommodate the sockets and wiring. This seemingly rudimentary construction is, in fact, key to the batten’s functionality. The PVC housing acts as a natural reflector and, crucially, provides inherent spill control.

This “built-in grip,” as I like to call it, eliminates the need for extensive flagging and shaping that is often required with other light sources. The light emitted from the batten is inherently directional, focused along the line of the fixture. Any spill light that does escape tends to be soft and ambient. This ultimately contributes to a pleasing overall fill. We’ve built these in various lengths — one-foot, two-foot, and four-foot versions — to suit different needs. Initially, we experimented with eight-foot battens, but they proved too unwieldy for practical use.

The mounting system is equally straightforward. A standard mounting pin allows the batten to be attached to a grip head. For overhead placement, a 90-degree pin is handy, providing full pan and tilt control for precise positioning. The simplicity and adaptability of this setup make batten lights incredibly quick to deploy and adjust on set. The individually wired 85-watt spots allow for unique flexibility.

BATTEN LIGHTS VS. FRESNEL LIGHTS: UNVEILING THE DIFFERENCE IN QUALITY

To truly appreciate the unique light quality of a batten, let’s compare it to a workhorse of cinematic lighting: the Fresnel. A Fresnel light utilizes a lens to focus the light emitted from a single bulb, creating a relatively hard, directional beam. This can be incredibly useful for creating defined shadows and dramatic highlights. However, it also tends to produce specular highlights — those bright, reflective areas that can appear harsh, especially on skin or glossy surfaces.

The batten light, despite using individual spot globes, produces a fundamentally softer quality of light. This might seem counterintuitive, but the key lies in the linear arrangement. The multiple light sources, closely spaced along the length of the fixture, blend together to create a single, elongated source. This effectively increases the size of the source relative to the subject, which is the fundamental principle behind soft light. A larger source wraps around the subject more gently, softening shadows and reducing specular highlights.

ON-SET DEMONSTRATION: SEEING THE DIFFERENCE

Imagine our talent, Kyra, positioned on set. We begin by lighting her with a single Fresnel as a backlight. Then, observe the characteristic hard shadow cast by her nose across her face. We also notice the bright, specular highlights on the top of her head, particularly noticeable because of her blonde hair. The light, while directional, feels distinctly “lit.”

Notice the nose shadow (L) and the specular light quality on Kyra’s blonde hair (R)

Now, we switch to a batten light, positioned in roughly the same location and at a similar intensity. The difference is immediately apparent. The hard nose shadow softens considerably, almost disappearing. The specular highlights on her hair are greatly diminished, replaced by a more subtle sheen. The overall effect is more natural, more flattering, and less overtly “artificial.” The batten light, by virtue of its length, wraps around Kyra’s features more gently. Thus, it creates a more three-dimensional and pleasing illumination.

(L) Fresnel Light (R) Batten Light

Furthermore, we can use the batten light to emulate a practical light source within the scene. Perhaps, a window or an overhead fixture. By carefully positioning the batten, we can create a believable edge light that adds depth and separation without drawing undue attention to itself.

See the dramatic difference for yourself! Click here to watch the exclusive video demonstration and witness the power of batten lights (and foam!) in action.

FINE-TUNING THE BATTEN: ADJUSTING FOR LENGTH, INTENSITY, AND COLOR

While the inherent design of the batten light provides excellent control, we have several options for further shaping its output.

MODULATING LENGTH:

Because each bulb in our custom battens is individually wired, we can easily control the effective length of the light source.

If the full four-foot length is wrapping around the subject too much, perhaps catching the nose undesirably, we can simply switch off one or more bulbs. This would effectively shorten the light to a three-foot, two-foot, or even a one-foot source. Ultimately, this can provide incredible on-the-fly adjustability.

CONTROLLING INTENSITY:

Even though we’re using spot globes, we can still scrim the batten to reduce its intensity. This follows the principle championed by the legendary cinematographer Conrad Hall, who often used lights at full spot and then scrimmed them down.

This technique provides maximum control over the beam spread and a softer quality of light compared to simply dimming a flooded Fresnel.

ADJUSTING COLOR TEMPERATURE:

Adding color correction gels is simple. We often use quarter (1/4) or half (1/2) CTB (Color Temperature Blue) gels to cool down the light, matching it to daylight or creating a specific mood.

Because the face of the spot globes doesn’t get excessively hot, we can simply tape the gels directly to the fixture. It can serve as a quick and efficient solution.

A SAMPLE LIGHTING SETUP: RATIOS AND PLACEMENT

Let’s consider a practical lighting scenario. We’re aiming for a naturalistic, subtly dramatic look. Here’s a possible setup and the reasoning behind it.

KEY LIGHT:

We might use a harder source, such as a Fresnel or a spotted batten. Then, we position it on one side of the camera, creating a defined light and shadow pattern on the subject’s face. This light is measured at an 8.5 with an ND6 filter on the camera. Therefore, it establishes our primary exposure.

FILL LIGHT:

To soften the shadows created by the key light, we introduce a large, soft fill source. A favorite of mine is a “King Pipe Light,” essentially a DIY fixture consisting of multiple bulbs diffused through a large frame (in this case, a 4×8 frame).

This fill light is positioned near the camera, providing a broad, even illumination that wraps around the subject. We measure this at a 1.4, approximately two and a half stops below the key light. This creates a pleasing contrast ratio, maintaining a sense of depth and dimension.

BACKLIGHT:

Finally, we add a batten light positioned behind and slightly above the subject. This serves to separate the subject from the background, creating a subtle edge or rim light. We measure this at a 4.5, which, in our setup, is about a half-stop under the key light. This subtle backlight is crucial for preventing dark hair from blending into a dark background. However, it should never be overly bright or distracting.

PRO TIP: 2 ½ to about a ½ stop under is where I like to keep my backlight because it should be subtle.

Now, let’s take a look at how the Fresnel Lights stack up to the Batten Lights in a scenario with Kyra in a detective’s office.

(L) Fresnel Light (R) Batten Light

This approach — lighting from the camera side, using a harder key, a softer fill, and a subtle backlight — is a foundation I often rely on. It creates a natural, three-dimensional look with a pleasing wrap of light around the subject.

Ready to master these techniques? Watch Shane Hurlbut, ASC, break down batten light setups step-by-step in our exclusive video lesson.

BEYOND THE BATTEN: THE MAGIC OF FOAM LIGHTING

Now, let’s transition to a different, but equally powerful, technique for creating beautiful, soft light: bouncing light off foam insulation. This approach, born from a serendipitous discovery, allows us to emulate the qualities of natural light. Even within the controlled environment of a soundstage.

The story goes back to my early days of shooting music videos. We were creating ripple water effects, and I asked the key grip to bring in a piece of bead board (a type of foam insulation) to bounce some fill light onto the performer. As he walked the beadboard past the light source illuminating the water, I was struck by the incredibly soft, flattering quality of the light reflecting off the foam. This “mistake” became a revelation.

Want to see how a simple piece of foam can create Hollywood-quality light? Click here to watch the surprising demonstration!

THE BOTTOM LINE: CINEMATIC LIGHT QUALITY MASTERCLASS

Batten lights and foam bounce techniques represent just two approaches in the vast landscape of cinematic lighting. The most important lesson, however, is to cultivate a constant awareness of light in the real world. Observe how light interacts with different surfaces, how it shapes form, and how it creates mood. Take mental “snapshots” of these qualities and then strive to recreate them on set, using whatever tools are at your disposal.

This batten light lesson is just a taste of what you’ll learn in the Cinematic Light Quality Masterclass. Watch the accompanying video for a deeper dive, and then explore the full course!

This lesson has only scratched the surface of what’s possible with cinematic lighting. To truly master the art and craft of shaping light, I invite you to join us for the complete Cinematic Light Quality Masterclass. Within this comprehensive masterclass, we’ll delve into a wide array of lighting techniques, explore different light sources, and provide you with the knowledge and skills to elevate your filmmaking to new heights.

Don’t just illuminate your scenes! Sculpt them with light, tell stories with light, and create images that resonate with emotion and power.

DOWNLOAD FILMMAKERS ACADEMY APP

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The post Cinematic Light Quality: Batten Lights (Unlocked Lesson) appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Cinematography Tip: Fix Sony Burano Magenta Color Shift

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 07:50:24 +0000

Cinematography Tip: Fix Sony Burano Magenta Color Shift

The world of filmmaking has transformed dramatically over the years. Cameras have evolved from bulky, cumbersome devices to sleek, powerful machines capable of capturing breathtaking imagery. We’ve come a long way from the days of film, where color correction was a laborious process relegated to post-production. Today, cameras like the Sony Burano and Venice 2 offer unparalleled control over color science, allowing cinematographers to sculpt their visuals in-camera, achieving a level of precision that was once unimaginable.

It’s crucial to understand that while post-production plays a vital role, relying solely on it to fix color issues is a recipe for disaster. The magic truly happens when you manage your color in-camera, shaping the image at the source. This approach not only saves time and resources in post but also ensures that your creative vision is captured with the utmost fidelity.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO MATCHING THE BURANO & VENICE 2

Recently, I’ve been working extensively with both the Sony Burano and Venice 2, using them side-by-side on set. What I love is the handheld, lightweight nature on the gimbal, and also just the compact nature of the camera. These cameras are powerhouses, each with its unique strengths. However, when pairing them, I noticed a slight discrepancy in their color science, specifically a subtle magenta shift in the Burano.

Here’s how to fine-tune the Burano to perfectly match the Venice 2:

Access the White Balance Menu: Navigate to the white balance settings within the Burano’s menu.
Edit the Color Temperature: Select “Edit” and then “Temp.”
Set to 3700K: Adjust the color temperature to 3700K.
Adjust the Tint: Go to “Tint” and dial in a -2 on the magenta shift.

By implementing these adjustments, you effectively neutralize the magenta bias, resulting in a seamless color match between the Burano and the Venice 2.

THE SONY BURANO: A WORTHY CONTENDER

Sony BURANO camera system | Photo by Luman Kim

Sony’s latest offering, the Burano, is proving to be a formidable camera, holding its own against the acclaimed Venice 2. Its compact size and lightweight design make it ideal for handheld shooting and gimbal work, while its image quality is truly impressive.

When the Burano first launched, I had the privilege of demonstrating its capabilities at Sony Studios. This demonstration showcased the camera’s versatility, highlighting its exceptional dynamic range, low-light performance, and impressive autofocus capabilities. If you missed the live event, don’t worry! You can still access the full demonstration by creating a free account. It’s a valuable resource for anyone looking to explore the Burano’s potential.

PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE: THE NIGHT CINEMATOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS

At Filmmakers Academy, we believe in learning by doing. That’s why we put the Sony Burano through its paces in our latest production, the Night Cinematography Masterclass. This groundbreaking masterclass, the biggest we’ve ever produced, follows me as I shoot a full night sequence, sharing my insights and techniques every step of the way.

Using the Burano camera system, we pushed the boundaries of night cinematography, exploring the intricacies of lighting, capturing the perfect moonlight, moving the camera to evoke emotion, and building suspense through carefully crafted setups. The Burano proved to be an invaluable tool throughout the production, delivering stunning visuals in challenging low-light conditions.

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CINEMATOGRAPHY TIPS AND TRICKS? Check out more tips, lessons, and courses from Shane Hurlbut, ASC, and other industry experts at Filmmakers Academy.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Mastering color science is a fundamental skill for any cinematographer, and understanding the nuances of cameras like the Sony Burano and Venice 2 is essential for achieving your creative vision. By taking control of color in-camera and making precise adjustments, such as dialing out the magenta in the Burano, you can ensure that your images are captured with the highest fidelity and that your artistic intent shines through.

So, go forth and experiment! Explore the capabilities of these incredible cameras, learn the intricacies of their color science, and discover how to harness their power to create truly cinematic images. The future of filmmaking is in your hands!

Masterclass Gear List

Nanlux Lighting:

Lighting:

Cameras:

Camera Accessories:

Audio & Comms:

Media Storage:

Lenses:

Monitor:

DP Cart:

Inovativ Deploy Workstation

Special Thanks

A huge thank-you to Craterr and sponsors Hollyland, Kondor Blue, Sony Cine, Irix Cine Lenses, Angelbird, Nanlux, and CineMoves for making this production possible.

Supported by

Inovativ, Flanders Scientific, Tiffen, Herc Entertainment, Saniset Fleet, Keslow Camera, MBS Equipment, Premier Lighting, Northern Lighting, Legacy Grip, Division Rentals, Musicbed, and B&H.

The post Cinematography Tip: Fix Sony Burano Magenta Color Shift appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Night Lighting & Hollywood Cinematography: Cinematic Techniques

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 22:50:04 +0000

Night Lighting & Hollywood Cinematography: Cinematic Techniques

Night Cinematography Masterclass

As a cinematographer, I’ve spent countless time crafting stunning visuals, and night exteriors are a special kind of challenge. That’s what makes this Night Cinematography Masterclass so impressive. This masterclass is an incredibly comprehensive educational experience brought to you through the combined efforts of 70+ filmmakers (including Brittney Janae and Brady Bessette) and leading brands at the foundation of the film industry. And together, we demystify the process of creating stunning and immersive night scenes.

We’re not just gonna talk the talk, we’re gonna walk the walk.

We’ve created a short film, “Quiet Hour,” where we’ll break down every step of the process, from theory to the final shot. You’ll see firsthand how to rig lights, manipulate shadows, and create breathtaking visuals. Keep reading to see how we will take your nighttime cinematography to a whole new level.

“One out-of-place light is just as bad as having no light at all. Now, I’m going to change how you look at night.” —Shane Hurlbut, ASC

Sean Kane and Laura Faye Smith | Photo By Betina La Plante

The Science of Moonlight

Moonlight, often overlooked, is a powerful tool in a cinematographer’s arsenal. Mastering the art of moonlight is crucial for creating realistic and atmospheric night scenes. In this masterclass, you’ll delve deep into the science and art of recreating natural moonlight.

We’ll explore the nuances of blue, white, and gray moonlight, and how to choose the right color temperature to evoke specific moods and atmospheres. By understanding the interplay between moonlight and other light sources, you’ll be able to create stunning visuals that transport your audience into your story.

You’ll learn how to:

Replicate Natural Moonlight: Discover the secret to achieving a realistic and cinematic moonlit glow.
Control the Mood and Atmosphere: Use moonlight to create suspense, romance, or tranquility.
Enhance Your Nighttime Cinematography: Elevate your night scenes with the power of moonlight.

Advanced Lighting Techniques

I’ve always been fascinated by the power of light to shape a story. Nighttime presents unique challenges and opportunities to craft visually stunning and emotionally resonant scenes.

The Night Cinematography Masterclass will empower you to illuminate large areas and achieve perfect exposure, even in the darkest conditions. Learn advanced lighting techniques to control the mood and atmosphere of your scenes. By understanding how to manipulate light, you can specifically finesse it to suspense, drama, and romance.

You’ll learn how to:

Practical Lighting: Utilize practical lights like lamps, streetlights, and car headlights to create realistic and atmospheric scenes.
Hard and Soft Light: Control the quality of light to shape your images and create different moods.
Color Temperature and White Balance: Achieve harmonious color palettes and enhance the overall look of your scenes.
Flagging and Netting: Master the art of controlling light spill and creating specific lighting patterns.
Advanced Light Placement: Position lights strategically to create depth, dimension, and visual interest.
Working with Smoke and Fog: Enhance the atmosphere of your night scenes with practical effects.

Photo By Betina La Plante

The Director’s Perspective

A great film is a collaborative effort, and the relationship between a director and cinematographer is mission-critical. I’ll share insights into how to manage a strong collaborative connection and create visually stunning films at night.

You’ll gain insights into the director’s vision and how it translates into the cinematography. Learn how to collaborate effectively with directors to bring their creative ideas to life. By understanding the director’s perspective, you can create visually stunning and emotionally resonant films.

You’ll learn how to:

Communicate Effectively: Develop strong communication skills to ensure a clear understanding of the director’s vision.
Visualize the Story: Work with the director to create a visual language that enhances the storytelling.
Collaborate Creatively: Brainstorm ideas, experiment with different approaches, and find innovative solutions.
Adapt to Changing Circumstances: Be flexible and adaptable to changes in the script, schedule, or location.

Practical Shooting Techniques

Let’s talk camera moves. Nothing can elevate a scene quite like a well-executed camera move. Whether it’s a sweeping crane shot or a subtle tracking shot, the right move can make all the difference.

Master a variety of shots, including establishing shots, tracking shots, and crane shots. Learn how to plan and execute complex camera movements to create dynamic and engaging scenes. By mastering these techniques, you can elevate your filmmaking skills and create visually stunning work.

You’ll learn how to:

Establishing Shots: Learn how to set the scene and establish the location with powerful establishing shots.
Tracking Shots: Master the art of following subjects with smooth and fluid camera movements.
Crane Shots: Utilize crane shots to create dramatic and cinematic visuals.
Steadicam and Gimbal Work: Learn how to achieve smooth and stable camera movements, even in challenging conditions.
Camera Angles and Composition: Understand the power of different camera angles and compositions to create visual interest and emotional impact.

Night Cinematography Virtual Workshop

Join me, Shane Hurlbut, ASC, and my team on November 26th at 10:00 AM PST for a live virtual workshop where we’ll dive deep into the art of night cinematography.

This isn’t your ordinary masterclass. During this 1-time event, we’ll be streaming the entire process, from theory to execution, and answering your questions live. You’ll get exclusive access to behind-the-scenes insights and pro tips, as well as a downloadable e-book with scripts, storyboards, and shot lists.

Whether you’re a seasoned DP or just starting out, this workshop will help you master the art of night cinematography and create stunning visuals.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from industry experts.

Update Your Set-Style

Photo By Betina La Plante

Show your passion for your craft with our latest Film Clothing patches! We’ve teamed up to create the perfect accessories for any filmmaker. Our new “Keep Film Alive” and “Born On Set” patches are the ultimate way to rep your craft.

And that’s not all! This Black Friday, Film Clothing is offering incredible deals on their new Production Patch Hat V2 bundle. Get your hands on this durable, comfortable, and customizable hat, along with 3 free patches.

Buy any Patch Hat and get 3 Patches FREE.

About Shane Hurlbut, ASC

Photo By Betina La Plante

Shane Hurlbut, ASC, is a visionary cinematographer with a career spanning over 30 feature films. Known for his mastery of light and shadow, he has illuminated some of the most iconic movie sets in Hollywood. From the grandeur of epic blockbusters to the intimacy of indie dramas, Shane’s work consistently captivates audiences. His innovative approach to lighting, often combining traditional techniques with DIY solutions, has earned him a reputation as a true artist-technician of his craft.

The post Night Lighting & Hollywood Cinematography: Cinematic Techniques appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Shane Hurlbut, ASC on Nanlux Lighting: A DP’s Perspective

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 23:36:51 +0000

As a cinematographer, I’m always on the lookout for lighting tools that can help me bring my creative vision to life. When I embarked on the journey of shooting Música, an Amazon Prime Original film, I knew I needed lighting that could not only deliver exceptional performance but also adapt to the unique challenges of this multi-genre project. That’s where Nanlux stepped in, and their lights became an indispensable part of my toolkit.

BALANCING ACT: DAY INTERIORS IN THE DINER

One of the early challenges in Música was balancing the interior of a diner with the bright exterior sunlight. I needed to boost the light levels inside while maintaining a natural look. The Nanlux Dyno 1200s proved to be the perfect solution.

By strategically placing them outside the diner windows and bouncing their light into 12×20 bleached muslin frames, I achieved a beautiful, soft light that seamlessly integrated with the daylight streaming through the windows.

What’s remarkable about the Dyno 1200s is their boost mode. This feature gives you a 30% increase in output compared to similar-sized lights, making them incredibly powerful for their compact size.

This allowed me to maintain consistent lighting over two days of shooting, ensuring a cohesive look throughout the diner scenes.

NIGHT AMBIANCE: CAPTURING THE URBAN GLOW

Música also featured scenes with a lot of urban lighting. To capture the unique ambiance of city nights, I turned to my trusty “Depron Dome.”

This simple yet effective tool involves layering foam to create a textured diffusion that gives the light a distinct quality.

For close-ups, I love using the Depron Dome in combination with Nanlux Dyno 1200s. By dialing down the light’s intensity and positioning it close to the subject, I can achieve a soft, enveloping light that beautifully wraps around the actors’ faces.

In one particular scene, I matched the Nanlux Dyno 1200s to the high-pressure sodium vapor lights commonly found in urban settings. The ability to precisely match any light source using the XY coordinates on the Nanlux lights is a game-changer.

It allowed me to seamlessly integrate the actors into the existing lighting environment, creating a truly immersive experience.

SOFT LIGHT FOR EXPRESSIVE EYES

The eyes are the windows to the soul, and lighting them effectively is crucial for conveying emotions on screen.

I often use LED tubes to create soft, flattering light for close-ups. However, I like to break up the light source to avoid a flat look.

Nanlite’s PavoTubes II are a favorite of mine because of their unique octagonal shape. This design allows me to easily adjust the angle of the light without the need for additional rigging.

I often combine the PavoTubes with foam noodles to further diffuse and soften the light, creating a beautiful, cinematic look in the actors’ eyes.

SMALL FOOTPRINT, BIG IMPACT: THE PERFECT COUPLE IN LONDON

During the production of The Perfect Couple for Netflix, we faced a unique challenge. Due to restrictions at our London location, we could only use lights that plugged directly into the wall. This meant no generators or bulky lighting setups.

Thankfully, my gaffer, David Smith, had six Nanlux Evoke 2400Bs on hand. These powerful lights were the perfect solution.

We were able to achieve the desired lighting effect by simply plugging them into the wall and bouncing their light through magic cloth. This not only saved us time and money but also allowed us to maintain a small footprint on location.

The Nanlux 2400Bs also proved invaluable for balancing the interior lighting with the bright exterior.

By adjusting the green and magenta shift on the lights, we were able to perfectly color balance the scene, even with ND 1.2 on the windows.

THE FUTURE OF CINEMATIC LIGHTING

My experiences on Música and The Perfect Couple have solidified my belief that Nanlux lights are at the forefront of cinematic lighting technology. Their combination of power, versatility, and color accuracy is unmatched.

Whether I’m shooting a sun-drenched diner scene, a moody urban night, or a complex interior on location, Nanlux lights consistently deliver exceptional results. They have become an essential part of my filmmaking toolkit, and I’m excited to see how they continue to evolve and push the boundaries of what’s possible in cinematic lighting.

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The post Shane Hurlbut, ASC on Nanlux Lighting: A DP’s Perspective appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Camera Car Systems: Car Stunts

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Wed, 29 May 2024 20:45:47 +0000

Greetings, film fanatics and gearheads! Shane Hurlbut, ASC, here. Buckle up, because I’m taking you behind the wheel of one of the most exhilarating car stunts I’ve ever captured on film. We’re diving deep into the world of high-octane action in Scott Waugh’s adrenaline-pumping film, Need for Speed.

Remember that heart-stopping sequence where Little Pete (Harrison Gilbertson) is T-boned and flipped in the air by Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) where his Koenigsegg flies off the bridge to a fiery fate?

Yeah, that wasn’t your average green screen magic. We pushed the boundaries of filmmaking to deliver raw, in-your-face action, and today, I’m pulling back the curtain to reveal how we brought it to life.

We faced many challenges — complex camera placement, integrating real-world effects and collaborating with a team of fearless stunt drivers. But through it all, the goal remained the same: capture the visceral thrill of the chase and the raw power of these incredible machines.

So, gear up and get ready to explore the filmmaking process behind the mayhem. We’ll be discussing the specific camera setups, the ingenious rigging techniques, and the split-second decisions that made this stunt sequence a reality. Let’s get rolling!

PRACTICAL CAR EFFECTS OVER CGI

By the time we began on Need for Speed, Fast & Furious had become a blockbuster franchise, but none of it involved actual driving. They were all in green screen stages and movers. So, it looks like they have harmonic vibration and they’re driving down the road without actually driving.

When Scotty and I conceived the whole concept of Need for Speed, we decided to send our actors to driving schools. Scotty wanted it to feel like you, as the audience members, were inside the race car and driving. So, it involved a lot of POV and helmet cams. You could see the hands on the steering wheel and pan over and see other cars. So, we wanted it to be as immersive and intimate of an experience as possible.

We wanted to do it for real. We didn’t want any kind of CGI. And there’s really no CGI done in the movie other than Little Pete on stage for the barbecue spit rig, as we call it. We put the Koenigsegg in a rotator, locked it in place, and rotated it around. Then, we put him in a white environment because it was a sunny day when we shot it.

I had a sun source and just blown-out white silks that hung in a 360-degree arrangement. So, that’s what you see when he’s spinning, and that’s truly the only CGI involved.

Ultimately, however, we wanted real stunts, real stunt performers, not done with CGI or in any kind of green screen stage environment.

CAR MOUNTS FOR CAMERA CAR SYSTEMS

With our arm car work, we didn’t want this movie to feel like anything you ever saw before. The Koenigseggs are one of the fastest supercars in the world. So, we wanted the audience to feel wowed by this just like Little Pete and Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul).

We wanted you to feel like they got into this racecar and they’ve been transported to a completely different time in their lives. So, with our arm car work, we wanted to double our speeds.

If we usually go 60-70 mph, we were bridging 100 mph with the arm car; and we were really putting the camera low to the ground. So, your point of view felt the asphalt and the yellow and white lines; we wanted you to feel like you were eating the road.

We also put camera mounts, locking them on rear tires, bumpers, and side windows to immerse the audience. With the arm car work, we also wanted to embed you with all these unique hard mounts on the cars as well as GoPros that you had really never seen in any movie before.

GOPRO MODIFICATIONS

This was 2013 and the GoPro HERO3 had just come out. I contacted GoPro and asked them to design a hack for me so I could control the shutter speeds, the ISO, and the color temp. That was a game-changer.

Now, you can control all of those functions. But back in 2013, everything was auto. You couldn’t change anything other than toggle from a wide to super-wide.

Luckily, they were able to hack the GoPros. We had 20 GoPros that we deployed at all times. There would be 10-12 GoPros on a car that we would crash. When we did the stunts, we didn’t do super big, crazy rigs, because we had to paint them out.

We wanted to be able to have our VFX artists do an easy paint out so we didn’t have five-eighths rods and all the normal stuff that goes with GoPro rigging. Instead, we turned to the prosumer GoPro suction cups.

BEST LOCATIONS FOR CAMERA CAR SYSTEMS

The other thing with our arm car work is we wanted to be able to set the camera up high and find parallel roads.

We ended up finding beautiful parallel roads on a highway outside of Atlanta where we were able to shut down three miles. This was hugely beneficial for us.

There’s also a great transition when they head toward the bridge and Little Pete and Tobey are in the lead and they’re going to win the race. So, as they blow by us, we boom up and reveal the bridge in the deep background.

CAMERAS & LENSES

We put our 14.5mm to 60mm Canon Zoom lens on full wide and pushed it right up into the grilles of the Koenigseggs. So, you felt its power and intensity.

Meanwhile, the camera car that operated with this stunt was rigged with 38 different cameras. These included 11 Canon C500s, eight Canon DCS1s (with two inside the cars flipping and pushing), 10 GoPros mounted onto the red car and white car, along with Arri Alexas and C500s long lensed and in profile.

Then, on top of all that, the arm car moved with the red car that pushed the white car into the ramp, so when it landed and burst into flames, we could track profile along the bridge.

THE BIG FLIPPING CAR STUNT

Believe it or not, we only had one real Koenigsegg when filming our inserts. All the rest of the cars were Shelby frames with 500 horsepower Cadillac engines. Then, we went to Go Studios, and they 3D printed the supercar shells and molded them onto the frames.

When we flipped Little Pete’s car over, it was actually a dummy. So, there was no engine; just the fiberglass 3D model print that Go Studios had constructed. We just added weight so it felt and moved like a real car.

Then, we pushed the fake car with a real car onto a ramp at 60+ mph. When it hit both of these dual ramps, it was supposed to fly around 100 feet and then land and crash, bursting into flames.

Well, when working with stunts, things sometimes take a serendipitous turn. I had laid out six Canon DCS1 and steel crash camera housings around the mark. He told me where he would land, and I placed three cameras in front of the mark and three behind it.

The stuntman hit that ramp so hot — I think he was 25 miles over what he had done in the test. When he was in mid-flight, he flew over our first crash-camera housing, and when he landed, he skipped over all six of our crash-camera housings. Initially, we wanted that wonderful impact where you see the car slam that camera. However, it landed in front of them and then skipped over the top, which was actually even cooler.

ARM CAR PLACEMENT

The one thing that many people wonder when filming a big stunt is where to place the camera car. If you watch a Michael Bay film, he’s using two and three different arm cars and helicopters simultaneously as he blows things up. So, we incorporated a lot of that ‘Michael Bay spirit’ into this stunt.

When he pushed the red Koenigsegg into the white one and spun it around into a T, with how fast they were going, the momentum underneath flipped it up into the air.

Action Rooted In The Real-World

This stunt was rooted in the real world and something we had seen in several videos of accidents in Formula One racing. It wasn’t an impossible physics-defying stunt like you would see in Fast & Furious. Rather, our stunt was embedded in reality and then we would take it up by one or two notches.

Now, the arm car stays with the action the entire time. It is sunk in profile with Little Pete’s car as it’s pushed into the ramp and flies into the air. The arm car tracks with it flying into the air and hitting the ground as it spins and bursts into flames.

The stunt took place on a bridge with four lanes. So, the arm car was in Lane 1 and Little Pete’s car was in Lane 3. That gave us the ability to shoot the long lens shot with the two cars. The arm car was just out of frame, blasting down the camera right side.

In the Koenigsegg race, we have a lot of POV shots so you really feel the asphalt and the white and yellow lines. Another big arm car movement was when Tobey (Aaron Paul) dips into oncoming traffic. We shot POV, putting the audience in the action, as the oncoming vehicles veered away from us. The helmet cam allows you to see his hands and the steering wheel.

IN-CAMERA EFFECTS

In this sequence, we also used the shaker box to add the extra intensity to the shot. I’m in the car shaking it. For more on shaker boxes, tune into the Filmotechnic Camera Car Masterclass!

Even when we’re capturing beautiful crane shots, like the one where they blow by us and then we fly up in the air, I shake the box really quickly as they zoom past and then stop. So, it feels like the cars are traveling at super speeds.

Doing it in-camera is so powerful because you really feel the more organic nature of the shaky cam. Sure, you can add that effect in post-production, and mimic it very well, but this was something again, Scotty and I wanted to capture in-camera to create that authentic feel we love.

THE BOTTOM LINE: CAMERA CAR SYSTEMS

One of the reasons we really love the arm cars designed by Filmotechnic is that they can do a full 360 in four and a half seconds. Think how quickly their arm car must move to be in the front of the car and swing to the left to reveal Little Pete in the background and swing back. There’s really no other camera car that puts you in the action like Filmotechnic.

Our whole concept was to put you, the viewer, in the driver’s seat and fill you with speed that you never experienced before. Just like on Act of Valor when we were using live fire, which had not been done since 1921, we then put you inside the arm car, and a Raptor, and a Porsche with a post and a souped-up slider. Not to mention, a 900 horsepower Mustang that we literally built from scratch.

I’ve done a lot of sports films in my day. You’re going to see seven baseball games, nine drum battles, 12 games of golf, or 12 basketball games. As an audience over those 12 games, how can we give you a different perspective? How can we go inside the mind of the character? Then, that should be the experience of what the camera and the lensing feel like.

In conclusion, our whole mission with this film was to put you inside the action and travel at speeds that no one had really ever seen before in movies and do it for real. And relying on camera car systems made it all possible.

ABOUT SHANE HURLBUT, ASC

Shane Hurlbut, ASC is not only a director of photography, he’s an innovator who trailblazes new technology and finds creative ways to systematize it into the filmmaking process.

Hurlbut is one of the forefathers of the digital revolution and the first to turn affordable cameras into movie-making powerhouses!

More recently, he reimagined pre-production with the Insta360 camera during the tech and location scout. Not only was it an essential tool during the pandemic, but it streamlines collaboration and saves the production money. This is an absolute MUST for directors of photography.

Learn more about Virtual Scouting & Prep with a 360 Degree Camera!

FILMOTECHNIC CAMERA CAR MASTERCLASS

The Filmotechnic Camera Car masterclass takes you inside the arm car like never before, unpacking workflows from the perspective of the DP, 1st AC, Camera Operator, and U-CRANE Arm Operator. Then, they demonstrate two common stunts with the Porsche Cayenne Turbo — but they can also be applied to any high or low-budget project.

The Filmotechnic Camera Car masterclass is for filmmakers of all levels as it demystifies all the key insights and nuances of mobile cinematography. At the end, Shane Hurlbut, ASC showcases a DIY camera car rig that they put together using a Filmmakers Academy member’s vehicle!

Go inside the arm car today and master high-speed cinematography!

The post Camera Car Systems: Car Stunts appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Pipe Lighting Review 2022 by ASC Cinematographer

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 09:00:24 +0000

Pipe Lighting developed a new inflatable LED lighting system that may change the face of lighting cinema. As a director of photography, I’m obsessed with emulating specific light quality. In fact, I’m constantly in search of light that produces an amazingly soft quality that wraps nicely, along with how easily it can be controlled so it doesn’t fly all over the place. However, I also prefer something that’s lightweight.

These reasons are why I created my (now legendary) batten lights. At first, my colleagues couldn’t understand my obsession with them. Especially since they looked like I built them in my garage – which I did.

Not only do I personally try to innovate the landscape of cinematography, but I also celebrate those companies and products that help us elevate our craft. That’s why the company Pipe Lighting and its innovations in LED lighting technology drew my interest.

Here’s my complete review of Pipe Lighting and how their lighting products transformed how I light.

PIPE LIGHTING SETUP

Pipe Lighting developed an inflatable light that you inflate in a matter of seconds. It comes with its own little compressor and works just like you would blow up an air mattress. Although, what you are inflating is a diffusion that is very much like magic cloth. It just requires one person to inflate the light.

Here’s what’s inside each unit:

Lamp head
Color temperature and brightness controller
Mount system (baby pin plate)
Power cable
Lamp head cable extension
Full side-skirt
Air pump
Transportation bag
Soft grid (*supplied separately)

I like how Pipe Lighting lights have 100 feet of head extension to give you plenty of room to work with. Additionally, they have DMX so you can channel to your dimmer board, they range from 2600 Kelvin to 5700 Kelvin, and have a beautiful source.

What I also like about these lights is how they include a skirt that you can attach with Velcro. They also extend and you can coat them with bleach muslin, or make your own skirt with ultrabounce – so, it’s black on the outside and white on the inside. Plus, it also has an egg crate that Velcros to it in case you want to contain that light even more.

Pipe Lighting’s sources don’t have hotspots. By comparison, you can feel the heat even with the thickest diffusion on each one of the SkyPanels in the softbox. Since Pipe Lighting lights have a bed of LEDs in them, they fill the space and shape of your desired Pipe Lighting size.

PIPE LIGHTING SIZES

PIPE 2 (65 x 35 x 20)
PIPE 4 (135 x 35 x 20)
PIPE 8 (260 x 36 x 20)
PIPEWIDE 44 (125 x 125 x 20)
PIPEWIDE 63 (180 x 90 x 20)
PIPEWIDE 84 (240 x 120 x 20)

LIGHT QUALITY

What Pipe Lighting has done is place a bed of LEDs in their product. In the PIPEWIDE 84 (a 4×8 source), for example, it has an output of two ARRI SkyPanels. It’s double-diffused inside and weighs around five pounds and emits soft light without additional diffusers. Plus, it comes with an aluminum frame infrastructure so that you can easily mount it. However, you don’t need to use it.

Pipe Lighting lights are waterproof and are operative in any weather condition. You can control the light with CRMX/wireless DMX and it includes a professional CRI index.

Pipe Lighting units give you the flexibility to move the camera and serve as a quick and effective top light. That said, you don’t need to use them only for top light. I’ve actually begun to use these units as sources for lots of different scenarios.

Typically when pushing a source through a diffusion, you’ll get a hotspot (unless you’re working with magic cloth). But the Pipe Lighting light quality is so beautiful and wraps so nicely that it makes the reflection of the eye gorgeous. It provides a consistent band of white reflection that looks beautiful in the eyes.

It’s also great to actually fly directly over the camera slightly above eyeline for a beauty look. Then, you could shape it with flags if need be. I feel like the 4×4 is the perfect unit for this. I chose the 4×8 unit because of its versatility in dining room and kitchen scenes (i.e. the kitchen table where we captured multiple coverage).

HOW I COULD HAVE BENEFITED FROM PIPE LIGHTING

On the film A Casa Tutti Bene (There’s No Place Like Home), we built a very large softbox for the dining room scenes. This enabled us to shoot two or three cameras simultaneously from any direction.

The film’s director Gabriele Muccino wanted to shoot six to seven pages of dialogue that day. This was before I discovered Pipe Lighting. We used SkyPanels, Celeb 30s, and Select 30s in the softbox. So, we constructed a 5×20 softbox that was suspended over the table with 19 actors beneath it.

Learn more about how I lit A Casa Tutti Bene as well as about blocking, lighting, and composition.

We were on a very tight budget so could only afford three SkyPanels. Imagine if we had the option of Pipe Lighting back then? We could have produced just as beautiful light as we did but for a fraction of the cost. I would have used three or four Pipe Lighting units without the need for a massive grid.

PIPE LIGHTING: LIGHTWEIGHT AND EASY TO RIG

Pipe Lighting lights are highly versatile and simple to use. For instance, you can rig them with a gobo head and a c-stand. They don’t require steel pipe, junior pipe clamps, and a massive grid to support them. Instead, you can fly them from scissor clips.

When you’re in search of light quality and quantity, you must also consider weight. Ultimately, you want beautiful quality that can also be easily rigged and suspended in ceilings, drop ceilings, etc. Pipe Lighting provides incredible quality without the extensive rigging, piping, and grid in order to suspend it.

Each unit comes with its own travel bag that makes it compact and manageable to pack and store.

The advantages are considerable.

Ultimate power-to-weight ratio
Soft light without any additional diffusers
Waterproof and functional under any weather condition
Each unit is compact and supplied with its own travel bag
CRMX/wireless DMX control
Professional CRI-Index
Noiseless passive cooling
Flicker-free

Here’s an interview DIYPhotography did with Pipe Lighting CEO Eduard Bochanov at IBC 2022.

PIPE LIGHTING SUPPORTS CINEMATIC STORYTELLING

Back when I first started, the state of cinematography was more conventional. But today, more cinematographers are pursuing complicated camera maneuvers like oners and immersive camera angles that place you in the headspace of the characters you’re watching.

To get what you want, it takes man-hours and money. Let’s take Holidate, for example. We were rigging three S60 SkyPanels on stage. I asked the grip department to construct 4×8 foam core structures with an inch-square rail. They built the three frames that are required with one at:

The top
For the diffusion
The bottom for the skirt

There are two rails and they basically build a rectangle box and then they coat it with Ultrabounce. And then we add our three SkyPanels.

In another scenario, we had a set that had six of the 4×8 softboxes in the foyer, the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen.

Guess what? Now, those can all be replaced by Pipe Lighting. It only takes one electrician to inflate them and a grip to rig them. They don’t have to get one-inch square stock, make all these frames, buy all the ultrabounce material, build them all, rig them all, etc. So, now, you’re saving work days while getting a light quality that feels superior to the SkyPanels in the softbox.

When it’s all said and done, you are battling the budget with labor. That’s because the gear is somewhat cheap compared to what it takes to employ the technicians to make it happen (like my grip friends). So, you must find specific lights that not only deliver the same quality as described above but also saves you time.

HOLIDATE LIGHTING SCENARIO

On Holidate, it was my mission to break the mold of the stereotypical Rom-Com. Classically, romantic comedies are shot with an over-over and a 50/50. Then, you would pick up another situation with the same scenario.

However, on Holidate, I wanted to immerse the audience with a more dramatic camera movement. So, when Sloane (Emma Roberts) entered the house, we followed her in and wrapped around her, then went profile, bringing her into the kitchen and setting the whole scene.

Still from Holidate movie, Courtesy of Netflix

What I found is the 2×8 and the 1×6 Pipe Lighting units work the best in foyers. If you settle with a Chimera pancake or a small, little top source, the actors will have skull eyes when they enter.

A foyer is typically six feet wide (or like a smaller hallway), so the aforementioned sizes work best. Then, you can skirt it so all the light that is projecting out away from the door fills their eyes so they like nice and don’t experience shadows in their eyes.

LOVE HARD LIGHTING SCENARIO

On Love Hard, I also could have utilized Pipe Lighting to support our immersive camera work. That way, we could move throughout Natalie’s (Nina Dobrev) apartment, go down the hall into her bathroom and bedroom, and rotate around her in the living room.

There were many times when Natalie is at the dining room table when a conversation ensues. So, we would move around the table with a dolly all 180 degrees while they made gingerbread houses. This required top light and Pipe Lighting would have made it simple and, most importantly, supplied an amazing soft source of light.

WHY USE PIPE LIGHTING?

From its beautiful light quality to its affordability and versatility, Pipe Lighting is the future. I have always championed the tools that are not only the future but are available to the masses. Just look at my work with the DSLR Revolution.

Whether you’re a Do-It-All filmmaker or someone like me filming feature films, Pipe Lighting technology is what you want in your kit.

Amazing Light Quality
Very affordable
Requires fewer technicians and labor
Saves lots of time
Allows you to film multiple cameras with ease

You will save a ton of time rigging while still getting the same output of industry-standard lights. And the great thing about having more output is you have the power to always dim it down. So, the bottom line is that I’m going to be incorporating more Pipe Lighting lights into my lighting arsenal. It’s a slam dunk for saving time, money, and labor.

-Review by Shane Hurlbut, ASC

The post Pipe Lighting Review 2022 by ASC Cinematographer appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Cinematography Tip: How To Shape Large Light Sources

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 09:00:10 +0000

Cinematography Tip: How To Shape Large Light Sources

Light is essential to cinematography but it’s only as effective as you can control and shape it. Learning how to shape large light sources is something every filmmaker and cinematographer should master. Director of Photography Shane Hurlbut, ASC, and his Key Grip Dave Knudsen teach you how to control light, prevent light from bouncing into the ceiling, and how to wrap light under your talent’s face.

Control the light with Egg Crate

There are some times when you’d want this beautiful large source, which is backlighting Dave Knudson to bloom. It looks the best when you can control its bloom. It has such a beautiful, soft wrap. If you control the light, like with this egg crate, it actually makes the light harder.

When you stand away from the LCD, you can see the whole source

When I stand here, I am actually seeing the whole source. When I stand closer to the egg crate snap grid, I am only seeing 1/3 of the source. That light is going to be much harder on me than if I’m able to see the whole source.

When I step closer to the egg crate, I see less of the source

A big thing that I like to be able to do is to create huge sources and then shape them. So, let’s take this grid apart.

Control large light sources with solids and T-bones

Instead of going through an LCD, we have used 12×12 solids that are on T-bones that contain this whole thing so it’s not hitting me at all back here behind the 12×12. Because of the 12×12, I won’t be in the light.

If I walk in parallel to the light source and past the 12×12 sider, the light then hits me.

Lighting Under the Chin with a Drop Shadow

Let’s say we don’t want it to hit that ceiling and we want to bottom it a little bit. When a source is this huge it tends to wrap underneath the chin and I like to control that.

Wrapping underneath the chin just doesn’t look that good to me. It looks fake. I don’t want to compromise with a smaller source, though, because I like the quality of the bigger source. I like the chin to have a beautiful drop shadow so that it looks much more cinematic.

An example of some beautiful drop shadow from underneath the chin

What we can do is use more 12x12s. We’re looking at a massive source so using something like 4×4 solids would not be the right tool for the job. We’ll bottom it, and then we’ll also top it.

Again, you can see that we’re pointing the soft side out toward the product (or the actors). This is a big deal.

Floppy Etiquette

The etiquette of flying 4×4 floppies is the same. Even when using negative fill with the 4x4s, always put the soft side towards the product.

This is a must for setting your floppies: soft side toward the product

When setting your stand, you want it to flop down so no light can come in there, hit the chrome stand, and reflect onto the face. So, always set your c-stand so that the cloth will flop towards the talent. That’s very important.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a situation where I’m looking at something and I’m like, ‘Where is that light coming from? It looks reflective and hot.’ Then, you realize that they set the floppy on the wrong side and the sun is hitting the c-stand and giving us a weird shadow on the face.

Let’s go up with this 12×6 bottomer. I don’t want that filling in underneath my face. It’s coming from above, which is great. Now, I want to eliminate all that light that is leaking into the ceiling. Let’s send another 12×6 to the moon.

Key Grip Dave Knudson sends the 12×6 topper up

Lighting Office Spaces

When shooting in a lot of office spaces, you have to deal with a lot of white walls as well as low, white, drop ceilings. When you turn on a light that is a fresnel or an open face, it’s going to fly everywhere.

You need to understand how to shape the light. Many times the light that is ruining the mood and the contrast is something that is actually hitting the ceiling. You may have shaped your bounce but you may have forgotten to shape the light behind the bounce that’s hitting the ceiling and ruining the mood in the room. It’s all about control.

A still from an office shot in Need for Speed

Toppers and Bottomers

So now Dave has flown the 12×12 up as a topper and has completely eliminated all of that silver reflective light. Now, all that’s lighting me is this beautiful 6×12 swaft that’s between the 12x6s.

Nothing is wrapping under my chin now, nothing is coming from above. This was all done just by putting two 12×6 bottomers and toppers on our large source.

The topper and bottomer are both in place to shape the large source

Now, the one thing you wouldn’t want to do is try to fly behind the diffusion and set individual flags for each light source. That’s actually not going to do anything because it’s the light that’s bouncing off the 12×12 Matthbounce that’s then hitting the ceiling that is ruining your mood and contrast.

Gear Used in Video💡

Matthews Hollywood C-Stand Grip Arm Kit: https://bhpho.to/3RsKzhN
Matthews Black Flag – 24×36”: https://bhpho.to/3B7O9aF
Matthews Black Floppy Top Hinge – 40×40”: https://bhpho.to/3QzeNip
Matthews Floppy Cutter – 24×72”: https://bhpho.to/3QGIm1w
Matthews Cordura Sandbag – 25 lbs: https://bhpho.to/3d6mjnd
Matthews Shotbag – 15 lbs: https://bhpho.to/3LatPtT
TRP Worldwide 50 Degree Fabric Egg Crate – 4×4’: https://bhpho.to/3qxZIDa

Shaping Light & Shadow

Learn how to shape & control like a Pro Grip

10 Lessons
1.5 hours of instructional videos

Shaping Light & Shadows is all about the art of shaping and controlling light. Shane Hurlbut ASC and his Key Grip Dave Knudsen go in-depth on what tools and specific gear are needed to create cinematic imagery. This is a must for anyone looking to pursue a career as a Grip. From controlling large sources, double diffusing, hard cuts to soft cuts, and many more.

Detailed written breakdowns
Top-down Blocking & Lighting schematics
Paths and power distribution maps
Side-by-side comparisons
English Subtitles

ABOUT FILMMAKERS ACADEMY MENTOR SHANE HURLBUT, ASC

Director of photography Shane Hurlbut, ASC works at the forefront of cinema as a storyteller, innovator, and discerning collaborator, who brings more than three decades of experience to his art. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Cinematographers Guild/Local 600, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Hurlbut frequently joins forces with great directors: McG’s Netflix Rim of the World and The Babysitter, plus Warner Bros. We Are Marshall and Terminator: Salvation; Scott Waugh’s Need for Speed and Act of Valor; and Gabriele Muccino’s There Is No Place Like Home and Fathers and Daughters. His additional film credits include Semi-Pro; The Greatest Game Ever Played; Into the Blue; Mr 3000; Drumline; 11:14, which earned Hurlbut a DVDX nomination; and The Skulls. Notably, his television credits include the first season of AMC’s Into the Badlands.

Earlier in his career, Hurlbut lensed iconic music videos including Guns N’ Roses’ November Rain. He collaborated with artists Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, The Rolling Stones, and Nirvana. His debut feature film, The Rat Pack, received critical acclaim and earned him a nomination from the American Society of Cinematographers, making him the youngest nominee to date.

SIMILAR FILMMAKERS ACADEMY COURSES

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Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Workflow – Disney+ Safety

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 15:30:19 +0000

DaVinci Resolve revolutionized our post-production workflow for the Disney+ film Safety. Owned and developed by Blackmagic Design, DaVinci Resolve is a non-linear editing application that also specializes in color correction. But, its features and abilities go far beyond that.

It puts everyone on the same track. One of DaVinci’s more impressive features is its ability to integrate all of your departments into one clean interface, organized by pages. So, this means that color correction, editing, motion graphics, post audio, and visual effects aren’t only available in one place, but team members also receive live notifications for work completed by other members of their project. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to get all of your department heads on the same page with the click of a button.

BTS by Kevin Ruinard, Safety, Disney+

Disney films like Safety (directed by Reginald Hudlin) are usually known for their bright and saturated color palettes. But Safety even takes things a step further. Inspired by the true events of Clemson safety Ray McElrathbey, the story of Safety was about much more than what transpired on the field. We designed 2 unique looks and color palettes for the film. A gritty filmic Atlanta and a bright and dreamy Clemson University. Learn more about how we discovered and created these looks with our free lesson: Tiffen: Innovations for the Disney+ film Safety.

Keep reading to see how DaVinci Resolve improved our post-production workflow. And — if you haven’t seen Safety yet, make sure to give it a watch over on Disney+!

Why Blackmagic DaVinci for Post-Production?

DaVinci Resolve 17

As filmmakers, it’s important to push ourselves out of our comfort zones and pay close attention to the newest innovations in the industry. I appreciate the challenge of new software and technologies because they can end up making your life as a DoP a whole lot easier. That way, you can improve your mastery of the artistry and science with the latest devices that you can add to your toolbox.

BTS, Safety, Disney+

In this whole new era of digital capture, technology moves fast. With constant updates and new equipment replacing obsolete equipment, it can prove taxing. Which is actually a great reason to join our Hurlbut Academy community. (It’s the best way to stay on top of the latest tech trends and techniques in the industry.) I find that there are amazing developments that simplify your tasks while saving precious production money in the process.

Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve software is one such innovation that has shifted the paradigm. When Doug Jones first approached me with this concept, it seemed similar to what I had seen before with MOBA labs. But I quickly realized that DaVinci was taking things to a whole new level, synchronizing all of pre-production, production, and post-production into one simple system. This kind of efficiency has never existed to such a degree in the past.

Unite All Departments Under One Vision with DaVinci

Think about it — when you edit on Avid or Premiere Pro, you’re constantly transcoding media to adapt and work with your other files and devices. You have to input your sound and work on color correction, among other things, so it takes time and energy to work on all of these conversions. So, when Doug said that this overall plan would incorporate everything into one system, I couldn’t wait to apply it on a larger scale.

The interface is easy to use and lets you personalize your workflow to fit your needs.

You can start editing while your media files are still being recorded. DaVinci supports QuickTime PNG, uncompressed RGB 8-bit, and YUV 10-bit AVI, as well as for Panasonic 8K SHV clips. This also includes GoPro Cineform, mp3 on Linux, and HTJ2K.

Blackmagic’s approach is reminiscent of Panavision and why they have been so powerful as a company and camera system. Everything that was part of Panavision’s camera ecosystem functioned with one another. All the gear and lenses fit correctly. The inner workings of the camera all connected perfectly as one complete system — with no third-party parts.

Likewise, DaVinci is the central system that operates from an editing bay to a visual effects device and sound editing device. There are also useful communication tools that empower you by allowing the passage of information and updates to your team members. So, while working on Safety in post, we knew when VFX was updating the project so that we could prepare for color correction. Communication is the ultimate power.

DaVinci Resolve Features

As I mentioned above, DaVinci combines audio, color correction, editing, motion graphics, and visual effects into one hub. So, it’s convenient and all in one place! I really love DaVinci Resolve’s interface. It’s sleek, easy to navigate, and an all-around game-changer.

DaVinci Editing Suite

Here’s what the tabs look like for each department:

The images that you work with within DaVinci software are the original quality that you captured them at. The imaging technology is truly brilliant. We’re talking 32-bit float processing and patented YRGB color science. So, what does this mean for you? This gives you a much wider color gamut providing you with an impressive selection that’s ideal for the latest HDR workflows.

Here’s DaVinci’s Wide Gamut Color Space

We concocted color wheels for our own unique colors.

DaVinci doesn’t skip a beat with audio either. In fact, it delivers top-notch quality with Fairlight audio core processing and carries up to 2,000 tracks.

Blackmagic DaVinci Gives Your Whole Team a Voice

One of the most challenging and gratifying parts of being a DoP is collaborating with a director to help convey their vision. This is actually true for all departments. Every department head breaks down the script for their own team, but DaVinci lets you unite all visions into one. This helps you avoid having 10, 12, or 30 different concepts for the movie rolling around. DaVinci created one communication channel where everyone could see it all live.

DaVinci supports Blackmagic RAW, ARRI, RED, and Sony camera files. This also includes Sony MXF, IMF MCA audio and non-HDR DCP export and HDR tags in DCP workflows.

It’s important that everyone has a voice in the process. At this point, we have the ability to keep our metadata and track it, so how can we help the studio feel more informed and communicative? We’ve already doled out the look books that Reggie and I created with our Assistant Director (AD) J.D. Taylor.

This was our master plan that we needed to communicate, but we also needed to ensure a line of communication to boost our creative collaboration. That way, everyone is aware of our look book by the time the dailies come in.

In Atlanta on the set of Safety, Disney+

For example, while we were filming in Atlanta, we were able to process all of the dailies at lunch and again at wrap. So, our Disney executives were seeing our dailies by 4 o’clock on the West Coast. This means that the execs, producers, and department heads have time to watch what we’ve shot. Then, they could talk to Reggie and other producers to get everyone dialed in on one unified vision.

How does DaVinci Make On Set Workflow Better?

To put it simply, we saved time and money. Due to our enhanced ability to communicate, we were able to rectify issues immediately. Now, because of our direct line of communication and the immediacy of this communication, we didn’t need to go back and shoot a single pickup shot. Yes, you read that right.

Chris Moseley preparing for the next take with the RED Gemini.

We had everything so organized, so thought out, and Blackmagic’s DaVinci was the genesis of this idea. And once I saw the power of it, I was just like alright let’s throw gasoline on this and start to get everyone in the channel of communication and begin bringing in editors, sound, and VFX that are proficient on Davinci.

Blackmagic DaVinci in Action

When it came to the on-set application of the DaVinci Resolve software, it elevated our game. We were able to track all metadata coming out of the RED Gemini, then put it into our Raid system and up to Media Silo (or wherever your destination).

Digital Asset Manager Michael Smollin

Our digital asset manager (DAM) Michael Smollin is also an amazing colorist. He became the epicenter of all pre-production and post. Michael had an HDR monitor so he double-checked my work and served as my second set of eyes in case I missed something.

I, on the other hand, was on my Flanders DM250s in SD mode. So, Michael might suggest, ‘I would over-expose it a little more in this area or do something so we can blow that window out over there.’ And then I could make an adjustment accordingly. It’s the simple things that help later in the post-process, saving you money in VFX.

Our Post-Production Setup

The editing suite bustled with our assistant editors all working in tandem. Our editor Terel Gibson was upstairs, we had our sound in one place, a couple of other assistant editors doing ADR, and then, Mike Smollin downstairs in the color bay. Every device was connected and we were working on the same project simultaneously.

Editor Terel Gibson

I can’t stress how valuable my collaboration was with Reggie. We continued our collaboration in post as he brought me in to do pre-color and comments. I worked through the whole color process (which was accelerated because we had to get it all set for Disney). This allowed the executives to look at the movie and see what direction they wanted to go. They tasked Reggie with providing the director’s cut, so he wanted to present it to them as close as possible to the final product.

That was one of the benefits of the DaVinci workflow. Time was of the utmost importance. We needed to be on the same channels and transcoding to save time. In the end, we whipped the pre-color together and delivered it to Disney, and they saw what was essentially a finished movie. That’s how good this workflow was. And we’re talking 3 months after the movie was finished. So, this was huge.

DaVinci Resolve is Perfect for Creativity

As I sat downstairs in the color bay and went through my process, I set a look at each scene and then started from the beginning and watched the whole reel. So, I watched reel 1, set the look, and then watched it again. And it’s on the rewatch when I begin taking notes.

While I was working downstairs, Reggie was upstairs with our editor Terel cutting the movie and finessing it for the Disney cut (for the execs). Then, suddenly, Reggie began to see these icons appear on his edit timeline. And Terel said, ‘Shane just colored the sequence.’ And, so, they clicked it, and all of a sudden the timeline was color corrected.

The second this happened, Reggie looked at the now-color-corrected scene. He was able to see it in a new light — both physically and figuratively. The tonality of the color helped germinate an idea for the montage where we rescued another scene left on the chopping block to be repurposed.

Well, this sort of thing didn’t happen just once, it happened about 40 times! So, you start to imagine pre-color being infused into a timeline where everyone from VFX to sound and editorial is seeing this color firsthand. These serendipitous moments, these thoughts of creativity, of looking at the footage for months on end are otherwise lost. And the reason you’re losing out on this creativity is because you’re not reacting to the tones and color palette until it’s too late.

The Bottomline

My experience using Blackmagic’s DaVinci on Safety was a perfect case study for positive collaboration. I truly believe that being able to get feedback on our performance, like if we accomplish a really great shot, is a good way to get kudos and learn. You want to tell people they’re doing an amazing job. We want to be able to put our best foot forward with our channels of communication. Whether it’s good or bad, we want the feedback.

Are you curious about new technologies and methodologies to work without large groups? In a world of social distancing, there’s no better way to scout locations while saving money than with the Insta360. Hop on over to see my thoughts with Insta360: Virtual Scouting for the COVID-19 Era.

The post Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Workflow – Disney+ Safety appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

RED Gemini: Innovations for Disney+ film Safety

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 14:30:29 +0000

RED Digital Cinema hit the market in 2005 and ever since the world of filmmaking has never been the same. RED was a major factor in revolutionizing the industry by making digital cinematography the standard for motion capture. And, trust me, I know a little something about that major turning point in the industry.

As an early adopter and trailblazer of digital cameras, I first applied new digital technology by using Canon 5D Mark II’s to heighten the action for Act of Valor. But it wasn’t until RED’s contribution to the medium that spurned the Age of Digital Cinematography. And it was the RED Gemini, for me, that has stood out from the rest of the pack — most notably for its impressive low light mode. That’s one of the reasons why I chose the RED Gemini as our workhorse camera for the Disney+ film Safety.

Keep reading to find out why the RED Gemini has the ideal versatility that allowed us to capture 2 distinct worlds — the dreamy over-saturated campus of Clemson University and the gritty projects of Atlanta.

Location: Atlanta. Safety, Disney+

Location: Clemson University. Safety, Disney+

To further supplement our RED Gemini Safety Innovations, we covered the story behind Safety and our 7 minute and 20 second Clemson halftime sequence with our free lesson: Sports Action Cinematography Part 1. But to understand the full scope of how we captured the right color schemes in-camera with specially-engineered natural density (NDs), we recommend our article on Tiffen: Innovations for the Disney+ film ‘Safety’.

Would you like to learn how to conduct location scouts without the need for large groups or multiple location visits? Then, dive into the free lesson: Insta360: Virtual Scouting for the Covid-19 Era. Now, without further ado, let’s unpack how the RED Gemini and its innovations allowed us to capture the story of Ray-Ray McElrathbey and his little brother Fahmarr with the Disney+ film Safety.

Ray and Fahmarr McElrathbey, Safety, Disney+

Why the RED Gemini?

Every project comes with its own unique story, world, colors, and textures. So, since each camera has its own idiosyncrasies, it’s up to you as the DoP to choose the right camera. This also means building it to meet your needs. The camera you use is the equivalent of how a keystone fits into a monument — it’s the central component that locks the entire structure together. Likewise, selecting a camera is an essential step in bringing the desired visuals and texture to reality. However, what may work for one genre or concept may not always work for another. That’s why when I was slated to shoot Safety, one of my earliest tasks was meeting with our seasoned director Reggie Hudlin to identify the look and feel for the film.

Director Reggie Hudlin with actor Jay Reeves.

Together, Reggie and I collaborated on a look book based on our ideas for Safety’s imagery that we had both curated ahead of time. As I alluded to above, we were aware of our 2 distinct looks. We knew we needed a bright and colorful look for Clemson. Not to mention a real gritty, raw off-feel for Atlanta and the projects where Ray and his little brother Fahmarr grew up. Keep in mind that our look for Atlanta also extended to everything that was Atlanta. This includes Dade County Jail to social services and even community parks. But more on that below.

Still from Safety, Disney+

Right away I thought of the RED Gemini. It was clear that the Gemini would be the best camera for the job because of its dual ISO functions. It has a low light ISO that basically turns on a whole other capacitor to be able to handle and energize the light. This is actually a feature I used to enjoy during the big DSLR craze with the C500 and the Canon 1DC. The Alexa, Sonys, and RED camera systems didn’t energize the light at that time — but the Canon sensor did. In fact, you couldn’t light with such a camera unless it was powered on for reference. This is due to its sensor which energizes the light in a way that your eye can’t.

BTS Safety, Disney+

Just like Canon’s sensor, the RED Gemini energizes light when you enter its low light mode, except it’s even more powerful. The Gemini takes a light that you wouldn’t think has much key or source to it and then, suddenly, energizes the light source opening up a whole new world of possibilities.

The RED Gemini Sensor

The Gemini’s sensor is unlike any of RED’s other sensors. For example, where the Dragon and Monstro have more of a magenta-tinged sensor, the Gemini’s is more green-yellow. So, it feels closer to an Alexa — but rather than green-yellow, the Alexa is more green-cyan based.

BTS Safety, Disney+

The yellow of the sensor enables you to get incredible skin tones with both brown and white skins — this is especially perfect when you have a diverse cast like ours. Our custom Tiffen natural NDs boosted our image even further, creating a wonderful cocktail mixed with our NDs and sensor.

Did you know that RED developed its custom S35 low light mode to be able to function in the vacuum of outer space? That’s right, astronauts utilized the RED Gemini to record directives during their missions in the absolute darkness of space. Let that sink in! So, RED engineered the Gemini to work simply and straightforward.

Take a deep dive into the Gemini’s sensor capabilities with Custom S35 Sensor – GEMINI 5K: RED Goes Dual ISO.

RED Gemini Recreates the Texture of Film

When we think of digital capture, what first comes to mind is the clarity and crispness of the image. So, how does a digital camera like the Gemini give off the texture of film? Let’s break it down.

First, let’s consider the different forms of celluloid that you can recreate with the Gemini. When you shoot at 2K, you’ll get that Super 8 look. Then, you go with a high compression, and all of a sudden the grain is the size of baseballs like that beautiful Super 8 film we all know and love. When you go up to 3K you’ll get a 16mm filmic look. Just be sure to use that with a 12/1 compression; that’ll give you the exact grain that you’d need to replicate Super 16. Then, I’m sure you can surmise that 4K delivers you with a look similar to 35mm, which is perfect and clean. I’d recommend shooting that at a 2/1 compression ratio.

If you’re shooting anything where you’ll need stabilization, then you can shoot at 5K. For example, say you’re going handheld or using a Ronin or MoVI. When you shoot in 5K, you can easily use that 25% that’s now all the way around your image. You can stabilize it without image loss or pushing in on the image.

BTS Safety, Disney+

I like to shoot in legacy mode instead of IPP2 because I feel that it looks much more like film. For Safety, we shot all of Atlanta in 3200 ISO because of its noise which gives off the texture of celluloid. This is important to add that extra dimension — including the projects, the prison, the park, day, night, etc. And if you were to go to 800 ISO, you’d get even more noise and therefore injecting more of a grainy texture.

So, how, you ask, is this possible? Well, it’s all about the size of the Gemini’s film buckets. They’re massive — huge compared to the more expensive Alexa and Monstro. This gives the Gemini the capacity to lap up light similar to film.

The RED Gemini sensor

The RED Monstro sensor

The ARRI Alexa sensor

Film has 13 stops of latitude and falls off significantly. Let’s say 5 stops of underexposed would go completely black. The Gemini has a little more range than that while also delivering a cinematic texture.

RED Compression Code

Another feature that is great about the RED Gemini is its RED Compression Code. There’s no other camera that does it, and that compression is a whole other layer of a cocktail that brings me back to my organic film lab exposing days.

By comparison, the Alexa is more Procter & Gamble. It comes out of the box and then you have some features, mainly for the post-process. But with the RED cameras, there are many more unique functions and so many ways that you can alter the RAW image that is baked in. So, even though it’s a RAW image, you’re baking in all of your specific components for a more organic form that’s similar to exposing and developing film.

Capturing Atlanta with the RED Gemini

The texture and grain of the Gemini in 3200 ISO was exactly what we needed to convey the atmosphere of Atlanta, in all its rugged beauty. That along with the low light OLPF using Skin Tone Highlight Filter. Next, we needed a lens that could accentuate our gritty concept, so we went with the Bolex 135-degree Shutter.

I shot using celluloid for the music video “Come As You Are” for Nirvana.

When I was coming up in the industry, I used the Bolex for music videos because it really heightens reality. What it does is take the edge off the motion blur, while also tightening and crispening it up.

Next, we dove into our color science and created LUTs that were designed with a level of desaturation that muted specific colors. Yet, skin tones were left unaffected by the desaturation of the LUTs.

Now, I didn’t need to change that low light OLPF since the camera has plenty of power to pick up the lowlight. But sometimes I like to try different things for a unique look and feel.

That’s another reason why I love the RED cameras. I feel like I’m back in the lab when using its camera systems. Back in the days of film, I used to inject so many creative and experimental techniques for commercials and music videos. And while working with the RED cameras, I feel that they have a similar versatility and flexibility of use and experimentation. I could change different OLPFs, I could shoot with low light functions, I could change different color spaces and the color science, all from within the camera.

Capturing Clemson with the RED Gemini

Our concept for Clemson was the polar opposite of Atlanta. Where Atlanta was desaturated, Clemson was oversaturated. So, what was our motivation for this? Ray had a rough childhood in the projects, and Clemson University is a place of opportunity with an amazing student atmosphere that radiates a familial spirit. It was of the utmost importance that we distinguish these two worlds by color, texture, and tone.

BTS Safety, Disney+

We wanted Clemson’s school colors of orange and purple to drip off the screen. This meant the campus, classrooms, football field, uniforms, helmets — everything, had to exude that school spirit. So, naturally, we upped the contrast to the nth degree so the colors would pop.

Jason Robbins B Camera/Gimbal Operator on the set of Safety, Disney+

The RED Gemini is capable of delivering better chroma than any other kind of camera. So, not only is it energizing the light, but it’s also stimulating the color. At Clemson, we shot using the standard OLPF which gave us the cleanest and most crisp image possible.

Filming at Clemson University

I’d like to give a shoutout to Clemson University. They laid out the red carpet (or I should say ‘orange’ carpet) while we were there. They were gracious and appreciative of our commitment to telling a story that had become ingrained in the culture of their campus. It’s not always easy to handle a film crew, but they did so with amazing patience and willingness. And this paved the way for our success.

Still from Safety, Disney+

We were really able to present Reggie’s vision by all coming together. And we had amazing teamwork on all sides. The executive producer Mark Ciardi was instrumental in pulling everything together so we had a smooth ride. And when it came to placing cranes, putting people where people were never permitted before, working with fire guidelines, and keeping everyone safe, our locations department was an absolute dynamo.

BTS Safety, Disney+

The Bottom Line

When it comes down to it, the RED Gemini was absolutely essential for providing the filmic grittiness in low light mode for Atlanta and the bright colors and colorful chroma for Clemson University. Safety is far from your average Disney movie. Yes, it’s a family-friendly film full of comradery, hope, and that inspirational Disney-feel that we all know and love — but it’s also a drama that illustrates a sobering reality that isn’t always explored in such a medium.

It was the RED Gemini’s amazing innovations that helped us achieve our look and texture for these unique worlds. For one, the Gemini’s low light mode provides the feel of film without the headache of loading and processing. And, by utilizing the Gemini’s differing OLPFs, like its Standard for Clemson and the Skin Tone Highlight Filter for Atlanta, we were able to create these polar opposite looks.

Director Reggie Hudlin dons the camera gear.

The RED Gemini is like a supercomputer with amazing processing speeds. It has the ability to shoot up to 300 frames per second and in a variety of different compressions. The Gemini can also capture all the Ks (2K-5K+). For a camera that’s around $20,000 (far lower than the Alexa or Monstro), the Gemini is not only priced much lower than most other cameras, but it outperforms them in key areas.

To learn more about RED’s cameras and workflow, hop on over to our REDucation article for all the insider details!

The post RED Gemini: Innovations for Disney+ film Safety appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Blueshape Innovations for the Disney+ film Safety

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 01:41:40 +0000

There are a million different factors that go into making a film. And if one of those factors goes wrong, like say your battery gives out during a crucial moment, it could prove to be the difference between a successful shoot or spending a treasure trove of money on reshoots. That’s where Blueshape comes in. Blueshape manufactures reliable batteries that span from basic 14-volt power up to 560 watts and 48 volts.

Everyone has that same horror story where you’ve lost juice in the middle of shooting, and then you’re forced to switch batteries and wait for the camera to power back up. By that point, you’ve probably missed that creative wave you were riding just minutes before. Now that’s a creative nightmare. So, when I was tasked with shooting 59 setups in just 7 minutes and 20 seconds during the halftime of a Clemson game for the Disney+ film Safety, I needed the most trustworthy equipment. We couldn’t afford to lose a camera because there were no do-overs.

Still from Safety, Disney+

But, before we continue, we’ve covered quite a bit already in our Sports Action Cinematography free series. To find out more on how we planned and executed our halftime sequence, check out How to Shoot Sports Action Cinematography Part 1. Want to find out how to conduct location scouts virtually? Then, we recommend reading Insta360: Virtual Scouting for the Covid-19 Era.

Collaborating & Innovating with Blueshape

It’s important to build strong relationships with the companies that create the gear and equipment we use every day on set. They want to hear what we’re thinking on the ground so they can continue to build and innovate, and we reap all the rewards. I collaborated with a few companies while prepping for Safety. For example, together with Tiffen, we engineered Neutral Density (ND) to go from 7-13 stops while also designing them to be able to fit extra-wide lenses, among other types.

Read about my collaboration with Tiffen for Safety and how we attained the colors for Clemson’s saturated campus to the gritty streets of Atlanta in Tiffen: Innovations for the Disney+ film Safety.

Still from Safety, Disney+

The halftime sequence in Clemson’s “Death Valley” stadium wasn’t going to be easy. We needed to be mobile, small, and super light-weight. That’s because we needed to be able to run alongside the football players on the field. So, our batteries had to be trimmed to the size of the camera. I needed to know that I could slide a battery on and we were good to go.

What I love about Blueshape is how they take hold of a vision and then help guide the process to make it a reality. I mean, these are batteries that I can count on. Blueshape is a company that cares about innovation and helping filmmakers by designing products that consider our needs so power is the last thing you need to worry about.

We Powered the Safety Halftime Sequence with Blueshape

Here’s what I needed — 4 Steadicams along with the Ronin and MoVI. This would allow me to really deliver the goods for the halftime sequence. As I previously mentioned, we had some ground to cover. We started up on the hill and had to move down into the stadium, field, sidelines, and endzones. However, before this point, we had never actually set foot in Death Valley to try out our equipment and see how it would fare. This included our whole communication and wireless systems.

BTS Safety, Disney+

Part of the problem why you can’t test these types of systems beforehand is because you’d need the 83,000 fans in the stands along with another 80,000 outside tailgating, and all simultaneously using their phones. That’s the only way to properly conduct a case study to determine how everything would perform. So, we went the alternative route.

This other route led us to the engineers at Preston, Clear Comm, Ronin, Freefly, and DGI — and we collaborated just as we did with Blueshape. With each company, we would test and ensure our communication systems were up to snuff, and our wireless system had the necessary parts like a repeater and high-boost antennas.

It was crucial to make sure our systems held up both with batteries and from a performance standpoint. Since the Ronin works with a dual team, our operators required a perfect harmony between these two forces in order to see and do what they do best.

Our Blueshape Innovations

BTS Safety, Disney+

When we got down to the actual mechanics of what we exactly needed from the batteries, Blueshape took the lead and engineered the compact Granite Mini 140W block to fit beautifully along the back of our RED Gemini.

BV140HDmini

Both compact and lightweight.

Blueshape’s adjusted square-block battery was also weighted proportionately so it balanced the Steadicam smoothly. It also comes supplied with D-Tap ports so you can power things like the wireless follow-focus and the range-finders on your camera systems.

The Granite Blueshape 140 HD fits snugly on the back of our RED Gemini.

As you can see, we required a whole lot of power!

Camera systems used for our halftime sequence. BTS, Safety, Disney+.

Don’t let their size fool you, they’re loaded with a whole lot of power! So, in addition to the batteries, Blueshape’s crack team of specialists engineered amazing power stations for us, powered by our new batteries. These Rugged Power stations powered our studio cameras, cranes, and everything else. Blueshape’s batteries are not only durable but they’re also waterproof. This means you’re safe if caught off guard by a sudden rainfall.

Here’s the Blueshape Power Station placed in the back of our vehicle.

https://www.filmmakersacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Sequence-01_2.mp4

We actually had a lot of night work that involved night driving where we drove the cars instead of using a tow truck. So, I needed these Blueshape batteries to power up our sky panels and they delivered, powering up 2 Arri Sky Panels for upwards of 4 hours!

Here’s a video that shows the rig on top of a police cruiser:

https://www.filmmakersacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Sequence-01.mp4

In one particular scene, Fahmarr (Thaddeus J. Mixson) runs away and his older brother Ray-Ray McElrathbey (Jay Reeves) goes searching for him in the car. It’s nighttime so lighting is key. We mounted our Sky Panels with hood mounts and had our hostess trays on the left and right sides of the vehicle. This allowed us to gain a ton of coverage for when Ray’s driving.

The Bottom Line

Blueshape’s battery technology is both reliable and weather tested providing you with dependable power in nearly every kind of situation. We were able to collaborate and come up with a battery that worked perfectly for us. Since we had to work small and have the physicality to run and move with the football players, the 140 block suited our needs. But even outside of our halftime sequence for Safety, we were in good hands with the Blueshape Rugged Power Station, which kept us juiced up throughout our night shoots and driving scenes. With Blueshape I always feel like it’s an easy decision. They’re the Cadillac of battery brands. That’s why I use Blueshape for everything from XLR cables to Power Stations.

BTS Safety, Disney+

If you haven’t had a chance to check out Safety on Disney+, what are you waiting for? It’s a wonderful true story based on the events of a Clemson freshman athlete vying to get on the field and prove himself, while also juggling his schoolwork and taking guardianship of his younger brother. It’s a movie that’s great for the whole family!

The post Blueshape Innovations for the Disney+ film Safety appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Tiffen: Innovations for the Disney+ film “Safety”

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Sat, 02 Jan 2021 02:25:13 +0000

One cannot simply stress the significance of color and what it means for the emotional experience of a film. This is especially the case for Disney and its vast vault of memorable films that transcend both time and space. That’s why I realized early on in pre-production for the newly released movie Safety (available now on Disney+) that I had to really think outside the box of what’s possible to deliver both the magic of Clemson University and the sobering reality of life in the projects of Atlanta. These are worlds that are diametrically opposed to one another with contrasting aesthetic tastes. To forge these opposing worlds, we required perfect, clean, full-spectrum Neutral Density (ND) that would be able to go from 1-13 stops. And Tiffen was the ideal manufacturer to make it happen. Keep reading to find out how we made our vision a reality.

Still from Safety, Disney+

But before we get started, I urge you to check out some of our other free lessons that center around the film Safety. In How to Shoot Sports Action Cinematography Part 1, we breakdown how we shot all of our gameday footage (59 setups) during halftime in just 7 minutes and 20 seconds. And, then, with Insta360: Virtual Scouting for the COVID-19 Era, we discuss the value of conducting your location scouts with an Insta360 camera for social distancing compliance while also saving big.

The Color Palette of Safety

A film’s color palette interjects a psychological sense of emotion that adds dimension to your film. That’s why there’s such a visual difference between movies like Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and László Nemes’s Sunset. These films are set in similar time periods but have wildly different tones and moods that benefit largely from their specific choices of color.

This was certainly the case for Safety. In fact, Safety goes far beyond your usual Disney film. When you think of what constitutes a Disney film what comes to mind are fantastical storylines that interject magic and larger-than-life circumstances. However, Safety is a more sobering realistic story, based on a true story, where a young student-athlete (Ray-Ray McElrathbey), with an impoverished background, struggles to maintain his scholarship while juggling schoolwork and assuming custody of his younger brother (Fahmarr).

Take a look at the side-by-side example below:

Clemson University

Still from Disney+

Lakewood Heights, Atlanta

Still from Safety, Disney+

When we began to design the look and feel of Safety, it was essential that we establish a difference between these 2 distinct worlds. The projects of Atlanta (Lakewood Heights) had to feel very different from Clemson University and its campus.

Clemson Campus

Still from Safety, Disney+

We wanted the world of Clemson to be very colorful, which meant saturated oranges and purples essentially splashing off the screen. This not only included the classrooms, hallways, and the stadium but also wardrobe. In addition to the saturated colors, the texture had to feel clean, crisp, and much different from the much harsher Atlanta projects.

Lakewood Heights, Atlanta

Our vision for the color aesthetic of the Lakewood Heights projects in Atlanta, on the other hand, was one that was desaturated with lots of green and earth tones, muted greens, dark browns, dark burgundies, and blacks. The plan was to shoot 3200 ISO for all of Atlanta, so there would be grit even with the day exteriors. We wanted this to feel raw with urban decay.

Still from Disney+

Even the way the camera moved had to feel more rugged, so we decided to go handheld. Combined with the beautiful grain of the RED Gemini at 3200 ISO in lowlight mode, we bottled the tone of the characters and story and manifested it into the look.

Creating New Neutral Density

The reason for shooting Atlanta in 3200 ISO is because 3200 ISO is 2 stops more sensitive than 800 ISO, like your normal camera. So, what ND did I use, you ask? Well, most manufacturers only engineer up to 7 stops worth of ND, but I realized that I would need 13. So, that works out to 2.1 for 7 stops, 2.4 for 8 stops, 2.7 for 9 stops, 3.1 for 10 stops, 3.4 for 11 stops, 3.7 for 12 stops, and 4.0 for 13 stops.

Now, as you probably already know, the Alexa has its own internal NDS whereas the RED doesn’t. Luckily I have an amazing working relationship with Tiffen, so I turned to them in regards to collaborating on some new IR NDs that involved true color NDS for the full spectrum.

BTS Safety, Disney+

The manufacturer True ND had set the bar high by its consistency in holding the perfect color from 1-stop, 2-stop, 3-stop, all the way up to 7 stops. However, since our goal was to go all the way up to 13, the challenge was to maintain that consistency as more IR pollutants flood the sensor. But that’s also a difficult balance of holding color and solid skin tones without going into a weird magenta or cyan tint.

The Color Science of Neutral Density

To be able to shoot day exteriors in the middle of Atlanta with the blazing sun shining down overhead at 3200 ISO, it required a lot of work. One of the reasons why I love the RED Gemini is because of how filmic it feels to me. The RED Gemini replicates that film grain look due to its huge photo buckets. The photo buckets on the sensor beautifully lap up the light and I get the feeling as if I’m exposing film again.

Now, let’s have a look at the before and after of our Lakewood Heights exterior.

Before:

Lakewood Heights in Atlanta

After:

Still from Safety, Disney+

Together with Tiffen, we spent a lot of time testing the NDs, working in the color correcting bay with the colorist, and then re-testing over and over again. It was an arduous process where we even had to start back at the drawing board a few times. I really have to tip my hat to Tiffen’s crack team of engineers. They really delivered. Overall, it took us 2 years to produce the first 7 stops and another 6 months to perfect the remaining 8-13 stops.

The final product was pretty interesting considering its appearance. The ACs commented, rather perceptively, how it looked like welding glass because of its thickness. But that’s exactly what we needed to create that gritty look we needed for Lakewood Heights.

In-Camera Digital Diffusion

So, staying with our Lakewood Heights, Atlanta locations, let’s do a quick recap. Remember, we decided on 3200 ISO lowlight, the use of natural NDs up to 13 stops, and the 135 Bolex shutter. For consistency, I wanted to be able to use the wide-angle lenses but I diffused them also using digital diffusion in the camera rather than waiting for post-production. Another reason I chose to use digital diffusion was because we only had up to 5 at that point. So, out of 5, I used it for the 18mm. When I went to a 14 or 15mm, I wanted to go to a 6, but we didn’t have it available in the thickness of digital diffusion.

We used a unique digital diffusion that came in the form of shapes like half-moons, circles, lines, and crescents, among others, that soften skin and highlights rather than blooming them. That’s key — it softens, not blooms.

I also like to key with nice creamy types of tones. So, this digital diffusion responded very well to defocusing skin tones. It doesn’t affect the eyes and, in fact, eyes remain super sharp while it softens the skin and highlights. This, in turn, gives the Gemini that beautiful film texture that blows out and gives more of a grainy impression.

Creating Extreme Wide Angle Lenses

Since Safety’s a football film, I planned on deploying extreme wide-angle lenses. So, the next innovation from Tiffen had to accommodate these types of lenses. We needed to create NDs that could handle 8mm and 12mm lenses on top of the digital diffusion. I also used a 135 degree Bolex shutter, which is nostalgic for me since I came up shooting music videos. I shot a lot of these music videos on the Bolex and its 135-degree shutter because it crispens the image ever so slightly while also minimizing motion blur.

Here are just a few of my music videos.

Since we were using 8mm lenses, 10mm lenses, and 12mm lenses, we needed Tiffen to engineer 9-inch NDs that also needed to handle the super-wide lenses. The scientists and engineers at Tiffen ended up doing an incredible job innovating a heavy line of diffusion. So, when I went to 12mm, I could use a 7; when I went to 10mm, there was an 8; and when I went to 8mm, I had a 9. This made the consistency of the overall look feel absolutely beautiful. I was able to soften my highlights, keep my great skin tones, and soften any of the skin that was needed within the whole production.

Now, you might be wondering why I’m softening something that softens skins in a wide lens. Well, with a wide lens you’re not necessarily looking at the skin so much because it’s not so zoomed in on a tighter lens, but you’re looking at the way it softens highlights. And it takes that video clip that the RED cameras possess, and it softens it beautifully giving it that film look we know and love.

Crafting NDs for Additional Lenses

I also wanted to be able to use extreme long lenses like the Canon 50-1,000 – which I absolutely love. It’s the perfect lens for shooting football because you’re able to be outside on the sidelines and in the endzone and really lens in there with the 1,000mm. So, what I needed to do was engineer a thin side to the digital diffusion.

Tiffen only had a quarter, so I had to engineer a 1/8, 1/16, a 1/32, and a 1/64 — the 1/64 was for the 1,000mm lens. If the 50-1,000mm was hanging more in the 500 realm, then we would go with the 1/32. And, if it was more in the 250 to 300, then we went with the 1/16. If it was more in the 150-200mm, then we went with 1/8.

When I’m using zoom lenses compared to primes, I always go one less heavy on the zooms. That’s because with the zooms, you have all the different optics and many more pieces of glass that end up softening the image to a specific point. So, if you diffuse them like you would diffuse a prime, it’s just too heavy-handed.

Still from Safety, Disney+

That’s why I had to create all of these different new levels of thinness, just how I had to do the thickness for the wide-angle lenses. We used extreme long lenses and I had to create the thinness of the diffusion so I could keep a consistent, even palette for the film, so every shot looked and felt like it was part of the movie.

The Bottom Line

In the end, I was beyond pleased with the hard work Tiffen did and the final look of Safety. We were able to generate a consistency between our characters Ray and Fahmarr’s home (and past) and Clemson University (their future) in such a way, that both looked and felt like polar opposites while still maintaining familiar lenses like the wide angles and extreme long lenses. So, without our newly engineered NDs that were designed specifically for our cause, we couldn’t have achieved the same level of grittiness and film-grain quality.

Working in-camera with digital diffusion is also a necessity. Capturing the right mood while getting the right tones and avoiding motion blur is an extremely difficult balancing act. But with enough patience, troubleshooting, and tenacity, it’s worth the struggle. Art is never an easy feat, and sometimes it takes more than a few tries — and revisiting the drawing board — before you have the right recipe. Thankfully there are manufacturers like Tiffen who believe in the artistry of film and work every day to make the visions of filmmakers a reality.

The post Tiffen: Innovations for the Disney+ film “Safety” appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Insta360: Virtual Scouting for the COVID-19 Era

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 15:00:06 +0000

The future is officially upon us with Insta360 and location scouting will never be the same. As we move forward into the COVID era, ensuring the safety of our industry professionals is our primary concern. The people who are on the ground grinding day in and day out are the glue that’s holding everything together. Without them, there’s no industry. So, using an ingenious camera device like the Insta360 ONE R or Insta360 ONE X not only gives you the power to scout locations virtually (to help keep everyone properly socially-distanced) but it also ends up saving you quite a bit on production expenses.

I actually first started using the Insta360 technology two years ago before COVID-19 hit. Back then, it obviously was less out of necessity for safety and more about its amazing capabilities. I like to keep my ear close to the rail, so to speak. When I sense a new device that’s going to change how things are done in the industry, I’m all over it. And that’s exactly what I felt with the Insta360 ONE R and Insta360 ONE X camera systems, as well as the Insta360 Studio app. Now in a world where the practice of social distancing is a requirement, the Insta360, ONE R, and ONE X are ever more pertinent.

In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at the Insta360 and its features, and then I’m going to show you how I work it into my scouting routine — in this case, for the movie Safety, a new Disney+ exclusive film directed by Reginald Hudlin that follows Ray-Ray McElrathbey and his younger brother Fahmarr. Ray’s a freshman defensive back who takes custody of Fahmarr as their mother struggles with addiction. This forces him to balance classes and football with raising a kid.

You can learn more about the movie, our team, and our rapid-fire halftime sequence where we shot 59 setups in 7 minutes and 20 seconds with How to Shoot Sports Action Cinematography Part 1. Or, better yet, go watch Safety for yourself! It’s a fantastic film that transcends the game of football, illustrating a deeper story — one where Clemson and its football organization embrace Ray and Fahmarr as part of the Clemson family.

What is the Insta360 Camera?

The Insta360 ONE R and Insta360 ONE X Cameras share quite a few similarities. For instance, they both shoot 5.7K 30fps out of two different lenses simultaneously, which creates a perfectly seamless 360-degree world. The cameras also come with a selfie stick that screws into your camera and extends outward to enhance your perspective. One of the best features is how the camera paints out the selfie stick from the rest of the image, so it doesn’t obstruct your view.

How do the Insta360 ONE R and Insta360 ONE X differ? Well, for one, the Insta360 ONE R has interchangeable lenses. The ONE R also has Night Shot, it’s waterproof, and possesses H.265 encoding capabilities, whereas the ONE X does not. The ONE R is also easier to use with its voice controls and touch screen features.

Insta360 ONE X in action.

After you capture your image, you’re able to scroll around and see the entirety of your location with its full 360-degree perspective! This is super important because when you’re typically scouting a location, you end up hopping quickly from room to room, considering possible shots, but oftentimes overlooking key factors like the height of the ceiling or if, say, the floor can handle a dolly.

We alluded to the cost of production above, but how exactly does the Insta360 make production cheaper? Well, to put it simply, you don’t need the whole team there looking at the location. You can conduct a virtual scout without the grip, lighting, art department, transportation, or any department heads that typically take the initial walkthrough.

This makes the Insta360 ideal for limiting exposure since you can share the virtual videos of the locations to each of your team members, and they’ll have the power to analyze everything directly from their screens.

Location Scouting for Safety with the Insta360

When it came time to scout locations for Safety, I decided to deploy the Insta360. I find that there’s nothing more exhausting than prepping a movie. In fact, I like to think that if I can get through the prep, I’m going to survive because the rest of the process is easy by comparison. So, when prepping, I use tools that make my life easier — and the Insta360 is one such tool.

We were at Clemson University, where much of the movie takes place, getting an eye for the campus, scenery, and everything else we wanted to capture. For those who don’t know it, Clemson is about a two-hour drive away from Atlanta. It’s not so simple to roll out and see the location. So, if you need something like a last-minute measurement, you’re looking at a hefty drive, possible transportation support, and then you have to coordinate with location support and the location manager. As you probably realize, this is not the most efficient way to operate.

For Safety, we scouted a number of locations from impoverished areas in Atlanta to Clemson University. Here are a few of the locations we scouted:

Lakewood Heights in Atlanta

Clayton State University

Clemson University Sports Complex

Clemson University “Film Room”

I like to refer to the Invisible Selfie Stick as the ‘Magic Stick’ because of its vanishing qualities. And it actually makes for a wonderful icebreaker when working with locations. The first thing I often hear when walking in is ‘What the heck is that thing? It looks so cool!’ It’s always a good idea to get the people at locations excited. And wanting to see what the Insta360 is capable of, sometimes you’ll even get access to areas where you would never usually get to see.

Forgive the distortion of the image below, but we’re melding 360-degrees into a two-dimensional image. We’re literally defying physics! From Insta360 Studio, you then have the ability to navigate the entire periphery of the video.

Notice how the ‘Magic Stick’ is painted out of the image.

I’d also like to highlight another example that sometimes gets brushed over. Working with locations is always a give and take relationship in the sense that property owners are graciously allowing us to use their property while their place becomes immortalized on the big screen, giving them something that they can brag about to friends and other good things. However, even though they may start out excited and giddy, you can weigh on their patience if you repeatedly go back. In fact, that’s how you can lose a location. The Insta360 makes for an ideal solution to this pesky problem. So, instead of asking to see the location again, you can simply pull up the virtual location.

Use Locations to Develop Character

Locations can make or break a scene. The right location can create the perfect opportunity for character development. One such scene didn’t make it into the final cut of the movie but conveys the power of a location. This scene takes place in Clemson’s auditorium where players review film of upcoming opponents. And in this particular moment, Ray (played by Jay Reeves) sits in the auditorium obsessively studying reel after reel.

Still from Safety, Disney+

Suddenly, the door opens behind him and in walks the assistant coach. This was a perfect moment to convey Ray’s headspace and his fixation with the task at hand. It had to be unique. So, when he opened the door, late afternoon sunlight rifled through and blew out the coach’s white shirt and khaki pants. Meanwhile, the sun shafted down the side of the room where it created a major change of ambiance.

Take a moment to consider why I chose this approach. You’re sitting in a pitch dark room and all of a sudden this huge distraction takes place where daylight pours through the room. Nearly anyone else would turn around to see who was walking in — but not Ray. At this moment, it was key to show Ray’s focus, eyeing up the competition and searching for any holes in their game. And what could have easily been just another scene becomes a moment.

This is how you emotionally light.

Review Insta360 Videos with the Team

Once I shot every location that we were planning on filming with the Insta360, I was able to later take all of that footage and literally work within the virtual world I had captured. With the Insta360 Studio app, all of your team members can preview and edit 360-degree videos, edit Bullet Time video, and combine Interval Photos into a video.

Insta360 Studio is a game-changer because it gives me the ability to block and create shot lists for the whole movie, all based on virtual videos. And if you’re anything like me, then you appreciate being able to see all of the finer details. Again, you can probably recognize how effective this process is when considering COVID-19 regulations.

Together with the department leads we sat around a big-screen television and went through each of the locations. This is where we were able to break down the specifics. For example, figuring out where we needed to screw in equipment, controlling can lights, and similar directives.

When breaking down the auditorium location, as mentioned above, we had to determine which way the door opened. It’s these kinds of little things that can make the biggest difference. I was able to easily go back to my virtual scout footage and figure out which way the door opened.

Improvement starts with studying the playbook. Still from Safety, Disney+

Pro-Tip: Don’t just shoot the room you’re planning to film in, but get coverage of the hallways and exteriors of the room. That way, you can also determine areas where you can stage equipment, house a generator, run cable, and anything else the G&E riggers should know.

The door opened outward which is exactly what I hoped for. By pushing it forward, it would not light the wall in the background first or give use the light sweep effect. However, by opening the door outward, the lights swing throughout the entire room. Just outside, we set up the Arri M40 with a kick angle on the door replicating the sun. That’s what gave us a sufficient amount of light. So, when the assistant coach opened the door, the light swept through the room and side lit the walls of the auditorium. And who do you see but Ray, sitting there, not even glancing over his shoulder.

Working with Insta360 Studio

Imagine the ability to share all of your files with everyone on your team, making sure everyone is all on the same page. That’s the genius of Insta360 Studio. To get started, download the Insta360 Studio app. You’ll need the app in order to open and view files.

Say, for example, you want to show the art department where to hang vertical blinds and where we need to hang horizontal blinds. Check and check! Simply note and share within Insta360 Studio to update notes and keep the creativity flowing.

I was also able to show the art department where we weren’t shooting. So, they wouldn’t have to dress the whole place. This feature made all of our lives much easier while saving a ton of money in the process. You’re able to be much more precise in your planning, which means that you won’t waste time and resources. That’s always a good thing.

The Bottom Line

The Insta360 is the perfect tool for location scouting in the era of COVID. Not only does it keep your team safe, but it also allows you to be much more exact in your planning which ultimately saves the production money.

The Insta360 camera captures every nook and cranny of the room, and your videos are always at your fingertips. So, you won’t need to worry about conflicting schedules or transportation obstructing you from visiting the location.

And with the INSTA360 Studio, you can share your virtual locations with team members to keep everyone on the same page.

And for a limited time, when you purchase the ONE R by following this specific link to the Insta360 Store you’ll receive a free accessory. (If there’s a selfie stick already included with your camera purchase then you’ll instead receive a free battery base.)

Advance your cinematography in pre-production with our Blocking and Lighting SUPER COURSE, How to Prep Like a Pro Vol. I, and Script to Screen: A Cinematographer’s Guidebook.

The post Insta360: Virtual Scouting for the COVID-19 Era appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

How to Shoot Sports Cinematography

Shane Hurlbut, ASC — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 16:00:52 +0000

“My brother and I had it kind of tough growing up. Clemson has given me the opportunity to change my life — my coaches, my teammates — these men are my brothers, too.” —Ray McElrathbey, Safety

The magic of cinema evokes emotion through feeling visceral moments that put you in the headspace of the protagonist. A compelling narrative speaks to the human condition in such a way that we not only relate to it, but we empathize directly with our hero’s plight. So, when I first picked up the script for Safety by Nick Santora for Disney+, I was absolutely captivated by the true story of Ray Ray McElrathbey.

Still of Ray Ray from behind-the-scenes Safety, FilmIsNow

A Uniquely Clemson Story

Ray’s story is well known across the Clemson campus as well as the sporting world for its underdog effect — but not just in the traditional sense. Ray wasn’t up against some Ivan Drago antagonist like you would expect in some blockbuster action flick, but rather, he faced something much more real, and closer to home for many.

At the beginning of Ray’s story, he fights day in and day out for a spot on Clemson’s storied football team. Every ounce of his energy is invested in securing a spot. As Coach Simmons warns, “Now Ray, these scholarships are yearly. You perform on the field, you perform in the classroom, and if you don’t, they take that all away.” This alone is more than enough pressure for most athletes.

But life has a way of throwing curveballs. Battling addiction, Ray’s mother was sent to a drug rehab facility leaving his 11-year-old brother Fahmarr without a guardian and facing a future in foster care. However, doing the honorable but unexpected thing, Ray took custody of Fahmarr.

Still from Safety, Disney+

Let’s Put This Story In Perspective…

Now, imagine, you’re 19 years old and a first-year student, you’ve just begun your dream of playing for Clemson University, but now you have this huge responsibility of caring for another human being. While most college students are focused on schoolwork and partying, among other things, Ray juggled his schoolwork on top of maintaining his scholarship and being a father figure for his little brother.

Careful, this trailer will give you goosebumps…

Did you feel that?

Safety is so much more than a football movie. In fact, the game of football is secondary to Clemson’s campus ecosystem where everyone really is like one big family. And it’s this aspect of football programs that is often only tangentially covered in football movies. Football organizations are composed of coaches, teammates, trainers, and others — the unsung heroes — that oftentimes go above and beyond for their brothers and sisters in arms, and yet, we rarely ever hear of such heart-wrenching, inspiring stories.

Fortunately, we had Ray with us as a consultant to guide us along as we captured significant events in his life. He also worked with his onscreen counterpart, the talented Jay Reeves, to help him understand his predicament as well as Thaddeus J. Mixson, who played his little brother Fahmarr.

Still from Safety, Disney+

Now, Ray’s story might not be entirely shaped by the gridiron itself, at least not to the same extent of his responsibilities as a brother and father figure. But every time he’s on the field, he’s fighting for their future. And that’s exactly the feeling we needed to recreate.

The Challenge of Sports Action Cinematography

Authentically capturing sports is essentially impossible without the environment of a stadium full of screaming fans. Take the film Rudy (directed by David Anspaugh). They shot it during the halftime of a real Notre Dame game in order to obtain that authentic game-day feeling.

And that’s exactly what we wanted to do for Safety. Although, I’m not going to lie, saying we were ambitious would be an understatement. That’s because our goal was to shoot 59 setups… in just 7 minutes and 20 seconds.

Two-Part Series

In Part 1 of this 2-Part series, I’m going to take you through my collaboration with our amazing team, both on the field and off. Then, in Part 2, I’m going to show you how we pulled it off. It was no simple feat, but with our incredible team, we were able to get the job done!

Thaddeus Mixson behind-the-scenes Safety, FilmIsNow

Not only did we have to work out how the cameras wouldn’t shoot each other, but we had to do so while capturing 3 plays and a kickoff.

This was no easy feat and we invested the lion’s share of time into prepping down to the finest detail. Keep reading as I show you examples of the shot list, blocking schematics, and camera configuration for the halftime sequence. Luckily we had some Disney magic on our side!

As we alluded to above, football is only an aspect of this movie. But, still, when there is football, it’s really good — it’s well choreographed and planned by Mark Ellis, our football coordinator, and executive producer, in a way that you really feel like you’re in the game. I wanted the audience to feel what was at stake both on and off the field, to feel the pressure.

The Team

What makes a great movie is not only exceptional talent on screen, but the creative forces behind the scenes. The visionary force behind Safety is the director Reginald Hudlin. Reggie’s known for modern-day classics like House Party, The Great White Hype, and Marshall. So, I knew this project was going to be in amazingly capable hands, and elated to help him achieve his vision.

A look behind the scenes of Safety:

Working on a number of sports films, I’ve met quite a few gurus of the genre. That’s why I was beyond thrilled to join forces once again with Mark Ellis. Mark and I understood how each other worked and could anticipate one another’s moves as if we were already long-time professional athletes. And our producing team brought the talent and experience to pull this thing off from Mark Ciardi, Bryan H. Carroll, and Kyle Convissar to Jordan Feagan, David S. Grant, and, of course, Campbell G. McInnes.

And by my side, I had my trusty team — made up of the usual suspects: my A Cam operator Chris Moseley and B Cam Ronin operator Jason Robbins, who together with a huge team that made up the camera department, came together in one coherent and mobile force and worked in perfect unison both on the field and off.

The Concept

The concept began with Reggie’s storyboards. He sent me these amazing storyboards that I felt really put you inside the game. Think about it. You’re on the field with over 83,000 screaming Clemson fans in the stands. A sea of orange and purple encircling you. It’s a powerful visual.

But since we planned on filming at a real Clemson game during halftime we were only allotted 7 minutes and 20 seconds to capture all the big game footage with real fans in the stands. This was all the NCAA gave us and we wouldn’t get another shot. It was 59 setups to move the story forward in a short period of time.

Our job was to replicate a significant game in Ray’s career, Clemson’s season-opener against Florida Atlantic. In this career-defining game, Ray makes 4 huge tackles to help Clemson start their season off with a win.

Challenge accepted.

Now, to be honest, this was a daunting task. But luckily I have quite a bit of experience in this area. I have done this with many of my films including Mr. 3000, We Are Marshall, and Drumline.

However, there’s a stark contrast between Safety and these films. In Mr. 3000, we filmed in Miller Park, where we took to the field during the 7th inning stretch, and we did this elaborate steady camera move that followed the big home run hitter for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Still from Mr. 3000

We start on his feet and move up his body, then do a 360-degree wrap around him and see 35,000 fans in the stadium. From there, we push in as the pitcher throws the ball and he cracks it over the fence. That was awesome — and fairly easy. But it was only one set up in 45 seconds -barely long enough to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” But, with Safety, we had 7 times the time for nearly 60 times the setups.

Are you seeing the common thread here? We were given a fixed amount of time to capture critical sequences with thousands of fans. You can’t have the big game without your crowd of screaming, adoring fans. There is just no replacement for that energy and in some cases, you can’t buy it and you can’t bottle it, it has to be the real deal.

How We Prepared for the Halftime Sequence

A quick disclaimer, if you haven’t already, now’s a good time to go watch Safety on Disney+. It’s okay, I’ll wait… OK, are you back? Good!

When it comes down to it, though, all of my prior experiences were simple compared to Safety. At first, I was like, how are we going to pull this off? I had to almost prep more for this 7 minutes and 20 seconds of shooting than for the rest of the entire movie!

Overall, I had only a total of 6 weeks to prep, and 2 of those weeks were spent solely on this one day of shooting. That works out to 4 weeks to prep the rest of the movie instead of the typical 6-8 weeks I’m used to. So, ultimately, much of that time was focused on this one sequence.

The Storyboard

I took Reggie’s storyboards and broke them down into blocking schematics. That way, we could figure out where the camera had to be in order to get the shots.

The storyboards illustrated the opening kickoff where Ray is featured making a big tackle. Take a look at the examples below.

In the cell above you can see where we begin and below is the ensuing tackle a few cells later.

Want access to every storyboard, blocking schematic, and shot list? In our premium lessons, we take you step by step from A to Z! Learn more about our courses today!

In the next play, Ray takes the field on defense. It’s here when he reads the running back. Through Ray’s POV, we notice some telltale signs from the running back. The same kind you’ll see in baseball when a batter steps up to the plate and goes through his rituals of tapping the plate and taking a few practice swings. It’s an indication that he’s about to swing for the fences. The same idea rings true for football.

The Language of Sports

We actually did something similar in Mr. 3000, another wonderful collaboration with Charles Stone III, where the pitcher would bend his elbow in before he’d throw a curveball and Stan Ross (Bernie Mac), our protagonist, saw the tell and told everyone — when they saw it, they started hitting the crap out of those pitches!

So, coming back to Safety, before the running back would get the ball, he would tug his jersey. Ray’s little brother Fahmarr notices this. The players don’t see it, the coaches don’t see it while watching film, Ray doesn’t see it… but Fahmarr does.

Still from Safety, Disney+

All of a sudden you hear, “He’s gonna run!” Everyone in the Film Room turns their heads and they’re like, “What?” And Ray’s trying to quiet his brother down, “What are you talking about?” And Fahmarr doubles down, “He’s going to run. He pulls his shirt right before he’s given the ball.”

Once they all see it, they make changes to the defense. This is a very significant moment in the film for both Ray and Fahmarr, as the team recognizes Fahmarr for his contribution to the Clemson family. After all their labors, practicing plays, studying film, working out every little detail, it’s little Fahmarr who’s the one to point out Florida Atlantic’s Achilles heel.

And, so, they create a defensive audible they call “Fahmarr,” named after Ray’s little brother. So, the next time the running back tugs his jersey, they call the audible in anticipation that he’s going to run.

Bringing the Storyboards to Life

Our goal is always to bring the audience into the game, to have them feel like they are inside the moments as they unfold. We wanted them to experience everything Ray was, feel every tackle he made, and every decisive moment he experiences on the field. So where to start?

Returning to the storyboards Reggie gave me — they were very detailed and had all the angles. The next step was turning the storyboards into a shot list. I wanted to take Reggie’s amazing concepts and nurture them. The goal was to get the audience in the game where the camera felt more like an A to B to C.

What do I mean by A to B to C?

We didn’t use any cuts, instead, the camera pans to tell the emotional story. We’re on Ray’s POV. He sees the running back tug his jersey. We go into an extreme POV of the tug. We whip over to Ray off of his POV and into a closeup, and Ray calls out, “Fahmarr! Fahmarr!”

Still from Safety, Disney+

He starts moving while calling it out and we pan — and in the foreground is a linebacker. From there we pan back to Ray, who settles in for the play. Was Fahmarr right? Will this work out?

Just as the quarterback hands the ball off to the running back, Ray makes a big tackle where the offense loses major yardage. And it was all thanks to Fahmarr’s observations. Something that wouldn’t have happened if Ray hadn’t decided to take care of his brother while working through a tough first year as a rookie Safety.

But let’s take a step back. We weren’t only capturing the game itself, but the atmosphere around the game, like tailgating and pregame rituals. Then, we swooped in and got shots of the cheerleaders and marching band. Below are a few select examples of the storyboards alongside the shot list we crafted.

From Storyboard to Shot List “Running Down the Hill”

For context, let’s consider what precedes the on-field activity. Fahmarr is awarded his very own 4 ½ jersey (half of Ray’s 9) by Coach Bowden in the locker room. Now, if you watched the movie then you know it was a journey getting to this moment.

This jersey symbolizes that Fahmarr is officially part of the Clemson family. So, this is a particularly emotional moment for everyone involved, not just only for Ray and Fahmarr, but their new family of coaches and teammates.

Still from Safety, Disney+

When you go to USC, they run out of a tunnel. When you go to Clemson, the Tigers first touch Howard’s Rock, as tradition, a piece of white flint from Death Valley, then run down a massive hill. But the catch is that players can’t touch the rock unless they give 110%.

So, think back to the movie when Coach Bowden just presented Fahmarr with his very own jersey. He’s officially part of the team. And he and his big brother get to lead the charge down the hill.

Back to the Storyboard

Let’s take a look at a few of the cells in the storyboard. Below we have Fahmarr, Ray, Coach Bowden, and the rest of the team preparing to touch Howard’s Rock.

This is an essential moment. So, we start low but pull back to reveal the immensity of the stadium with the looming Video Scoreboard overhead.

Still from Safety, Disney+

After they all touch Howard’s Rock, they run down the hill with the whole team behind them. The Clemson flags go out onto the field and they have flag holders that spell out “Clemson” and all the fans go, “C-L-E-M-S-O-N!”

Adapting the Storyboards into Blocking Schematics

After working out all of the shots on Reggie’s boards, I created a massive blocking schematic of the entire football field where the players would be, where they were going to run, and how the cameras were going to ebb and flow while embedded into the sequence.

Below are our blocking schematics for halftime, along with our storyboards and the final result from the film.

PG #1: RUN DOWN THE HILL

We begin our halftime sequence by running down the iconic hill in Death Valley. In the schematic, notice how we show all the movements of what’s taking place. They’re actually similar to a football playbook.

Remember, this is one fluid motion from Point A to Point B to Point C, and so on. Our Ronin 2 pushes the team down the hill while we have Steadicams both pulling with Fahmarr and Ray down the hill and to the sidelines, while the other captures their profiles. Meanwhile, as you can see in the schematic, our cameras are going down the hill but also working towards their next setup.

Notice how we work from the original storyboards and translate all that to our blocking schematic.

PG #2: FREEZE FRAME

We go right from the beginning of the game to the ending for our freeze-frame moment. This is one of our biggest moments, so we surged off that excitement coming down the hill, and swept right into this touching scene where Ray scoops Fahmarr up and puts him on his shoulder.

Still from Safety, Disney+

PG #3: Game Day Florida Atlantic

From here, we go immediately into our first real play with Clemson’s defense and Florida Atlantic’s offense. At this moment, Ray is on the sidelines, so we get coverage of him as well.

Still from Safety, Disney+

PG #4: Game Day Florida Atlantic

We quickly move into the “Keller Hit.”

PG #5: Game Day Florida Atlantic

We quickly set up for the next play where Ray and Keller come out of the huddle. This is our big moment where Ray spots the running back tugging his jersey. Ray yells, “Check Fahmarr!”

PG #6: Game Day Florida Atlantic

This is where we prepare for our big hit moment. We switch out our stunt Ray for the “real” Ray with the ol’ Texas Switch technique.

Still from Safety, Disney+

PG #7: Game Day Florida Atlantic

In this setup, everyone bolts into position to get ready for the kickoff. The Clemson Tigers are kicking off to Florida Atlantic. After the ball is booted, the receiver catches the ball and we move into a POV shot.

Still from Safety, Disney+

PG #8: Game Day Florida Atlantic

The next schematic shows Ray running down the field and preparing to make a big hit.

Still from Safety, Disney+

PG #9: Game Day Florida Atlantic

Here we capture Ray hitting the receiver and then capture the subsequent celebration of Ray and his teammates.

Still from Safety, Disney+

Hitting the Classroom

We allotted 4 days for training. So, we called in all of the operators, football players, and everyone associated with halftime, and met at a high school that we’d taken over in order to use their practice field. This was also the time when our plan would be unveiled to the producing team.

Everyone sat at their desks as if they were in class. With the whiteboards, I named each play a different number. The camera teams weren’t named alphabetically (like A, B, C) but rather numerically (1, 2, 3, 4…). It kind of went against the grain, but I felt that it was better for the sequence to number rather than letter them.

Photo credit: Steve Swisher.

With that, we sat all 160 people composed of players from both teams, and together we went through it all.

For example, I go, “OK. This is ‘Fahmarr’ play,” and we went down the list. And after we got through all of it, I’m like, “Alright guys, what do you think?” And it was crickets. Everyone was looking back like deer in headlights.

Afterward, the executive producers approached me, and they said, “Shane, this seems like you’re going for too much. We love your passion and we love what you’re trying to pull off, but this is a little unrealistic. You might want to lower your expectations.”

Those aren’t always the words you want to hear, BUT I always listen to the producers since they’ve obviously been in these situations before. However, I also felt very comfortable with my team.

From Classroom to Field

After the blocking and schematic meeting, we went out onto the field, and we went through everything without any cameras or operators. We just had Mark Ellis and the 2 football teams run through all of the plays, and I said, “Just watch them, then, do it again, envision where you are — and do it again — envision where you’re going to move.”

That was our first day. We had a 3-hour meeting and then we went out and watched them on the field for 3 hours, and that was it. These players are running through plays one after the other, and you have to respect such amazingly talented athletes.

Director Reggie Hudlin works with actor Jay Reeves on the set of Safety. Photo credit: Steve Swisher.

Troubleshooting: Acclimating Players & Crew

For the first half of the second day, we took the operators and they didn’t have any Steadicams, MōVIs, Ronins — nothing. They just started to get inside the game and move with the players.

There were times when the operator was coming across sideways and the play tripped them up. So, these things needed to work out before strapping on all the equipment. Because I didn’t want crewmembers, like the MōVI op, getting tripped up and going down in a heap.

So, for the sake of safety, we had to figure out where they were going to go and what they were going to do. Was it going to be safe? And to ensure we weren’t colliding with these camera systems that could hurt the players, as well. So, we had to consider both sides.

Director Reggie Hudlin working through a scene with DP Shane Hurlbut, ASC, and 1st AD J.D. Taylor (who was AWESOME!) Photo credit: Steve Swisher

And the whole time we were going through the sequence without the camera gear, we were seeing how quickly we could do it — both how quickly the players could run through the plays, and how quickly we could get onto the field and move around with all of this stuff and see if we could get it in the designated 7 minutes and 20 seconds.

Practice Makes Perfect!

The first one was 17 minutes. In the second run we got it down to 15, and then we got it to 12. And we all thought, “OK, 12 minutes feels real.” And then it went to the executive producers who call up ESPN and Clemson and the NCAA, and ask, “Can we have 12 minutes, not 7 minutes?”

They forwarded this request up the chain of command.

Eventually, the NCAA responded, saying, “Hey guys, this is a competition and we can’t give one football team the edge. So, you have to do it in the designated 7 minutes and 20 seconds.”

This is during the time when the teams would be going into the locker rooms and before the bands come out. I initially didn’t even consider all of what went into halftime, so this was another great learning experience — and once the NCAA finally laid it out for us, we understood what they meant. So, we had to make it work.

Choreographing Football Like a Ballet

The task became whittling that 12 minutes down by 4 minutes and 40 seconds. So, we started to integrate the cameras. But as we integrated the cameras, instead of going down, our time went up. So, we went from 12 minutes back up to 15!

We started to get frustrated, and of course, everyone was looking at me. And they said, “Shane, remember we told you, this is too big for its britches and we can’t pull it off…” And I said, “Guys, this is Day 2. We have 2 more days to finesse this. Let’s just get busy.”

After this point, we could see where the angles were starting to really play, what were the tackles, where did we want to do them, and where we hide the cameras — because, again, this is a ballet.

Luckily Mark Ellis did an impeccable job with the athletes in their mini-football camp. Practice and repetition is the best way to integrate efficiency. With each rep, we painstakingly ground down more and more time and got closer to that 7 minutes and 20 seconds.

The Bottom Line

Now, if you want to find out how we executed our Halftime Sequence, with all 59 setups, then you’re going to have to tune into Part 2 of our series. In that lesson, we’ll break down everything from working with the size of the crowd, the equipment we relied on, and how we dealt with problems in the moment and overcame them. I’ll just mention our communication system went down temporarily.

And if you haven’t already, what are you waiting for? Go and check out Safety streaming now on Disney+!

Learn how to prep like a professional with our course Camera Assistant Prep with Derek Edwards! We also recommend our Script to Screen: A Cinematographer’s Guidebook.

SCHEDULE 1-ON-1 VIDEO CALL WITH SHANE HURLBUT, ASC

Looking for mentorship in the film industry? Schedule a 1-on-1 meeting with Shane Hurlbut, ASC today! This is where you can get expert advice from an industry professional on your career or a particular project.

ABOUT FILMMAKERS ACADEMY CINEMATOGRAPHER MENTOR SHANE HURLBUT, ASC

Director of photography Shane Hurlbut, ASC works at the forefront of cinema. He’s a storyteller, innovator, and discerning collaborator, who brings more than three decades of experience to his art. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Cinematographers Guild/Local 600, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Hurlbut frequently joins forces with great directors: McG’s Netflix Rim of the World and The Babysitter, plus Warner Bros. We Are Marshall and Terminator: Salvation; Scott Waugh’s Need for Speed and Act of Valor; and Gabriele Muccino’s There Is No Place Like Home and Fathers and Daughters. His additional film credits include Semi-Pro; The Greatest Game Ever Played; Into the Blue; Mr 3000; Drumline; 11:14, which earned Hurlbut a DVDX nomination; and The Skulls. Notably, his television credits include the first season of AMC’s Into the Badlands.

FILMMAKERS ACADEMY PREMIUM CAMERA COURSES

The post How to Shoot Sports Cinematography appeared first on Filmmakers Academy.

Shane Hurlbut, ASC, Author at Filmmakers Academy

How to Extend “Magic Hour” on Motion Picture Film

(Watch the first 6 minutes of Exposing Motion Picture Film Masterclass for free.)

What You Will Learn in This Article

VIDEO LESSON EXCERPT: HOW TO EXTEND MAGIC HOUR

THE CHALLENGE: THE BLUE SHIFT

THE FILM STOCK STRATEGY (500T)

Why 500T?

THE FILTER STACK (THE “WARM-UP”)

The Exposure Formula

EXTENDING TIME WITH GEOGRAPHY

THE SILVER BULLET (REFLECTORS)

Switch to Silver.

THE “WEST-FIRST” SHOOTING ORDER

Shoot WEST First (Camera facing East).

THE BOTTOM LINE:

UNLOCK THE FULL MASTERCLASS

JOIN FILMMAKERS ACADEMY AND SAVE $50!

The “Tony Scott” Look: ND & Color Grads

What You Will Learn in This Article

THE “GRAD MEISTER”: TONY SCOTT

1. THE HARD GRAD: PRECISION CONTROL

The Look:

The Tony Scott Signature:

2. THE SOFT GRAD: SEAMLESS BLENDING

The Look:

The Benefit:

3. THE “BEAUTIFUL DANCE”: THE GEARED MATTE BOX

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Ready to Master the Analog Workflow?

Forget “fast.” Choose timeless. Master the process.

Exposing Film in Harsh Sunlight Backlit Scenes

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS ARTICLE

THE SCENARIO: SHOOTING DAYLIGHT STOCK (50D)

STEP 1: METERING TECHNIQUE – THE “HAND CUP” METHOD

STEP 2: FILTRATION AND THE FILTER FACTOR

PLACEMENT MATTERS

UPDATING THE METER

STEP 3: SHAPING THE LIGHT WITH A BOUNCE

STEP 4: THE EXPOSURE DECISION

2. OVEREXPOSING THE BACKLIGHT

THE RESULT

THE BOTTOM LINE: CONFIDENCE COMES FROM KNOWLEDGE

UNLOCK THE FULL MASTERCLASS!

Forget “fast.” Choose timeless. Master the process.

Exposing Film Stocks: 16mm Film & 35mm Film

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS ARTICLE

PART 1: UNDERSTANDING YOUR CANVAS (FILM STOCKS)

DECODING THE NUMBERS: 35MM VS. 16MM

COLOR NEGATIVE FILM: THE INDUSTRY STANDARD

COLOR REVERSAL FILM (VNF): THE “NEWS” AESTHETIC

PART 2: ANALOG WHITE BALANCE (THE ART OF GLASS)

THE PROBLEM: SHOOTING TUNGSTEN FILM IN DAYLIGHT

THE SOLUTION: THE 85 FILTER

STOP CHASING THE “LOOK.” MASTER THE SOURCE.

READY TO MASTER THE CRAFT THAT ENDURES?

Forget “fast.” Choose timeless. Master the process.

Cinematography Tip: Are LED Lights Replacing HMIs?

THE BENCHMARK: UNDERSTANDING THE ARRI M90 HMI

THE HMI CHALLENGE 1: CUTTING AND SHADOW QUALITY

THE HMI CHALLENGE 2: HEAT AND EXPENDABLES

THE CONTENDER: THE VERSATILE NANLUX EVOKE 5000B LED

SOLVING THE SHADOW PROBLEM

SOLVING THE HEAT PROBLEM

BEYOND THE BASICS: THE LED ADVANTAGE IN CONTROL & EFFICIENCY

PRECISION COLOR CONTROL

SIMPLICITY AND EFFICIENCY

THE BOTTOM LINE: A NEW ERA OF LIGHTING

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Featured Nanlux Lighting

Rigging a Condor Boom Lift: Weight, Safety & Strategy

Rigging a Condor Boom Lift: Weight, Safety & Strategy

WHY A CONDOR? CHOOSING THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB:

HEIGHT AND REACH

STABILITY

CONTROL

THE LIGHTING PLAN: EMULATING A MAXI BRUTE WITH LEDS

ADDING DIMENSION: MOVING LIGHTS FOR BACKGROUND HIGHLIGHTS

THE SETUP: A DETAILED BREAKDOWN

RIGGING AND SAFETY: THE PARAMOUNT CONCERN