I recently teamed up with director Dave Campfield to shoot a short commercial spoof to be used in a movie he is producing and directing. It turned out great and Dave posted it on YouTube.com.
I lit and shot the parts with Dave Rigg, the on-camera spokesperson. It took us about 3 hours start to finish. I used a 1k Arri Fresnel with a softbox for the key light on all of the spokesperson clips. A Lowel Omni Light was used as a backlight, another (shining into an umbrella) was used for fill, and third was gelled and aimed through a cookie for the background light.
For the dramatic “bad acting” shots, I took the softbox off of the 1k key and backed the fill light away to create a high contrast look. I turned off the light that was hitting the wall to let the background go black.
I think it turned out great. If you like it, vote for it and recommend it to a friend.
P.S. I also have a cameo as the ‘audition monitor’ on the right who can’t believe what he is seeing.
Looking for the perfect story for your next movie project (or just looking for a laugh)? Visit Plot-O-Matic. Make a few quick choices from the dropdown lists, press enter, and presto! Out pops the logline for the next hit movie!
I found this while doing a little surfing and got a big kick out of it. It also got me thinking about a possible project.
Recently I was digging through some old papers and found this funny little joke that a friend emailed me back in early 2001. I meant to put it up on one of my production websites, but it got lost in the shuffle. Now it has a home.
You’re a Producer, Aren’t You?
A man in a hot air balloon realized that he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted to her, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”
The woman below replied:
“You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.”
“You must be a Production Manager,” said the balloonist.
“I am,” replied the woman, “How did you know?”
“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost! Frankly you haven’t been any help at all.”
The woman below shouted back, “You must be a Producer!”
“I am,” replied the balloonist, “how did you know?”
“Well,” said the woman, “you don’t know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to your lofty position due to a large volume of hot air. You’ve made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you show up expecting me to solve your problem. The fact is, you are in exactly the same position as before we met, but somehow, now, this is all my fault!”
This was one of those anonymous email forwards, so I don’t know the author. But I get a kick out of it everytime I read it!
A man in a hot air balloon realized that he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted to her, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”
