The Indie Film Blog

By: Andrew Seltz

You have found the perfect house to be your ‘beach cottage.’ One problem – it is nowhere near the beach.

Are you doomed… No!

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One of the coolest aspects of filmmaking is that adding two shots together can suggest a reality to the audience the is greater than the sum of the parts. When you do this to make two different locations appear to be one it is called cheating a location.

How Do You Cheat a Location?

Cheating a location requires finding two places that can be plausibly connected (a house that opens up to an underground cavern is a tough sell.) In the case of our opening example it is a house and a beach.

For this to work well, the houses lawn and the beach must look like they can be connected. (It is possible to build a partial lawn on the beach or beach on the lawn to help with the transition, but try to find locations that have similar characteristics.)

Steps to cheat a location:

• Move a character through both spaces
• Create a Visual Anchor
• Match the lighting closely
• Pay attention to screen direction and wardrobe details

Moving a Character Through The Space

To link the locations together we will show a character walk out of the front of the house and toward the camera. Then, in the next shot, we will turn the camera 180 degrees to face the beach and show the character walking away from the camera toward the water. When edited together, the character will appear to walk out of the house and down to the beach in one continuous location.

Creating a Visual Anchor

To firmly link the two locations together in the audience’s mind you must create a visual anchor which will subconciously make them believe that the two places are one. The anchor is an object that is present at both locations.
If you place a pile of children’s toys in the yard that the character walks past and include it in both shots, the audience will connect them in their minds. It will distract their attention away from any inconsistancies in the transition. You could also choose a picket fence, a lamp post, or anything else you can include at both locations.

Watch Your Light

It is very important that you carefully match the lighting direction and quality. If it is high noon in the first shot and sunset in the next, the illusion will be broken. The same will happen if one location is shot on a clear day and the other is overcast.

If you are linking interiors, take notes about your lighting setup at the first location (some digital camera still shots are good too) and recreate it at the second location as closely as possible.

Don’t Forget Wardrobe and Screen Direction

Since you are likely to be shooting the locations on different days, it is easy to forget a costume detail or the exact direction you had a character walking or looking during the first shoot. This is another instance where taking digital stills is very helpful. Careful notes and visual reference material will help insure that you don’t accidentally get something wrong and spoil the illusion.

If you can, have a copy of the first location’s footage available to review.

Summary

It is exciting to realize all the ways in which you can invent new realities when making movies. A few datails and a little creativity are all that is required to create your illusions.

The first time I cheated a location it was a rush. Everytime I watched the sequence playback on the screen I knew that making movies was what I wanted to do.

By: Andrew Seltz

It only needs to look real!

Reality is an artificial limitation in the world of film and video production. When you let it cloud your judgment you make unnecessary compromises and miss the opportunity to raise your work above your budget.

I once worked on a shoot where the director wanted to create a visually dramatic sequence where one character was looking out a window through the verticle blinds. He would then turn away revealing another character standing in the doorway across the room. A quick rack focus and we would have a nice opening to a scene that created a little tension.

One Little Problem

The trouble with our situation was, we were shooting on location and the room we were in just happened to be on the second floor. There was no way to get the camera up high enough outside to get the shot. There was also no way to get a light up high enough to create a moonlight effect on the outside of the blinds.

If you have not already picked up on it, that is the voice of reality talking. It is the one leading you through conversations about how you will need to build a platform outside or that the shot is impossible and you must cover the scene with more conventional camera placements.

It is important that you learn to tune this voice out of your head. Making movies is not about respecting reality, it is about manufacturing the illusion of reality to dramatically tell your story. You need to find the voice that says, “who said the blinds have to be on the window?” That voice will steer you to creative solutions.

Robert Rodriguez makes the point in Rebel Without a Crew that lazy filmmakers throw money at a problem. Creative filmmakers invent solutions. When you don’t have money you spend creativity, and that is what we did.

Our Solution

Realizing that the blinds easily unhooked from the window was the first key to solving this shooting challenge. The blinds were the visual clue that told viewers that the character was looking out the window. We could move them 3 states away into a garage and, if the rest of the visible set looked similar, the audience would accept the shot as being ‘at the window.’

To solve our challenge, we hung the blinds from 2 light stands. They were placed about 5 feet away from the actual window to allow room for the camera and a light (we needed a blue gelled light for our ‘moonlight’ effect.

In order to keep the visual feeling that the characters are across the room from each other, we used a slightly wider angle lense which exaggerates the distance.

One light with a blue gel helped create the illusion that the blinds were being lit my moonlight, and the rest of the room was lit the same way as it had been for the scene.

The actual setup for this shot took about 15 minutes and the finished product blends perfectly with the rest of the scene and provides the dramatic effect the director wanted. It ‘looks right!’

Don’t Let Reality Box You In

It is easy to feel boxed in by the reality of the locations you are shooting in. Walls and ceilings and furniture can feel like very real boundaries. But, ‘cheating’ is a tool as much as your camera and lights. Good filmmakers use it all the time.

The next time you find yourself trying to solve a complex problem on a shoot ask yourself, “what does the audience need to see to believe this scene?” The answers will surprise you and your movie will be better for it.

By: Andrew Seltz

The sub-heading of this DVD training video is “using a light kit that costs under $1500.” Vortex Media (www.VortexMedia.com) has produced this excellent training video focused on the craft of shooting interviews.

I do a lot of corporate video production and interviews are the number one requested shot by a wide margin. As much as I like to think of myself as an ‘artist’, interviews are very much about craft. Doug Jensen, the host of this DVD, lays out a very organized process for evaluating a location, arranging furniture, and setting up lights and camera.

Doug also goes step-by-step through each piece of gear in the lighting kit he uses in the video. He clearly explains every item and it is all professional gear that you would be confident using in front of a paying client (the best kind!) His $1500 price tag is accurate, and you will be able to recreate every technique he demonstrates with the gear on his list.

I highly recommend this DVD. It delivers on its promise and is also extremely well made. The menus are attractive and well layed out. And, not surprisingly, the video is well lit!

If you find youself shooting a lot of interviews, check out this DVD. You’ll be cranking out top quality material in no time and fighting off the hordes of new clients begging for your services.

By: Andrew Seltz

Have you ever seen a production crew working on location? I live in New York and production crews are everywhere. One of the most surprising things you discover the first time you see a film set is how unnatural the lighting looks. Usually the set looks way too bright. But somehow, when the camera rolls, it comes out looking right – natural.

Lighting for film and video is both an art and a craft. Anyone can learn the craft – how to light a set to create a variety of different looks that can be recorded on film or video.

Craft is what this series of articles is focussed on. We will be learning about the nature of light, how specific lighting instruments work, how to choose the right tools for the task at hand, how to work with available light, and finally how to bring this all together to systematically light a scene.

In the world of film and video, there are as many ways to light a set as there are cinematographers. The lamp on your table can often light a set as well as a professional movie light. One well chosen light can work better than a truck full of the ‘wrong’ lights. These articles will explore ways to use both professional and home-made tools – and show you when it pays to spend a little money.

Teaching art is a whole different ballgame. The art of lighting film and video is not about getting proper exposure and putting the lights in the right places. Art is about the ‘why.’ Why you choose to light a set this way instead of another way. It’s about expressing the themes of a story through the placement of light and shadow.

I won’t try to teach you art, but along the way I’ll recommend films to watch and exercises to do to encourage your artistic development. If you have artistic talent, it will grow as you learn your craft without any help from me.

Next Up: The Qualities of Light.

By: Andrew Seltz

Could you use a FBI warning graphic for your latest DVD? How about a storyboard template that you can print out from your computer? Would sample contracts or free music help you finish your latest project?

Visit the Free Downloads Page on the Sonnyboo website for a collection of resources you can put to use today.

If you don’t see what you need on the Sonnyboo site, drop me an email describing what you are looking for and I’ll help you find it or make it.