We have an actor for "Young Eric"! His name is Tyler, he's 20, and loves to boat. He's a bit of a ham, so he won't be shy in front of the camera.
So, that means "Old Eric" will be me, and David Weed can go on behaving as himself. (I had designs on David playing the part of "Old Eric" 'cause I had someone in mind to play "Young Eric" that looked a lot more like David than me. That hasn't panned out, so back to plan "A". David is a fine boat captain too, so when we need a driver of the shooting platform - he's the man.
My brother, Tim, will play "Tim" and also double as skiff wrangler (it's his boat), camera operator, sound man, and all-round useful guy.
John Meloy has signed on to do it all: camera, sound, and whatever else comes up - like cooking steaks? He's good at that too.
Steve Work is there with enthusiasm. All around smart and creative we'll put him to work holding a mic boom and equipment setup.
Updated:
Lance Cadena has volunteered his time too. He'll be doing the behind the scenes capturing, so when this vid goes viral, we'll have some teaser stuff to go with it.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Shoot Schedule
June 1~3, 2012
The majority of you have spoken - the first weekend of June is the most widely available.
Here's some interesting tidal info:
Saturday, June 2
Saturday, June 9
Note that higher tide is of value in the evening. We need access to the beach, and ability to move boats around inside Little Turn - and that cove get's "lumpy" when the water goes away.
The majority of you have spoken - the first weekend of June is the most widely available.
Here's some interesting tidal info:
Saturday, June 2
Saturday, June 9
Note that higher tide is of value in the evening. We need access to the beach, and ability to move boats around inside Little Turn - and that cove get's "lumpy" when the water goes away.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Change of Plans
Ok, there's going to be shooting at Turn Island. That'll still be location of the beach where "Young Eric" comes ashore and then get's chased off by his imagination.
But, I scouted it this weekend and learned that fires are no longer allowed anywhere on the island. Camp stoves, yes, but not camp fires. Or beach fires. And, a fire is pretty important to the "sitting around the campsite telling scary stories" atmosphere that makes up the "outer story".
We're looking into Shaw Island as an alternative location for the outer story.
Let's do all of the inner story at Turn island - forget trying to move all the way up to Matia for what would otherwise be only a couple of shots. If we frame it right, pretty much any island will do.
But, I scouted it this weekend and learned that fires are no longer allowed anywhere on the island. Camp stoves, yes, but not camp fires. Or beach fires. And, a fire is pretty important to the "sitting around the campsite telling scary stories" atmosphere that makes up the "outer story".
We're looking into Shaw Island as an alternative location for the outer story.
Let's do all of the inner story at Turn island - forget trying to move all the way up to Matia for what would otherwise be only a couple of shots. If we frame it right, pretty much any island will do.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Hardware
We'll be using cameras & lenses. Natch.
I've got a couple of Canon 7Ds with lenses from 14 ~ 200mm. Even got some great old glass from my Pop that he used with his Contax. The 25 & 135 are especially sweet.
Since a bit of the footage needs to be shot on the water, from a moving boat (note to self: finish the story so that part is obvious), and we don't want the viewer(s)* getting seasick, the camera should be stabilized.
So, I'm building a 3-axis gyro-stabilized mount around a 7D.
The thing it's not yet attached to, nor seen in the photos, is a trolly that'll hang from an aluminum extension ladder. (We're gonna need a ladder anyway for shooting up in the trees, might as well make it pay for itself in as many ways as possible). It'll hang out from the deck of Favorite so we can shoot "young Eric" from a variety of low angles ahead/alongside/behind him as he runs his skiff over the water.
The "trolly" also has motorized wheels so it can crawl a line stretched through the woods, spider-cam style.
This whole gadget is radio controlled, with a video downlink so we can frame the shots. I have all the bits here - just need to complete the assembly. I don't have a good enough monitor, nor is the video signal HD, so we won't be able to pull focus accurately on the image, but if there's enough time set aside to get this thing done, we can pull focus to pre-determined points.
Here it is so far:
I've got a couple of Canon 7Ds with lenses from 14 ~ 200mm. Even got some great old glass from my Pop that he used with his Contax. The 25 & 135 are especially sweet.
Since a bit of the footage needs to be shot on the water, from a moving boat (note to self: finish the story so that part is obvious), and we don't want the viewer(s)* getting seasick, the camera should be stabilized.
So, I'm building a 3-axis gyro-stabilized mount around a 7D.
The thing it's not yet attached to, nor seen in the photos, is a trolly that'll hang from an aluminum extension ladder. (We're gonna need a ladder anyway for shooting up in the trees, might as well make it pay for itself in as many ways as possible). It'll hang out from the deck of Favorite so we can shoot "young Eric" from a variety of low angles ahead/alongside/behind him as he runs his skiff over the water.
The "trolly" also has motorized wheels so it can crawl a line stretched through the woods, spider-cam style.
This whole gadget is radio controlled, with a video downlink so we can frame the shots. I have all the bits here - just need to complete the assembly. I don't have a good enough monitor, nor is the video signal HD, so we won't be able to pull focus accurately on the image, but if there's enough time set aside to get this thing done, we can pull focus to pre-determined points.
Here it is so far:
* There might be 3 viewers besides the group of us film-makers...
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Further Reading
I've been stumbling onto various posts that abound the interwebs. Thought I'd start linkin 'em here as food for thought.
This post subject to change as more are stumbled upon.
http://nofilmschool.com/2012/01/director-power-collaboration
http://nofilmschool.com/2012/01/director-objectives
http://vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/147/scary-shooting-techniques
This post subject to change as more are stumbled upon.
http://nofilmschool.com/2012/01/director-power-collaboration
http://nofilmschool.com/2012/01/director-objectives
http://vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/147/scary-shooting-techniques
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Locations
This story starts at Turn Island. It could be any of the campsites in view of the boat moored on a bouy off the north beach, or inside the cove by Little Turn also looking north.
The flashback could start in Friday Harbor marina where the young Eric sets out on his trip up San Juan Channel. Or, it could be a long shot looking into Friday Harbor from out in San Juan Channel.
Flashback continues north past Jones Island and up between Orcas and Waldron islands.
We settle in to more boating detail as Young Eric approaches Matia Island.
One of the challenges of filming this story is that the east end of Matia is off limits to people as it is now a wildlife reserve. So, a scene of Young Eric pulling around the point and seeing a cove empty of other boaters can be started at Matia, but will finish by pulling into the cove between Turn and Little Turn. To frame it so it's not too obvious that we're now on the wrong island the arrival at "Matia" should be shot from high in the trees. This can play into the story of "being watched" as the viewers point of view could be that of the imaginary bogeyman - a bit of foreshadowing.
The flashback could start in Friday Harbor marina where the young Eric sets out on his trip up San Juan Channel. Or, it could be a long shot looking into Friday Harbor from out in San Juan Channel.
Flashback continues north past Jones Island and up between Orcas and Waldron islands.
We settle in to more boating detail as Young Eric approaches Matia Island.
One of the challenges of filming this story is that the east end of Matia is off limits to people as it is now a wildlife reserve. So, a scene of Young Eric pulling around the point and seeing a cove empty of other boaters can be started at Matia, but will finish by pulling into the cove between Turn and Little Turn. To frame it so it's not too obvious that we're now on the wrong island the arrival at "Matia" should be shot from high in the trees. This can play into the story of "being watched" as the viewers point of view could be that of the imaginary bogeyman - a bit of foreshadowing.
The Twist
So, what is it that makes this story interesting?
The "Original Story" is a simple spook story where we never see the imaginary bogeyman. It's just someone's fears being shared with no antagonist to see.
The "Outer Story" is just old guys sitting around reminiscing, right?
Well, the inner story is about an imaginary antagonist. What if the friends around the campfire are imaginary too? We see 'em. They talk about the spooky stuff that sets up the telling of the original story.
But what if the two friends interactions are just what Eric's imagination would expect? For example:
1. The dishes being done are single items: one plate, one cup, a couple of pieces of silverware.
2. When Eric comes ashore, he brings chips & beer to share around, that are never opened or moved by the other two even though the express thanks.
3. There's only one camp chair near the fire, occupied by Eric, the other two sit on the campsite picnic table.
4. Wide shots of the campsite show only one sleeping bag in the tent.
The "Original Story" is a simple spook story where we never see the imaginary bogeyman. It's just someone's fears being shared with no antagonist to see.
The "Outer Story" is just old guys sitting around reminiscing, right?
Well, the inner story is about an imaginary antagonist. What if the friends around the campfire are imaginary too? We see 'em. They talk about the spooky stuff that sets up the telling of the original story.
But what if the two friends interactions are just what Eric's imagination would expect? For example:
1. The dishes being done are single items: one plate, one cup, a couple of pieces of silverware.
2. When Eric comes ashore, he brings chips & beer to share around, that are never opened or moved by the other two even though the express thanks.
3. There's only one camp chair near the fire, occupied by Eric, the other two sit on the campsite picnic table.
4. Wide shots of the campsite show only one sleeping bag in the tent.