Saturday (December 28) we are filming at Heart of Texas Yoga and I’ve planned several shots to be done hand-held. Since I’ve been a bit concerned about how to get good, steady hand-held shots, the cosmic forces sent me an excellent 90 minute workshop on the subject. It is presented by Sean Bobbitt, a cinematographer who likes to do his own camera-work.

He had a lot so say, but for tomorrow’s shoot I gleaned these tips.

• Light from the top; plan for 360 degrees; watch shadows
• Try not to fiddle with lights between shots
• Don’t change f-stop during a scene
• Create three points of contact
• Don’t stand still; keep camera moving
• Keep headroom constant
• Walk in-step with the actors
• Lift your feet as you walk

Lens choice is complicated these days with different sized sensors creating different image sizes. Bobbitt recommends a wide lens in the 24mm to 32mm range. A longer lens shows the camera shake too much and a shorter one is prone to distortion. My camera has a APS-C sized sensor (about the same size as a 3-perf, Super 35mm film frame) and my 19mm lens equates to 28mm in Bobbitt’s terms, so we are good to go.

We were rained out the first time scene 2 was scheduled. The break in scheduling gave me time to do some thinking and I decided we needed to be able to shoot through the windshield. I spent some time developing a rig to securely mount the rather expensive and heavy camera on the hood.

After being rained out on Friday, Saturday was chilly but nice. Twelve people (actors, crew, performers) gathered at our TV studio set and we had an excellent day of creativity and fun. Below are a few photos (taken by Jane Knaus, Second Assistant Director) and an out-take. The smallest things get funny by the end of the day.

Two thirds of the band: Philip Foster, Eddie Foster & Larry McDonald	The rest of the band: Dallas Foster & Grant Mazak
David Kyte plays Uncle Albert	Jason Marion recording audio & Jason Foreman plays Rusty

The director

Jason Marion watches while Rodger Marion fiddles

We began with the first shot of the first scene of the film. It rained, stopped, rained, stopped, rained, then more rain, and we stopped. We will pick up this first scene on another day. We did have fun regardless. Here are a few pictures taken by Andrea Ballentine, the Assistant Director.

Rodger and Jason set the microphone levels

Jason Foreman and Bill Barlow prepare for the scene

We are using a green screen sound stage and making it look like a television station. The first scene in the station introduces two of the main characters, Rusty and Joe, and in the background is a band setting up for a show. The band is scheduled to be Eddie Steel Foster and Friends. The pictures below show Jason Marion, our composer and sound engineer, setting up the speakers, amplifiers, mixers and all the connecting stuff to support the band. We  are getting so close to actually filming actors creating magic.

The main character in Nudged is Paul, who is an artist, and Paul’s friend, John, is a sculptor. So, Nudged needs art among its props. Morgan Marion has loaned us 45 of his original paintings plus he is doing 8 more specifically for the film. Marvin Niebuhr has created a six foot tall sculpture and is allowing us use of his studio for several scenes.

We also need other items. One such item is the sign outside of the Cold Creek Community television station (call letters – KCCC). In the picture below Dianne Marion is working on the sign. Note the rough draft sketch in the lower left corner. The station is owned by Joe who is an old hippy so the sign for his station recaptures some of the whimsy of the psychedelic 60’s.

Near the end of the film, one of the characters is shot with an arrow. Earlier you saw how we have a rubber tipped arrow for when the shooter is waving the bow in the general direction of the actors. We want a shot where the audience sees the arrow flying towards it’s target and for that even a rubber arrow is too dangerous. So, for this shot, the shooter will aim a bow WITHOUT an arrow and shoot. We will then add in an arrow digitally. Below is a first attempt at this effect.

In Nudged, the actors occasionally wave pointy things at each other. There are
arrows and a knife. To keep safe, we made rubber copies for when sharp
edges might actually come too close.

The sound stage that we are using in Nudged required some maintenance to the green screen. Some holes were patched and it was repainted in the right shade of Rosco Chroma Key Green paint.

We are moving equipment and furniture into the studio to convert it into KCCC, the community television station of Cold Creek, Texas.

The big scene in Nudged is the party. While the purpose of the scene is to focus on the characters and advance the storyline, the guests and performers form a tapestry against which the actors are magnified. Thus, every person in the scene is important and on occasion some of the people scheduled to appear will be highlighted.

Caliente Performance Stage at Marvin Niebuhr’s Outpost

Today it’s “the band.”

The reason for the party is a visit by some fictional, musical friends of John, one of the main characters. Our real life musical friends who will be occupying the performance stage are Amanda Mora and Mollie Fischer.

Amanda Mora has become known for her quick witted and openhearted shows with the dynamic cellist, Mollie Fischer. Mora has been steadily working for her dream. She was selected as a finalist as a Mountain Stage New Folk Finalist, had her music placed on PBS’s RoadTrip, and shared the stage with many of her folk heroes. Fischer is a renowned Austin studio artist and a classically trained musician at the cutting edge of re-inventing cello’s place in popular music. As a duet, Mora and Fischer deliver a curative dose of driving bluegrass adventure, a twist of irony and self deprecating humor, a sprinkle of sassy jazz, a few strange diminished chords, some brokenhearted rockers, cinematic dramas, anthems of redemption and hope, and of course, your feel-good-toe-tapping love songs. John Aielli Eklekticos, 90.5 KUT, said about her debut album: “The Ribbon is a masterpiece. The title track is one of the best songs I have ever heard.”

Artist Website: http://www.amandamora.com
Reverb Nation: http://www.reverbnation.com/amandamora

There is another musical group seen in scene 3 which is set in the KCCC television station. This band, headed by my neighbor, Eddie Foster,  will be performing a rock and roll sound check before the actors get on with their more mundane but necessary conversation.

The song is Manic Man from the album Copano Bay by Eddie ‘Steel’ Foster © Copyright – Ed Foster BMI / Eddie ‘Steel’ Foster (667292069124)