About Me

Suva, Fiji, Deep Blue Sea, Fiji
Keylogging the Nation

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Zombie Movie the Making



Bula once again.

Thanks to Almighty that we managed to complete our shooting on time. Lets take sometime to see our adventurous production and preparations.

I started packing the equipment on Friday(June 4th) night right after I got back from Nestle Pool party at Fiji Club.
I prepared a checklist for the production on Thursday(June 3rd) and all was fine. I started with my HD Sony Camera. Charged its battery, checked the tapes, checked the mics, checked the boom mics, checked the lights, checked the tripods, checked wires. All set. Unfortunately I forgot about the reflector and boom mic handle. But we managed to go without it.
On the day or shooting(Saturday June 5th). There were some complications but I managed to resolve it.
As a camera man for this production, I had some idea about the angles and style of shooting required and thanks that to our crew. We had practice runs two days prior to the shoot. In my mind I had pictured myself in action. I had some complication regarding handheld shots, following shots and running shots. I thought of borrowing a rig for that from a friend but it was a negative response. Now that I don't have the rig and that means I'm in deep shit. I dont want my camera work to be jagged and bumpy.
With my experience in camera work, I decided to be creative and adopt my own style of modified rig. I have tried these before and it worked. This is how I managed to do some stabilized establishing and action shots. I attached my camera on my Monfroto Tripod which is about 10kg itself. I extended the tripod legs and attached them together as one. Next I lift the tripod in the centre area to get the balance of the camera with tripod. I use my arms as a spring stabilizer. With this style I found the shots to be steady while walking with it or running. I used my legs also as stabilizer to glide along. Though it looked funny and the crew laughing away but I managed to get some nice shots. My hands and legs were so tried halfway of the shoot.
Imagine carrying about 14kg of free weight running and walking after takes and takes. Damn that was a hell of a job. But I really had so much fun running after zombies lol.
I remember the third scene which was a following shot. In this shot I had to walk backward with camera raised head level and guess what, I was walking in a swamp where my canvas went in the mud up to my ankles. Imagine you in my situation. Please don't call for director to get you a plank. I did what I had to do. Just got in the flow. That is fun.
As the shootings progressed, I was getting tired. I had my assistant Zaheed who helped me carry the equipments around. I was glad that he was around.
Overall it was a great experience for me.
Hoping to make more short movies with my friends.


Source: Zombie Production Diary No.3

3 comments:

  1. u forgot to include me in your "zombie crew" pic :(

    /cry

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a lot of fun!! Wish I was there to see it. Can't wait for the movie to be done so I can see your handy work :)

    ReplyDelete