More than a year ago, Aaron Kamp (writer/director of STUCK) contacted me asking if I would be interested in shooting a film he had written. After a quick read I was sold! I love dramas...but before I speak too soon, I don't mean real life dramas. After agreeing to shoot the film in a few months time, about a week later I received a call from another producer asking if I would be interested in shooting a feature film. Problem was, the two film's dates clashed!! Now this next part is nothing I'm proud of, that's for sure. I sat with the idea for another week, thinking about the feature and how it might impact my career....and then I made the call. I was on the phone to Aaron, completely apologetic, telling him that even though I had already said yes to shooting his film, I had to cancel because I just agreed to go and shoot a bigger one. He took it surprisingly well (thanks mate)....but let's not forget that I also said that as a way of making it up to him, I would shoot his next film for FREE !!
Almost a year later, I got the call from Aaron, and as of yesterday we wrapped the 4 day shoot with great success :) Not to bore you too much longer, but since that experience I have decided to honor my commitments 100% of the time, no matter what. That means when I'm scheduled to shoot an indy short and I get a call from Coen Brothers to shoot their next feature, I'll kindly and gently let them know that it will have to wait hehe ;)
So, Aaron was kind enough to let me share a few frames with you guys of which I've created some NEW LIGHTING SETUPS . We shot principal photography over three days and had a day of pickups, but it was well scheduled and things flowed on set. With 1 x 1.2K HMI, 1 x 575w HMI and 2 x 300 open-faced tungsten lamps, I had a lighting plan for the entire film. The curve ball was the direct sunlight on day 3, which was supposed to be overcast. That's where the 300x300 frame and silk came in handy, along with the 'we-are-so-lucky" free power outlet at the park, which gave me the 1.2K to help with contrast.
The other challenge was getting three car shots which REALLY required a proper car mount/rig. Something we didn't have. So with a pillow, some gaff tape and a single suction cap I managed to get two really nice shots, check out the vid below (coming soon) :)
I love playing with the grade and just going over the shots, looking for things I do and don't like about my work. I have a long way to go if I'm going to be working with the Cohen's, no doubt, but as I learn and experience things on different sets, I'm more than happy to share those things here, with you. Let's learn from each-other and lift the film industry all over the world. That's my plan!
For more info on the film, be sure to check out the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stuckshortfilm
