Oct302009
Memorable Film Industry Halloween Costume
Halloween is filled with witches, wizards, zombies and pirates. And, yes, you can spin any of those costumes into becoming film-related too. But this is the industry filled with imagination; we must be able to come up with something more unique…
One memorable year I attended an industry Halloween party as something indeed film-related: a blonde. A blonde, you ask? Yes. Me as a 2K studio light…including grip stand and complete with barn doors. If I ever find the picture again, I’ll have to share it with you.
What memorable Halloween costumes have you made or seen?
Happy industry hauntings to you!
Cheers,
Deb
Oct92009
Pumpkin Carving Contest On Set
With pumpkin season upon us, I remember a year I hosted a pumpkin carving contest on set. The parent company wanted to have multiple carved pumpkins for their (amazing and one-of-a-kind) halloween party, so we supplied the production with a collection of pumpkins, and we held a contest.
As host, I knew I wouldn’t have time to carve one myself, so I nabbed some black camera tape and decorated my oh-so-orange sweater with the face of a jack-o-lantern. I figured it would be good advertising, a obvious in-your-face reminder for the crew to find and carve a real pumpkin on set.
So, a pumpkin carving zone was set up in craft service, and during the hurry-up-and-wait of set, all kinds of folk lent their hand and creativity to carving a slew of fantastic pumpkins: scary ones, comic ones, traditional ones. They were great!
The producer reluctantly accepted the job of judging the winner of the contest. A tough job, because in this creative industry you can imagine how imaginative and diverse the pumpkins were. How could he choose one winner?
So, he surprised us all… he judged me to be the winner with my homemade jack-o-lantern sweater! Nothing quite like being the “pumpkin of the set”…
Happy pumpkin carving!
Cheers
Deb
Sep42009
Unique festival opening shots?
As festival season is about to begin, I can’t help but remember back to one of the first times I attended TIFF. I only managed to see nine films that year, but oddly, three of those nine films started with the same opening shot. Yup. Thee completely different films in three different languages and from three totally different countries from around the world came up with:
Fade in to full frame water. Camera pulls out and boat enters shot. Protagonist is on bow of boat. Camera moves in to Protagonist.
Just think. Three different directors in three different countries all thought they came up with an original way to open their respective movies. It goes to show then, doesn’t it? Whatever we think of creatively, it’s probably been done before.
Cheers,
Deb
Aug212009
IMAX 3D brings the past into the present
Having worked with the one of the first IMAX 3D cameras ever made, I have to say that prototype equipment has a unique way of transporting us into the past.
The IMAX 3D camera being the size of a small desk requires four strapping folk to lift it. The size of the crane allowing camera movement demands fly-away walls on the set, and therefore preventing you from much location shooting. And then there is the sound – most obviously so, because depsite all baffling attempts, the camera whirs loud enough that one would consider building a small sound-proof room around it so the Recordist would actually be able to capture location sound instead of guide track.
In some ways, one is transported back in time to the birth of sound movies, seeing film crews trying to solve similar challenges with prototype equipment then as now. With such a glimpse bringing the past into the present, you know that somehow you too taking part in movie history. Cool.
Cheers,
Deb
