The Zombie Flu reaches Vancouver with a recent horror film, H1Z1, by director Tim Lok.
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.
Behold, a RED Camera underslung on TALCO’s Porta Jib standard. The picture may be old, but we thought it looked neat enough to post. It’s turning into a busy summer.
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.
Update: Principal Photography is complete and new photos have been added below.
Here’s a few photos following the first weekend of shooting the second half of Persian Director Ellie Fox’s feature length film “Under the Apple Box“. The first half of the film took place in present day Vancouver but the story is interwoven with a dark past following a young girl, Leila, who grows up in Iran as a non-muslim orphan captivated by the seductive imaging power of photography — during events preceding the Islamic Revolution – known as the ‘birth of the muslim nation’ — where the child’s innocent exploration of artistic photos leads to a controversial judgement and subsequent exile from the muslim world.
For the second half of the film we have been working primarily with Persian and other middle-eastern child actors. Cinematographer Randy Che operates his privately owned RED Camera with Zeiss Super Speed Prime MK2 lenses. We use Tobacco filters on the lens and water based haze from a Radiant Hazer with strong window light sources to create the sunny yellow tones of Iran while on location in typically overcast Vancouver, BC.
The film showcases authentic clothing and decorations which the director collected on her recent return trip to Iran following 15 years of exile. We have been particularly Impressed with child actor Jane Lowery who is making her acting and feature film debut as the young Leila.
Working with young children is nothing new for Director Ellie Fox, who’s short film, ‘A Flower In The Sand’ screened in the 2005 Cannes Festival Short Corner Selection.
The gallery for Under the Apple Box below will be expanded as more pictures are posted from the “Iran” portion of the shoot. Most of the photos below take place in “Vancouver”.
EMI recording artist Rumi of Clairvoyant Pictures has posted his new music video for the song, “Nevermind” — about an Isreali and a Palestinian romance not to be (until the end of course). The artist wanted a Brooklyn loft style theme to the video so we filmed at the Ironworks building in Gastown which hosts many a music video performance.
EMI Recording Artist Rumi, "Nevermind"
The lighting was conventional music video style with a key through a 6′x6′ light grid frame. Smoke, backlight, etc. Single kino flo tubes were mounted vertically along the back wall. We did build a nice little pipe rig for our Source Four Par backlights. They were framed in the shot which and encouraged to flare with the ‘streak filter’ on the lens.
The rig consisted of a 12′ length of Schedule 40 aluminum tube fastened to a support beam using our adjustable C-Clamp kit from Modern Studio Equipment. Picture a regular c-clamp split into two parts, each with a pipe coupling so they can slide to any width, and then bite down onto the pipe with set screws.
TALCO lighting at the Ironworks in Gastown
Accompanying Performance for Rumi, "Nevermind"
You can watch the video below: note: we only did day one so don’t blame us for the nasty reflections in the condo high-rise shots, they did most of the inserts on day two run-and gun style around downtown Vancouver adding an available light/home grown aspect to the video. Format was 4k RED Camera.
UPDATE 2009: The video has been disabled for embedding (probably by the label)
UPDATE 2010: It’s been reposted in HD and can be embedded again, here it is below:
And here are some photos Stephano had posted which happen to show off some of our grip gear:
ARKADIA PICTURES JAN 2009: GI Track & TALCO's 14' MSE Pipe Boom Kit (menace arm) for Ron Williams CSC
Above, our Modern Studio Equipment pipe boom kit (menace arm), which we built into a 14′ length using Schedule 40 Spec aluminum pipe. We placed this on a mambo combo stand with add on studio wheels. We use this thing on just about every music video we do because it is quick to adjusts with ratchets and glides around on a studio floor with ease. Cinematographers love it because it can easily boom soft light in close to the performers face for flattering sex appeal guaranteed to make their agent’s (and groupies) pleased.
You can also see the GI Track we laid for the dolly. This is the cadillac of track because it is rigid and all the parts, including the capping we ride on, is replaceable with bolts and screws without having to ship the whole unit back to the the manufacturer at great expense to us. The track is sturdy enough to lift 2 or 3 lengths connected together at one time for quick repositions, which is always important for the high speed shooting style of music videos.
The photo below demonstrates a lighting setup by cinematographer Ron Williams CSC (the rocket) utilizing several 20′ goalposts and a duvatyne teaser to slow the front light off the background. In this particular shot we keyed the performers with a 12′x12′ frame of Lt. Grid Cloth using 2 10K Fresnels. We wanted the biggest softest light we could create and the largest distance from the background to let it fall into darkness.
ARKADIA PICTURES JAN 2009: An example of goal posts and teasers for Ron Williams CSC.
TALCO first met Tony Dean of Red Rad Motion Pictures on a small Granville Island Market shoot for director Attila Luca. We have been able to follow Tony’s development of of his RADcam – Rapid Aerial Deployment Camera System now for several months and it is looking quite impressive. It is innovations like these combined with emerging technology such as the RED camera which is bringing independent filmmakers one step closer to their dreams. Tony has been around the indy scene in Vancouver for a long time now and it is hard to imagine anyone better equipped to deliver innovations at this level then Tony who has built his whole business around them. Look for the Red Rad ambulance / camera truck on sets near you- nice!
Tony Dean's Rapid Aerial Deployement camera system by RED Rad
Taking a streamlined approach from the commercials world and utilizing small crews of highy skilled technicians we combine lighting and gripping as the Europeans do, allowing us to create the hollywood result in North America at a fraction of the expense and without the usual bloated heirarchy, accounting, and other complications of a typical oversized hollywood production.
Production managers know first-hand how much easier it is to work with TALCO and a preloaded truck then a typical lighting department and grip department, each with their own inventory lists that require prep days, transport, etc. In most cases we can accomplish with one gaffer, one best boy, and a small truck what would normally take a whole transport crew, 40′ trailers, and multiple departments and keys to organize. Producers understand immedetiatly that these savings translate directly into increased production value for every dollar spent.
My favorite film ”City of the Lost Children” (La Cité des enfants perdus) by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, for example, could not have been made in a Hollywood style. The director explains his budget was so tight that his cheif lighting technician brought in a construction crane for a shot where they needed, but could not afford a movie crane. They strapped a steady-cam operator to the bucket of the lift and that was how he got one of the final scenes which was an aerial shot ascending from the set.
It is this type of innovation that TALCO values and the “Can-do” attitude that states: where there is a will, there is way! We pride ourselves in our ingenuity under pressure and are confident in our abilities and tools to overcome any obstacle a production may face.
The Zombie Flu reaches Vancouver with a recent horror film, H1Z1, by director Tim Lok.
