Notes from the Studio
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Here are some behind the scenes photos form the making of my video, “The Darkness.”
One of my goals with this project was to see if I could make the video without using any of my hot lights or renting any additional equipment. Could a still photographer rely on “still” lighting equipment and not need to rent “video lights”?
I used the Canon 5D MK II to make the video. All my lighting was created using my Profoto strobes, but using only their modeling lights. Modeling lights aren’t made to light complete sets but rather to give you an idea of what the stobe light is going to look like when if fires off. Because of this they are low powered lights, I compensated by shooting at ISO 800.
For the motion I used either the zoom and focus on my lens or a Steadicam Merlin. While I was filming the section with the chrome lamp (with the steadicam) my reflection was very prominent. I had to cover my face and hands with black fabric to minimize my reflection!
Both the opening shot with the two white desk lamps and the closing shot of the group of lamps were captured using stop motion. I used Capture One to shoot tethered with the Canon 5D. The photos were then brought into Aperture to resize and touch up. Dust was really obvious on the black surfaces, yet with Aperture I was able to clean the dust off one photo and then apply it to all the other photos—saving my hours of work.
In order to turn the wire lamp so smoothly I used an old VR turn table. It was nice to be able to repurpose equipment I had on hand in the studio. And speaking of repurposing—the long plugs of the hanging lamps originally had lots of kinks in them. A good trick to straighten them out is to use a hot hair dryer. Finally, I used Final Cut Pro to assemble all the stop motion photos and video.
It was a fun process. If you haven’t already you can see the video here. http://www.peterbelanger.com/posts/69-video-the-darkness
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Video: The Darkness
I’ve really enjoyed making videos. My latest one is a study in making movement and interest with stationary objects—in this case, lamps. It is a classic studio setting, yet I tried to capture the personality of the playful lamp designs.
I’ll talk more about how the video was made in a later post. Check back or subscribe to my RSS feed.
I was very excited to get permission from Indianna Hale to use the song, “nowhere to be.” You can see more of her amazing music at http://www.myspace.com/indiannahale
You can see the video on Vimeo or youtube.
