Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gables last film:
The trio of men -- Langland, Guido, and reckless, worn-out, injured 'rodeo cowboy' rider Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift) -- team up to go after a herd of wild horses in the desert highlands for a last roundup, and they take Roslyn along. After Guido's small airplane guides and terrorizes the animals down from the hills, the others lasso and roundup the 'misfit' horses from a speeding pick-up truck.
Roslyn is ultimately shocked to learn that these free and wild horses will be slaughtered and cheaply sold to a dog food company for pet food. She hysterically screams at them, accusing them of being murderers - in a dramatic long shot - gesturing and attempting to persuade Langland to call off the roundup. When he refuses, she successfully appeals to Perce to release the horses that have already been captured. This infuriates wrangler Langland, who recaptures the stallion leader of the horses after a rough struggle. [Sources claim that Gable's subsequent heart-attack, only about two weeks after filming ended, was due to executing his own strenuous, bronc-busting stunts without a double.]
After he has proved that he is the boss, he then decides to let the horses free, thereby reconciling with Roslyn:
Don't want nobody makin' up my mind for me, that's all. Damn 'em all! They changed it, changed it all around. Smeared it all over with blood. I'm finished with it. It's, it's like, like ropin' a dream now. I just gotta find another way to be alive, that's all. If there is one anymore. (He stands). Perce, cut that mare loose for me, will ya?
(from http://www.filmsite.org/misf.html)
The roundup ends up as a financial failure, but from the ordeal, Roslyn and Langland make a new start together. In the final scene from the front seat of a pick-up truck, Roslyn asks Langland:
Roslyn: Gay, if there could be one person in the world, a child who could be brave from the beginning - I was scared when you asked me, but I'm not so much now. Are you?
Gay: No.
Roslyn: How do you find your way back in the dark?
Langland: (pointing to the nighttime sky) Just head for that big star straight on. The highway's under it - it'll take us right home.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Element video
Go here: http://filmscout.org/kendra_element.mov
for elementeden.com
Heres that promised video i shot of my wife Kendra for Element Skateboards and Clothing. Its too low rez in parts, but one of my hard drives fried today.
for elementeden.com
Heres that promised video i shot of my wife Kendra for Element Skateboards and Clothing. Its too low rez in parts, but one of my hard drives fried today.
Friday, June 8, 2007
great editing example
Black Narcissus here on YouTube (rent the DVD) is an example of great editing, which I prefer instead of the jumpy editing of today.
notice the reply below the video: the fabulous scenery is all mattes, on glass! It was all shot in the studio, in the Greater London area, and the only 'location' work was in someone's local suburban garden.
notice the reply below the video: the fabulous scenery is all mattes, on glass! It was all shot in the studio, in the Greater London area, and the only 'location' work was in someone's local suburban garden.
Lenses for a look like Children of Men
Another important nugget I compiled by David Mullen, ASC:
David, I was really impressed with the look of Children of Men, and read that the DP used very little in the way of movie lights. In my upcoming feature I would love to get away with minimal production lights and go for a more realistic, documentary feel, yet still maintain a "filmic" quality. There will be many day interiors, some outside day and night, and a few low light interiors, including hallways.
Given the speed (t3) of the 18-50 red zoom, which I plan to use shooting mostly on the shoulder, how realistic is it to assume I can get away with mostly available light? Particularly if I want shallow DOF on occasion with wider lenses...
Being able to move quickly and shoot a lot of set ups each day with a small crew is a factor as well. (not to mention budget)
Thanks in advance!
thinkbug
David Mullen ASC:
T/3 is a bit slow for low-light work, unless you are willing to live with some noise from underexposing and having the brighten the image in post. You can gain another stop of speed by turning off the shutter (360 instead of 180) but with an attendent increase in motion smear which some find to be very video-ish (see some of the action scenes in "Apocalypto" for an example.) You can also gain exposure by undercranking, but then you have motion problems.
If you are determined to use very low levels of available light, like for night exteriors or candlelight scenes, you should get some high-speed lenses (T/2 and faster.)
For day interiors, T/3 is probably fast enough most of the time. And well-lit night interiors.
__________________
David Mullen, ASC
Los Angeles
David, I was really impressed with the look of Children of Men, and read that the DP used very little in the way of movie lights. In my upcoming feature I would love to get away with minimal production lights and go for a more realistic, documentary feel, yet still maintain a "filmic" quality. There will be many day interiors, some outside day and night, and a few low light interiors, including hallways.
Given the speed (t3) of the 18-50 red zoom, which I plan to use shooting mostly on the shoulder, how realistic is it to assume I can get away with mostly available light? Particularly if I want shallow DOF on occasion with wider lenses...
Being able to move quickly and shoot a lot of set ups each day with a small crew is a factor as well. (not to mention budget)
Thanks in advance!
thinkbug
David Mullen ASC:
T/3 is a bit slow for low-light work, unless you are willing to live with some noise from underexposing and having the brighten the image in post. You can gain another stop of speed by turning off the shutter (360 instead of 180) but with an attendent increase in motion smear which some find to be very video-ish (see some of the action scenes in "Apocalypto" for an example.) You can also gain exposure by undercranking, but then you have motion problems.
If you are determined to use very low levels of available light, like for night exteriors or candlelight scenes, you should get some high-speed lenses (T/2 and faster.)
For day interiors, T/3 is probably fast enough most of the time. And well-lit night interiors.
__________________
David Mullen, ASC
Los Angeles
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Directing methods
From David Mullen, ASC:
Just a description of some of the styles of directing I've come across, regarding being organized:
One director drew his own storyboard on index cards, white for day and blue cards for night scenes. At the start of the day, he'd lay out all the cards and we'd shuffle them around in what we (the AD, DP, and director) thought was the best order. The director would label some cards as less important than others (some he would tear-up right on the spot). During the day, he kept the cards on a metal binder ring on his belt loop and would flip through them, crossing off the ones we finished.
I've done a number of movies where the director and I would sit down and draw up a shot list for the week's work, for each day, and try and put them in shooting order. This was a quick way of seeing if the days were balanced properly, that we didn't have an excessively heavy day that perhaps could be re-organized, a scene moved to another day. I've even done a shot list for an entire feature during prep, but that's almost too much work.
When I did my first feature, I asked Allen Daviau, ASC for some advice and he said "Know your first week backwards and forwards." It's the best advice I've ever gotten. After the first week, you fall more into a groove where you can deal with upcoming work and know how long things take to do with this particular cast and crew, but it's great if you start the shoot out running, and know where you want to be minute by minute during the day, know exactly how you want to shoot every scene, etc. It also impresses the crew and cast when they see how organized the director and DP are and sets the right tone. By the end of the shoot, though, you are more in a reactive phase where you are picking up the pieces of what's still missing, etc.
On the TV series I just did, I worked with seven directors and they were all very different in style and temperament.
One director used little Post-It notes on his script for storyboarded shots and ideas, so he could transfer his notes to each draft of the script that came along. Other directors would email me and the AD a shot list for the next day's work. With the alternating DP approach, I could walk all the sets and locations with the new director a few days before the shoot began, and plot out how we were going to shoot each scene. But some directors didn't want to be nailed down too much, and some directors wanted more time to think. I had one director who wanted the key people on the scouts (DP, production designer, AD) to be quiet for stretches of time and just contemplate the location, rather than spit-out ideas quickly. Other directors would just march into a new location and start saying "the camera goes here and then here..." immediately without discussion.
I have worked with very inexperienced directors too -- I remember one guy who would constantly ask me whether we should cut the camera once the scene was over and the actors had left the frame and we were rolling on a blank wall for a minute. And then ask me what we were doing next. But when it came to talk to the actors about performance or story, he was one of the best directors I've ever seen at work.
__________________
David Mullen, ASC
Los Angeles
Just a description of some of the styles of directing I've come across, regarding being organized:
One director drew his own storyboard on index cards, white for day and blue cards for night scenes. At the start of the day, he'd lay out all the cards and we'd shuffle them around in what we (the AD, DP, and director) thought was the best order. The director would label some cards as less important than others (some he would tear-up right on the spot). During the day, he kept the cards on a metal binder ring on his belt loop and would flip through them, crossing off the ones we finished.
I've done a number of movies where the director and I would sit down and draw up a shot list for the week's work, for each day, and try and put them in shooting order. This was a quick way of seeing if the days were balanced properly, that we didn't have an excessively heavy day that perhaps could be re-organized, a scene moved to another day. I've even done a shot list for an entire feature during prep, but that's almost too much work.
When I did my first feature, I asked Allen Daviau, ASC for some advice and he said "Know your first week backwards and forwards." It's the best advice I've ever gotten. After the first week, you fall more into a groove where you can deal with upcoming work and know how long things take to do with this particular cast and crew, but it's great if you start the shoot out running, and know where you want to be minute by minute during the day, know exactly how you want to shoot every scene, etc. It also impresses the crew and cast when they see how organized the director and DP are and sets the right tone. By the end of the shoot, though, you are more in a reactive phase where you are picking up the pieces of what's still missing, etc.
On the TV series I just did, I worked with seven directors and they were all very different in style and temperament.
One director used little Post-It notes on his script for storyboarded shots and ideas, so he could transfer his notes to each draft of the script that came along. Other directors would email me and the AD a shot list for the next day's work. With the alternating DP approach, I could walk all the sets and locations with the new director a few days before the shoot began, and plot out how we were going to shoot each scene. But some directors didn't want to be nailed down too much, and some directors wanted more time to think. I had one director who wanted the key people on the scouts (DP, production designer, AD) to be quiet for stretches of time and just contemplate the location, rather than spit-out ideas quickly. Other directors would just march into a new location and start saying "the camera goes here and then here..." immediately without discussion.
I have worked with very inexperienced directors too -- I remember one guy who would constantly ask me whether we should cut the camera once the scene was over and the actors had left the frame and we were rolling on a blank wall for a minute. And then ask me what we were doing next. But when it came to talk to the actors about performance or story, he was one of the best directors I've ever seen at work.
__________________
David Mullen, ASC
Los Angeles
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
tips for shooting
Most people know this but forget:
1. Shoot into the sun--directly into it. Having someone backlit by the sun can really make things look dreamy and it will greatly improve your production value.
We just shot a video for Element Skateboards last night and the best footage was the backlit stuff. I'll post it here as soon as we're done editing it.
2. Use uninflected photography: make a shot of a spoon a spoon! Not a whip pan-dolley-zoom! Steady shots look so much more pro.
3. And Please! Please! Invest in a good tripod--one with a fluid head. They're around $400.
1. Shoot into the sun--directly into it. Having someone backlit by the sun can really make things look dreamy and it will greatly improve your production value.
We just shot a video for Element Skateboards last night and the best footage was the backlit stuff. I'll post it here as soon as we're done editing it.
2. Use uninflected photography: make a shot of a spoon a spoon! Not a whip pan-dolley-zoom! Steady shots look so much more pro.
3. And Please! Please! Invest in a good tripod--one with a fluid head. They're around $400.
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