The broad range of film, theater, and production experience that the Night Zero team brings to the table is invaluable to the photocomic’s success, but nothing else like Night Zero exists and therefore we’re still constantly challenged with developing the procedures and techniques to best produce a quality product.

The center of a Night Zero photo shoot is the production schedule, carefully and brilliantly executed by Kelly Ota. Like most films, we do not shoot based on chronology, but based on lights. The schedule is broken down into “SEQUENCES”, which are the various unique lighting setups that encompass the day’s work. The number of sequences depends on the complexity and length of the scene– for a full-day shoot like Sisters, we tend to have between ten and fifteen setups (with the occasional sub-setup for minor changes). Within each sequence is a “SHOT LIST”, which covers all of the shots using that light setup, sorted by which actors appear in them. In this manner we progress through the day, moving the lights as few times as possible and getting the best use of everybody’s time.
Read the rest of this entry »