Sunday, July 1, 2007

Cambridge 2012 , part 3

(production diary )


This film shot Super 8 - Tri X will be part of a 15 min film.

Story by Simon Mullen

The Anamorphic lens on the cine camera

The Torpiglia new production is a film for an in-camera edit Super-8 film festival in Strasbourg.
The film is called Cambridge 2012, part 3 and conserns the last man alive in Cambridge after an apocalypse brought about by global warming.


A talanted bloke.

The director Thierry Bonnaud.


Director Of Photography

DOP Tony Clark


Good sets is very important.

Set Desginer Colin Dewar.


Very important role.

General wrangler Anna Bonnaud.


The ink was supposed to be polluted water

Ink wrangler Barnaby Harding.


I like the hood!

FXs and principle actor . . . me :)


Kicking!

And ofcourse a Minolta cine camera with an anamorphic lens attached with a bracket.

Thats right, we shot a super 8 film in Cinemascope!!!!


Tony looks squished by the anamorphic lens

Normal TV and Super 8 is viewed with an aspect of 4:3, Cinemascope is viewed with an aspect of 8:3.
Here is a picture I took through the anamorphic lens, it has an aspect 4:3.

.

niceeeeeeeeeee :)

If this picture were projected back through the anamorphic lens, its aspect would be transformed from 4:3 to 8:3 and it would look something like this.


flooded with sea

The film opens with an FXs sequence I hacked up from some DV footage and stuff I made in Photoshop.
I put it all together in Premeire as 10 second film in cinemascope aspect 8:3 which I exported 239 single frames of size 720x270. I than used photoshop to batch them to 239 frames of size 720x540 i.e. 4:3 aspect. If these new frames were projected back through the anamorphic lens, they would end up with an aspect 8:3 cinemascope!

We printed out all 239 frames with aspect 4:3, then we took two single frame exposures of each printed frame to produce a 20 second sequence that when projected back through an anomorphic lens will be in 8:3 cinemascope aspect and will look FANTASTIC!

Heres the opening shot. Parkers Piece deluged with crashing sea, a long shot of the hotel.


zooming in on the window were our hero is

Then a mid shot of the hotel.


I was pleased with the reflected clouds.

Close up with the reflected clouds zooooooming by in window . . .

.

the print out are hung from nails

The registration board we hung the print outs on.


print out of the long shot

Close up.


Theirry taking a sinle frame.

Thierry took two single frames of each print out after which I removed the print out.
There was a pig pile of print out fixed to the board. When they ran out, I put the next pile on.
It took about an hour maybe abit more to do all 239 print out to profuce a 20 second sequence on the fim.


it was very tricky

While we did this, Tony worked on the bracket that was to hold the anomorphic lens.


photocopies :)

And Colin was upstairs dressing the bedroom which was the location of the first live shot.


a value

He created a sub-basment factory look with photocopies of pitures he took with his digital camera.


vents

He stuck them to the wall.


I cant wait to see it in April

We film with a beautiful B&W film stock called Tri-X.
These photocopies will look very good when filmed.


a mean bit of kit

We rigged the camera up with the anamorphic lens.


my mini dv camera

We mounted a video camera in parallel with the cine camera.


can we cook or can we cook

And we masked the view screen on the video camera to give a good approcimation of the cinemascope footage that the cine camera would produce.

That way we could practice a take with the video camera until we knew how to do it, then take the shot for real with the cine camera . . . leaving the video camera runnig as well so that we could effectively review what the cine camera had just filmed . . . very very very nice.


Colin and me in bed!

The first live action was of me and colin in bed togther . . . I took great pleasure in shouting at Thierry from bed what kind of a film are you making Thierry


Tony setting up the camera

Tony framing the shot.


it was horrid

I had to wake up and slap Colin . . . and find to my horror he was dead.
He had a horribe wound on his leg with maggots in it.
We made the wound from liver and for the long shots the maggots were prawns.


click!

Colin took a piture of his wound.

And I took a picture of the light bulb.


You need the light reading to work what F-stop to set the camera to

We had several setups for that scene.
Tony took lots light reading.


interesting shadows

And we worked hard to get the right lighting effects.


Tony on the case

Another setup for the first live scene.


we got them from a maggot shop

Then we put live maggots on Colins leg for a close up . . . tee hee :)


first setup for the second live scene

In the next scene I leave the bedroom for the bathroom . . . Tony works out the first setup for the scene.


water went everywere

When I left the bed room a kicked over a pot which was catching rain drops leaking in through the roof . . .


Anna reflecting light from a red head onto me

Anna was outside reflecting light on to me . . . it always took a long time to work out the lighting and we took great care with it.


Thierry directing

And that ended the first days shooting on Saturday.
We then all went to a party and got very drunk . . . very sensible . . . for an early start the nexy morning.


I never got to wear my hat in the film :(

First thing Sunday morning at Thierrys feeling a little ill . . . although not as ill as some :)


it takes about half an hour for a setup

Thierry and Tony work on the first setup for the bathroom.


Barnaby in action . . . with a very bad hangover

Barnaby sorts out the ink that will flood out of the taps.


he puts it in a wine glass . . . nice :)

He gets the ink out of ink cartrages because we couldnt find any bottled ink.


the ink got everywere but thats what we wanted

Cotton wool is soaked in the ink and stuffed up the taps :)


the script visualized

The story board.


its part of the fun

Some parts of the setup work difficult to work out.


blue blue blue, blue is beautiful

At the end of the scene I was wet and covered in blue ink.


I made this prop :)

In the next scene I had to throw a can on a string out of a window, to get water.


it takes time to get it right

The setup took ages like normal :)


more photocopier madness

After that Tony and Thierry went out of the house to a lake location to do the can hitting the water.
I dressed the living room for the next live scene and also sorted out the print outs for a short FXs scene.


When Thierry and Tony came back, we setup the animation sequence.


got to get the F-stop right

Tony took light levels.


two frames of film for every one printout

And we shot it.


it was made of news paper

Then a scene in which I eat tasty food.

Then I hear a noise coming from the front door . . . I get up and run into the hall.


through the round window

Thierry cleaning a window through which I can be seen running down the hall.


You can see Thierry and Tony behind me

Almost the last setup in the hall.


its a goverment warning

I run to the front door were a letter is being pushed through (its Anna on the otherside)


Please Evacuate

It falls to the ground


a flood of letters

Hundreds of letters start puring through the letter box and I try vainly to push them back.

And thats the end of the film, we go to credits.


The Credit List

We film the credits . . .

The Team

And thats it. We send the undeveloped film to the Super 8 film festival in Strasbourg
http://festivalsuper8.free.fr/


EXPOSED!

Cambridge 2012, Part 3 (parts 1 and 2 yet to be made) is in the can.