We filmed this at the Scotia Bank Dance Center with a combination of movie lights and hanging theatre lights. The band was keyed through a 6×6 frame with two Mini 9-Lights. We used a block and tackle to rig a flybar of Source Four Pars in the background so we could adjust the height quickly and easily based on the camera angle to spike the lense (accentuated by Randy’s streak filter on the camera). The coloured wash was programmed into the house lighting board using convenient motorized color scrollers.

Official music video for “Free Like Love” by The Higgin.
Directed by multiple award-winner Stephano Barberis and produced by Arkadia Pictures Inc.

Scroll down for a technical lighting summary of the setup.

The Higgins are John, Eileen, and Kathleen Higgins, brother and sisters, from Delta, BC, Canada.

Lighting Summary:

We rigged the stage for cinematographer Ron Williams C.S.C with a 4×8′ softbox above the band.

The rig consisted of 3 blondes and a frame of 216 diffusion. It was built with pipe and burtons from a goalpost allowing it to “pendulum” down so the angle of light would be less overhead and more in the eyes of our talent. Due to the weight of the rig our goalpost consisted of three 20′ schedule 40 pipes (1 1/2″ Aluminum) joined together into a triangle formation using Modern Studio Equipment mini-truss brackets. We cranked the rig up in super-crank roller stands (12.6′ max height). The wheels on the stand allowed us to roll the entire rig closer to the camera to make the lighting more frontal for the closeups.

Of primary concern to Ron was beauty lighting for the band’s two female musicians.

In addition tot he softbox over the stage we filled from over the heads of the crowd using a 10k fresnel through a 6×6 frame of half grid cloth. We used solid blades and flops to cut most of the spill off the crowd so it would project over their heads into the eyes of our band. There was also two tungsten units on the ground through diffusion frames to fill from below the stage in front of the band because that was the direction they would look down at the crowd. These units were hidden from camera between the crowd and the stage on the ground.

TALCO built a 4x8' softbox with pipe & burtons and suspended it over the band with a makeshift 20' truss on super cranks. A 10k key through a 6x6 frame cut off the crowd provided fill.

Technical Notes:

If doing a similar rig consider using a specialized truss lifting support from the theatre/live event industry in place of super-crank stands. They are usually load rated much higher then super-cranks and some of them can go upwards of 20′ in height which would be a huge asset if the stage was any higher (compared to 12.6′ for a super-crank stand).

Also consider using real truss for less sag across the span. We used ropes and pulleys from the truss of the studio to safety our rig but if you didn’t have access to a lift to get up there you’d certainly want to make your truss more rigid.

We provided additional fill from tungsten units on the ground through 24'x36' Diffusion Frames hidden from camera between the crowd and the stage.

Scatterheart’s love letter to Vancouver: Filmed in front of Vancouver’s landmarks: Science World, Sunset Beach and the SeaWall in the summer of 2009. From the album, ‘The Masterplan’ AVAILABLE ON ITUNES and at WWW.SCATTERHEART.CA

Credits:

Produced and directed by Scatterheart • Edited by Mike Southworth • Filmed by Randy Che • 1st AD Masayo Takada
Lighting and Grip Josh Alkoff • Colour Timing Miles Forster • Assistant Brian M Calvert

During the show we picked up a few tricks from Stargate veteran key grip , John Zulisnki, while sharing our TALCO package truck with his team of grips. Many of the cast, crew, and stunt people were also from the Stargate universe making this an enjoyable feature to work on with a tightly integrated crew all around.

We will have more on this film as Qube Films publishes more information in the upcoming months.

Set in 1961 in the Chilcotin Territory of Western Canada, The Cave recounts the story of a bear hunter who discovers a secret portal to the spirit world. This beautifully crafted film provides a powerful cinematic rendering of an authentic Tsilhqot’in oral story.

Helen Haig-Brown is an award-winning Tsilhqot’in director, director of photography and teacher who is in love with experimental documentary filmmaking. The Cave is her first dramatic film. She resides in her traditional lands in the interior of British Columbia.

Click the teaser images above to view them. Safari Man Dan | Dinosaurs Unearthed

This first is a childrens promo spot funded by the BC Chicken Marketing Board which us on a week long tour of the British Columbia chicken industry. We wore bio suits and hosed down our lighting equipment in chemicals to pass bio security checkpoints in order  bring cameras and lights into places nobody but chickens go. The spot was narrated by Adam Groves who coincidently plays Amir in Under the Apple Box the feature we recently completed earlier this year.

In the second we did the camera mounts for Dinosaurs Unearthed a promotional video showcasing the traveling animatronic dinosaur event which was installed at Metropolis at Metrotown.

As with all of Arkadia Picture’s beautiful country videos, much of the magic in the cinema is brought out by senior Technicolor Creative Services colorist Gary Shaw in a 2K film to digital transfer session. The details are extracted from the 35mm work print. The end result is delivered digitally to the TV networks. The film latitude and the extensive digital timing allows us to get by during the shoot with more available light and less time consuming setups then typically on a feature film shoot. This helps offset the huge time constraints of trying to cram an entire narrative story and live performances into a single days shoot.

Above: The charming (dare I say sweet) “If I Fall” by Doc Walker – cinematographer Ron “Rocket” Williams presiding.
Below: Another timeless combination…girl’s and power tools!  Greg Hanna – “It’s a Man’s Job”:

The first was filmed with an Arri 435 by Rocket and lit with a 6k HMI Par and some custom string lights. The background was a 20×20 painted backdrop suspended on location in a barn. The second video was filmed by producer Alex Galanis himself using an antique Arriflex 35 film camera with a rotating turret of prime lenses. We shaped available light with grip gear and did not require a movie generator or HMI for our interiors to produce a quality video on a tight budget

The intensive studio course followed the success of another workshop we did at BCIT Film Flex program for graduating students who — prior to us — felt that they were lacking in hands on education and real world experience.

At both schools we brought in our 5-ton lighting and grip package truck for a week and helped provide the students a crash course in cinematography, Danny style…

It started with overviews of the truck, the equipment, and essential lighting principals such as: a) the inverse square rule for fall-off of light and b) the relative size of a light source as it relates to the softness of the light a.k.a. the importance of a large bounce or diffusion frame; we then built sets and put them hands-on through the process of shooting a scene.

Teaching was a very rewarding experience –The indigenous people at Capilano for example were grateful of our filmmaking wisdom and eager to apply their newfound knowledge to complete their film studies at the university. They will soon return to their native lands to become filmmakers and story tellers for future generations.

The BCIT Film Flex students began their final practicum following our workshop and worked for 30 days in the industry.

Currently Danny Nowak C.S.C and TALCO are looking for more opportunities to take the workshop on the road.

These photos were taken at the Capilano cinematography workshop.

We filmed extensively in the forest out on Pipeline Road with a few scenes around downtown Vancouver.

Shot on RED Camera by DOP Randy Che we had to maximize our production value with minimal equipment for what was predominantly a night exteriors shoot.

The production was self-funded by the director. We couldn’t afford condors or use any of the typical large area lighting we would have wanted. Instead, we pulled it off with a 12k honda diesel “hog” generator, a couple of 2.5k HMI PAR, 1k JEM BALLS, and some 750 watt SOURCE FOUR PARS.

The heavy fog was accentuated by backlight/crosslight from our HMI. The campfire fill was a poor-man’s helium balloon light. It was created by suspending the Jem Balls above our campsite location on a giant 30′ menace arm/mambo combo built from schedule 40 aluminum pipe joined together with a Modern Studio Equipment boom kit. We could have flown the Jem Balls with rope and pulleys from the trees,  but the menace arm allowed us to easily reposition the light close to our frame for coverage and was quicker then climbing up in the trees to set ropes (we had to wrap and return to the same location over several weekends). The lanterns radiated outward from the centre of the campsite creating a warm glow from the set and leaving lots of shadows on the outside.

We struggled for exposure on our background from our 2.5k HMI (we needed at least a 6k for the area we were trying to light) so we had to fill in the near background in places with the Source Four Pars. They were punchy enough but had to chase the camera around depending on which direction we looked.

For scenes that took place without a campfire we raised a 6′x6′ Bounces into the air and filled it with an HMI so the fill would be more directionless (emanating from above the camera, rather then glow outward from the center as it did with the lanterns.

These sweet photos were taken by stills photographer, Mike Mander of sublimephoto.

Stephano intercut the video performance with a second day of b-roll footage using the band on location around town with available light. This allowed us to concentrate on lighting the performances at the farm location and for pyrotechnics expert Darcy Davis to blow up a van for the finale.

The dolly belongs to Peter Reynolds and is an Italian made version of Chapman’s Peewee Dolly. It crabs and has an excellent hydraulic boom movement. Notice how we have triangulated the legs on the dolly (front wheels square at 90 degrees, back wheels parallel at 0 degrees) for a smoother dance floor style move — a trick we learned from Peter himself.

RED Cam underslung on Porta-Jib using an Italian Peewee pedestal

On the subject of old photos, here’s another one of the Italian peewee dolly in action for us.

Reynolds Peewee Dolly behind the scenes on UTAB

The story takes place in present day Vancouver where a photographer explores a dark past as an orphan girl struggling to make a living with her nanny in Iran.

The girls innocent exploration of art and beauty clashes with Muslim culture and threatens to ruin everything around her.

We have been assured, a new promotional website is soon to follow. In the mean time we have updated our gallery posting on the film with the new photos.

We rigged the house with MSE (modern) pipe spreaders to keep our movie lights out of view of the roaming steadycam. The camera chases a girl around the house and exposes band members who crawl out of the cupboards to try to charm her.

Scott first appoached us on the set of Under the Apple Box when by chance we were filming at an elementary school in Strathcona a few weekends after the Police Shooting. SUEME and WEBB were painting a mural for the community which involved children and school a few meters away from our Truck. The rest is in the ozone….and rolling through North Vancouver, Kerrisdale, and the Country Club.

We may have a few cameos soon, can you spot us?

Trounce Alley Lighting Company mural by Scott Sueme

TALCO outside the set of Brandon Paris Band, 'Can't Hate You' featuring unofficial artwork collaboration between street artists SUEME, WEBB, and ARPI.