* For more info on this shoot, including behind the scenes pics, downloadable footage and other stuff, check out the blog post > HERE.
Full clip here: https://vimeo.com/125872211
Shooting during an over-cast day is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing part is you've got a massive soft box above you, so light is even and shadows are soft and pleasant. The curse is that contrast is low and it's difficult to give shape to your subject without additional light. Since I didn't have any power at this location (or a budget for a generator), I was forced to use LEDs running of V-Locks. This was also a blessing and a curse! A blessing because shooting HFR stuff meant that I didn't have to worry about flicker (frame rates above 240 and well beyond are flicker free with LEDs), nor did I have to worry about anyone getting electrocuted since we were shooting in the rain. The curse was that my lights had to be relatively close to my subject in order for them to have any effect (competition with the sun is fierce), so many of my frames were limited to the the 75mm or 100mm, using tight compositions.
The symmetrical "wrap" effect is a lighting set up that almost ALL movie poster shoot's employ. To be honest, it's a dirty trick that works every time...I love it! Not very realistic though and difficult to work into a scene from a movie when practicals and light motivation come into play, but perfect for that highly stylized shoot that needs a polished and commercial feel. The LED in the front could have been a little stronger (although I fixed that in post), but it's main job was to add a glimmering catch light to my subjects eyes. You'll noticed I warmed it up a little too, just to help with skin tones.
It actually was raining that day too, but I found that the real rain wasn't dramatic enough. The larger droplets were something that took us a while to master when using the garden hose from the side-lines and really helped the shot in the end.
Shooting slow motion almost ALWAYS looks good...so step up the game and try to make it look even better! Rain, dust, fire, anything with fine detail that we normally miss. I can't wait to play with 1000 or more frames per second! I've got some rad ideas brewing....might have to look at some 'Hive' lights.
The model/actress you see featured in this shot is Simmone Duckmanton (www.helenpandos.com)
