Archive for the ‘Behind-the-Scenes Photos’ Category

A Syndicated Location

Posted: 13th January 2012 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Syndicate", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, On Location
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On the day of the shoot for the Syndicate vignette, and how all the pieces came together to create this final origin story.

The shoot for Syndicate was a long and busy Saturday, tucked in the basement lounge of the Rendezvous bar in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. Crew call was our standard 9:00am arrival, with Jana setting up her makeup station while Eric, Justin, and Jason loaded in the light gear. The shooting area was divided into two halves, with the script moving from one to the other and then back again. Our first setup would be the “middle act” in the far room, so all our gear was staged in the near room and we set to work making the space our own. Fortunately there wasn’t too much we needed to alter to create the scene we wanted—we put out a table, pushed some chairs to the side, and took some signs off the wall; but overall, the look we were going for was already there.

To avoid a huge rush of costume and makeup demands at the same time, the cast call was staggered and as our talent arrived and got ready, we began shooting some of the closeups and two-person shots. By 11:30am the whole group was there, and we did our wide shots and group conversation. Wide shots can be tricky in a place like that, not because of the distance of the walls (we have wide lenses to take care of that), but because with low ceilings all of the lighting gear and electric becomes visible. It’s possible to crop the photos to remove the lights, or digitally remove the stands and gear, but as I’ve lamented many times in the past, just having the light visible on camera really screws up the HDR tonemapping process. But we shoot on location, and that’s just part of the price we pay.

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Lessons on Lighting for HDR Photography

Posted: 6th January 2012 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Sorority", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Digital Production, Photography
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On the discoveries of how to light for HDR photography, and how the standard choices for film and theater create a lot of work for the post-production workflow.

As Syndicate moves towards its conclusion next week, I hope you’re enjoying not only the story but the soft beauty of the photography we present here. Photography is kind of our thing, our schtick if you will, but you’d be surprised how much we’re still discovering about how to do it well. Most of our team comes from theater and film backgrounds, where the rules and results of stage picture, presentation, and lighting are completely different. Theater light focuses on hitting the actors where they are and toning down everything else, counting on the audience’s eyes to adjust according to the changing overall light levels; film light focuses on contrast and multiple sources, each of varying brightness to make the actors “pop” on camera.

When lighting for HDR, the biggest factors are not how bright or dark the scene is overall (gamma), but how wide of a range there is between the brightest part (white point) and darkest part (black point), how many different measurements of brightness are between them (levels), how these levels are distributed (luminosity), and how smoothly or dramatically the levels transition between one another (contrast). Earlier I lamented shooting in and near direct sunlight for exactly this reason, but for shoots like Syndicate we’re in the opposite situation and it’s simply stunning.
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The Curse of the Sunny Day

Posted: 25th November 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Ally", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, On Location, Photography
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On the shoot day for the ‘Ally’ vignette, and why direct sunlight is the worst type of weather for Night Zero’s HDR style.

The shoot day for ‘Ally’ was a unique production for us, and an all-around great experience and achievement for the team. We were back at the abandoned Fisher Flour Mill, our fourth day (of five) this year shooting at that location. Just the previous day we were there with one of our biggest Episode Six productions: thirteen characters, three scratchers, eleven extras, and ten crew members, for an all-day gun battle and scratcher fight. For ‘Ally’, it would be one of our smallest shoots: two characters, two scratchers, and five crew. The major difference, though, was that the Episode Six shoot was on Sunday, meaning the mill property was closed and our gaffer was on set. Ally was shot on a Monday, meaning that the entire property was abuzz with trailer trucks, backhoes, and moving trains, and for lighting we were at the mercy of the weather and a handheld diffusion/reflector disc.

We started with our usual 10:00am crew call, first checking in with the freight supply company whose trucks and trains we’d be evading all day (and grabbing some reflective safety vests from their dock manager). Then it was to base camp, which was conveniently in the same location as it had been the previous day (which itself had been the central location of a different Episode Six shoot a month earlier). Snacks were munched and coffees poured while the cast made their way into costume and makeup, with Kyle finishing first to go shoot his opening walking sequence while Sara’s more elaborate costume, props, and makeup were put together. After a few minutes of test shooting to determine the best camera settings for the morning light, we got to work just after 11:00 and moved swiftly onward. With the opening walk finished, we returned to base camp to fetch Sara and begin the two-character scenes out in the sunlight.

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the Sisterhood

Posted: 14th October 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Sorority", Behind-the-Scenes Photos
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On choosing the name “Sorority” for Lucy’s vignette, by way of discovering the message of her story and its place in the Night Zero universe

For a long time, this vignette had no name because we weren’t really sure what it was going to be. We knew the story, we knew the characters, but didn’t know what the message was, what it was teaching us about the world of Night Zero. In the beginning it was just called the Lucy vignette, and when we named Lucy’s sister it became the Lucy/Dee vignette. Based on their relationship, the only other name that really seemed to fit was “Sisters”, but we already had a great vignette by that name.

Another thing that was undecided about the vignette was the ending. We knew where act two began (with Lucy and Jill meeting) and we knew where they ended up (a pair of messengers), but when and how their first meeting would end was unknown. It seemed fitting to have a scratcher encounter with the two of them, so at least that much was assumed in every version. The number of scratchers would be more of a practical matter, depending on what our location was, how well-armed the two would be to fight them, and how many extras we’d be able to cast on whatever day we shot.
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Sorority Production: Day Two

Posted: 7th October 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Sorority", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, On Location
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On the production of Sorority’s second act, and the challenges faced in the peculiar location where it was shot.

The day of shooting for part two of ‘Sorority’ came three weeks after we shot part one, and it was (in different ways) both easier and more complex. Like part one, we were shooting in a single contained location but still moving freely down hallways, although unlike part one, for part two we’d be shooting the contained portion first and the freehand portion second.

On the more favorable, simpler side, the action was more straight-forward and the lighting less dramatic, so the shots were more forgiving and easier to balance. It was also not the first full-day shoot for the principals, so they were more comfortable working with Night Zero’s unique production process. On the less favorable, more complex side, the location was more than willing to provide some troubles.

Our biggest concern going in, and one reason why we were hesitant to accept the location at first, was that the condominium basement storage area had no outlets. The nearest power source, aside from the moody incandescent lights, was a circuit powering some vending machines around the stairs and one floor up. More crucially, we would not have access to the breaker box, so if we accidentally overloaded the circuit and it tripped, we’d be stuck in the dark and have to cancel the rest of the shoot.
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To Reveal or Not to Reveal

Posted: 30th September 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Sorority", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Concepts & Development
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On the developmental question whether to include Jill in the ‘Sorority’ vignette, how much of her story to reveal, and what that meant for Jack.

As a writer and a consumer, I really like mysteries. I like the large unknowns with only hints and allusions, I like the unanswered “what happens next” more than a perfectly-wrapped package, and I don’t think it’s much of a secret that this type of storytelling is a big influence in Night Zero. Right in our first vignette ‘Jezebel‘ I went for the ending of ambiguous fates, rather than pegging down where Jezebel went, whether Tracey followed or stayed behind, and whether Clint died, turned, or survived. The entire backstory of ‘Special Delivery‘ remains a secret, as do Jezebel’s motivations in ‘Devon‘ and the fate of Tom and Sadie from ‘The Things You Take‘.

It was with this same desire for non-closure that I put together the ending of ‘Inertia‘, where Jill and Jack take their chances out in the world while Richard and Elisabeth remain in their room and await rescue or death. In a perfect fictional world, that would be the absolute end, but I already knew deep down that Jill would become one of the primary messengers in Episode Six, so it never was an air-tight ambiguity. That said, though, I thought leaving the time between ‘Inertia’ and Episode Six a mystery would be suitable, letting the reader wonder what happened to the two of them, how Jill ended up with the messengers, and whether Jack is still alive.
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