The Wandering DP Podcast: Episode #448 – Racing the Sun

The Wandering DP Podcast

This week on the show we are looking at a recent TV Commercial I shot earlier this year and discussing how one major decision was responsible for the entire look and feel of the project.

The commercial was very reliant on the location and the action required a very specific scenario. In this episode we talk about what we were up against and how we ultimately decided to attack the problems.

If yo

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The Location - The Forest for the Trees

The look of this spot was 100% determined by the choice of location.

We needed a location with lots of shade coverage if we were going to try and keep the morning look working over the 10 hour shoot day. The more shade in the frame the easier it is to sell lower levels of ambient in the foreground.

The only issue with this spot was the residential areas on one side of the street but with some framing those homes wouldn't be an issue.

The street also ran east/west which isn't ideal for all day backlight but because we could rotate the car for the in tight shots this didn't make a difference.

The Spot - Racing the Sun

Shot #1 - The Wide

The Shot

Our hero talent runs to the scene of the crash.

The Lighting

The sun, location, and the schdeule needed to do all the heavy lifting on the wide shot. The scope of the shot meant there wasn't anything we could add on the ground to shape the levels.

The Result

Shot #2 - The Sprint

The Shot

We see our hero talent approach the car through the rear window of the crashed vehicle.

The Lighting

We had to work so quickly to get all of the shots before the sun got too high in the sky so again we were working with all natural light here.

The Result

Shot #3 - The Call

The Shot

We see our hero talent calling the paramedics from outside the vehicle.

The Lighting

The main issue we were up against was the amount of ambient light now filling the sky as the sun continues to rise.

This meant bringing in as much negative fill around the talent as possible while also using a little 6x6 bounce to help bring her up a little bit.

The Result

Shot #4 - Over the Shoulder

The Shot

Talent reaches inside the vehicle and lifts the unconscious man's chin.

The Lighting

The sun is fully up in the sky at this point so now it becomes a battle of levels.

We were taking light away everywhere we could while trying to hold down the highlights in the background as best as possible.

To get level in the car we bounced two vortexes in to the 6x6 from the previous shot.

The Result

Shot #5 - Moving the Background

The Shot

We see the flip side of the previous shot.

The Lighting

Now we have completely spun the car around so that the background is not getting blasted with front light from the sun.

The backlit trees in the background help to sell the lower ambient levels we were able to create in the foreground with negative fill and the same bounce set up as before.

The Result

Shots #6-#8 - The Montage

The Shots

We needed to get a montage of the crash before the hero talent found the scene.

The Lighting

Same as shot #5.

The Result

Shot #9 - The Friend

The Shot

The friend of our hero talent watches the scene play out from the passenger side of the vehicle.

The Lighting

This was the final shot of the day and we had again fully moved the car and turned it 180 degrees from it's previous location.

The sun is now directly behind the talent at 4:00 PM and we are using the same Negative Fill and 6x6 combination to get the right levels on her for the key and fill.

The Result

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