Ryan Elder
Forum Replies Created
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Okay thanks. There is a murder and chase scene that happens in an underground parking lot. However, I have to keep it underground, away from the public, story wise, cause it makes no sense why someone would try to kill someone in full view of the public in the open street though.
So story wise, the suggestion to shoot in a building that anyone can see into, makes no sense though. So what then?
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Okay thanks, but across the street will not be long enough for these types of shots, that the DP is talking about in Kurosawa movies.
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I mean can’t the DP make it work within the location that he has rather than delaying things, looking for a bigger one?
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But the DP is saying we need a location with a lot more space in order to zoom in, which means I have to look for one that is much, much bigger for a telephoto. So I feel the DP is making it harder for me in a way.
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Okay thanks. Well having to find good or suitable locations that will be okay with shooting is tough enough, and if I have to make decisions according to space around the location that makes it more tough as well.
What if we shoot on a dolly and follow the actors from behind them and in front of them, with fifty feet of track? Now normally the track will be seen in the shot, but I suggested to the DP that we zoom past the track and the DP said it wouldn’t look right. He said it was hard to explain it just won’t look right, to have a chase scene, where you are following an actor on a dolly and it’s zoomed in past fifty feet of track.
But the DP has no problem zooming in from the side on a long lens. Do you think the DP is right though, and this is a mistake that zooming past fifty feet of track will not look right?
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Another thing is, will this Kurosawa style look weird to a modern audience? Cause all the angles are from the side of the actor more so, and audiences are use to chase scenes being down from the camera in front of the actor or behind them, so would this style all done from the side look too ‘second dimensional’, to a modern audience, do you think?
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If I cannot find a steadicam operator, another method would be to get a dolly instead and get a telephoto lens that is capable of zooming past 50 feet of track, so the tracks will not be in the shot.
However, when shooting shots of actors running on a telephoto, they look like they are running much slower, while following them on the dolly. The telephoto has a slower look so would audiences think this is weird, or would the accept it as natural, as they see it, perhaps?
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Okay thanks! Also, I know Roger Deakins wouldn’t steadicam himself, but I feel that since I’m not in Hollywood and just making a microbudget horror, I have to do the best I can with what I have, and that might mean asking the DP if he/she is okay with taking on additional camera duties, rather than having a crew at his/her disposable. Is that okay, of me to ask that?
When I worked as a PSM I was also asked to be the boom op at the same time, to save on crew. So I did it and had no problem with it, but is that okay for me to ask someone to do that?
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Okay thanks, it’s probably best to hire one like you said. But where do I find them, since none responded to my adds not just for this shoot, but for past shoots as well.
And even though I went to film school, no students I know where interested in becoming steadicam operators particularly. So where do you find them?
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I would actually prefer to hire a separate steadicam operator but I can never find one. I tried posting adds, but the only responses I get are from DPs who are not steadicam operators.
The only steadicam operator I know is that guy who really wants to shoot in 60 fps all the time. I might be able to talk him down.
However, when I worked with him in the past, and told the DP, I was getting a steadicam operator, the DP, was insulted, and did not like me bringing on a separate steadicam operator, and I think the DP felt like I was trying to take away something from him.
Would most DPs feel this was and feel kind of disrespected if I hired them as DP but then told them that if we need a steadicam, that I am bringing on a separate steadicam operator?