Meet the Crew - Volume 3

Meet the Camera Operator

Raphe Wolfgang graduated with a BFA in Media Arts in 2004 and has since lived in Los Angeles, where he works as a freelance videographer and various crew positions. In 2010 Raphe will be furthering his career in the entertainment industry by directing his own projects. Raphe was raised in Arizona where he developed an eye for photography at an early age, he has been practicing his craft ever since.

Meet the 1^st AC

Jonathan Helms began his career as a photographer and cameraman while in community college in St. Louis, Missouri. Having worked often in narrative series with his still images, he chose to enroll in the film program at Southern Illinois University when it came time to pursue his Bachelor's. He worked as both a director and a cinematographer on his films at SIUC before graduating in May of 2009. After graduation he moved to Los Angeles where he works as a First Camera Assistant and a Director of Photography.

Meet the Gaffer

Brian Patrick Carroll was born into the royal family of San Diego which proved to be quite the privileged childhood. Growing tired of such a lifestyle Brian decided to become a farmer in Humboldt County where he also earned a BA in Theatre Arts. However; all goods things must come to end, and he left the great high north to find himself in the middle of the drama ridden OC where he attended Chapman University. Spending a quick three years there Brian left Orange county after earning an MFA in film production. Now living in LA, Brian has long forgotten his noble upbringing and finds himself just above the starving artist status in the social ladder, being only a hungry artist.

The Film Shoot

Let's just recap for a moment. We've been finished with principal photography for nearly two weeks now. The film's in the can, being processed, and soon to be transfered as a file to our editor. However, I've yet to disclose much information about the production itself. Therefore, I thought it'd be beneficial to write a lengthy blog about the trials and tribulations of the film shoot. Then I thought to myself, this is a film. A visual medium. If you wanted to read lengthy descriptions and paragraphs of my thoughts, a book would be much more appropriate. But it's not a book.

Instead, I wanted to show you several pictures from the set. Both on set and off, because the bulk of the fun was when the camera wasn't rolling. I'm incredibly lucky to have been a part of such a fun and professional team. So, without further ado...

Screen Shot 1: We had this shot where we film Etienne (Lukas Delcourt) from behind a bookshelf as he plays with his toys. At one point, the action figure wasn't tall enough so I had to call for a "mini apple box" to give him a few centimeters.

Screen shot 2: Etienne, always the couch potato, was shot yet again watching television. Our camera operator, Raphe Wolfgang, frames the shot diligently.

Screen Shot 3: Before we shoot our actors, I needed to peer through the viewfinder to frame the shot as I envisioned. Fortunately, the Director of Photography (Jorge Urbina) and I share a very mutual vision.

Screen Shot 4: With any shoot, there's always bonding during lunch. The cast and crew take a load off on our living room set. Note how everybody's seated exactly the same (with their legs crossed). That's what happens when we're working together for hours on end.

Screen Shot 5: One of our super PAs/Art Assistants (Stephanie Coogan), stands in for one of our actors. Don't let her innocent smile fool you. She's actually a phenomenal producer.

Screen Shot 6: One of my favorite shots. Our actors, Isabelle Giroux and Lukas Delcourt, film a scene of intimacy. Incidentally, they both became very close friends throughout the filming process.

Screen Shot 7: One of our Second ACs, Eric Patton, inserts the slate before we shoot one of the film's beginning scenes. Our Gaffer (Brian Carroll) did an amazing job lighting the set.

Screen Shot 8: Our Amorette, played by Isabelle Giroux, gets into character as we prepare for a very emotional scene. Not only is she our leading lady, she's also our narrator.

Screen Shot 9: Check out a great photograph of our Production Designer (Gilberto Vega) and his beautiful restaurant. The ambience was perfect for this particular scene.

Screen Shot 10: Our Script Supervisor, Maura Concannon, was my right-hand lady throughout the entire production. In fact, we'd have our own little pow-wows off set just to figure out a few shots.

Screen Shot 11: The Queen of the entire production (i.e. our Producer, Allison Vanore) poses for the camera between putting together the entire film. She and I have a lot more work to do...

Screen Shot 12: Love this shot of Lukas. He keeps himself occupied between lighting set-ups by posing with the production slate. Or... we're making him work double time...

Screen Shot 13: This is a prime example of how the entire crew came together to create something magnificent. This exemplifies the work of our Costume Designer (Joslyn Sifuentes), Hair/Makeup Artist (Moira Taylor), Gaffer (Brian Carroll), Director of Photography (Jorge Urbina), and Production Designer (Gilberto Vega) -- and several key people from the camera team. Not to mention Allison Vanore and Isabelle Giroux, prime factors in this entire film.

Screen Shot 14: This is a screen shot of the scene. Amorette tunes out while Etienne continues on and on with his story, oblivious of the his girlfriend's heartache. Pretty shot.

Screen Shot 15: Our last day of principle photography... and a very fun one. Our Crane Operator, Ryan Elliot, showed up and did some fantastic work for our exterior shot.

Screen Shot 16: Jorge and Ryan working hand-in-hand to get this shot as perfect as possible. Well, not literally hand-in-hand. This isn't 'Park Bench' (one of my other shorts).

Screen Shot 17: Unfortunately, the sun decided to work against us this day. We had to figure out a way to make the crane's shadow as inconspicuous as possible. We worked it out.

Screen Shot 18: Our Camera Operator, Raphe Wolfgang, sneaks in with the slate. He looks rather confused. He probably was...

Screen Shot 19: Moira Taylor, our makeup and hair artist, entertains herself (and the rest of us) between takes. This is a fun set!

Screen Shot 20: Since we were unable to get her a desk at this particular moment, Scripty Maura Concannon is roughing it while timing several shots.

Screen Shot 21: We're getting one of our last shots of principle photography. In all actuality, this would be 2nd unit, but we're fully capable of doing everything ourselves with an unbridled level of enthusiasm!

All in all, it was a fantastic shoot, and I'm looking forward to closing up production with a few more pick-ups this weekend and the confessional scene next week. I'm confident our post-production team will be just as fantastic.

Shooting Days 1-2

Eli here. It’s been quite the two days. We’ve had early morning call-times, 12 hour days, and most importantly – a lot of fun! We’re practically halfway through principal photography and everything is going fantastic. We had a few road bumps along the way (several crew members fell out at the last minute), but a few really amazing filmmakers came to the rescue to round out a fantastic team. We have 3 more days of filming and I’m certain these days will go just as smoothly (knock on wood).

Sure, I can go into the technical specifics of the entire two days, but something tells me most of you don’t care about which lens we used or how Brian achieved a light set-up (aside from the occasional filmmaker). That being said, I have a feeling the film will speak for itself.

Anyway, as much as I’d like to divulge more, my alarm went off at five this morning and I’m falling asleep. This is a narcoleptic update... I don’t even have the energy to finish this

Location - Park

Finding a park that's remotely interesting and fits the "look" we had in mind was actually quite the task. However, finding the park wasn't the most difficult part. Finding it was easy. It was figuring out how we were going to stage the scene that caused the most confusion. Since I really wanted a location that was adjacent to trees while Amorette rested on a bench, we had to intricately adjust the frame and blue print a plan for the camera movement. Here's the location we scouted. I'm confident, during principal photography, we'll answer the aforementioned concerns satisfactorily.

The Park: I really love how much character this park has. Everything from the unique trees, to the plush grass, to the wooden bridge. I loved it at first sight and can't wait to shoot there!

UPDATE: The Park location has been scrapped for a lovelier setting. The exterior of the house which is just as exquisite, and much less costly.

Meet the Crew - Volume 2

Meet the First Assistant Director

Derek Oishi is thrilled to be part of the “A Note To Etienne” Crew. Graduate of the University of Arizona (B.F.A. Fine Arts). Derek grew up in Sierra Vista, Arizona, where he discovered his passion for filmmaking and honed his skills in croquet and show-stopping karaoke.

Recent Credits include: Field Coordinator for the History Channel TV Show, That’s Impossible, 2nd 2nd AD for Sport Science for Fox Sports Net, Key 2nd AD for the feature film Yellowbrickroad, premiering at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City. Derek was also 1st AD on several short films and commercials including, “Alma” (Best Shorts winner at the Reel Sisters Film Festival), “Junkyard”, “Déjà vu”, “Ruin”, “Solo”.

Film/TV Credits include House, The Office, Pushing Daisies, Hidden Palms, Pros vs. Joes, Beauty and the Geek, Fear Factor, The Big Give, and America’s Got Talent.

To my beautiful circle of friends, thanks for always believing and supporting me no matter what. This one’s for you guys! “One day more, another day, another destiny”

Meet the Script Supervisor

Maura K. Concannon manages the merchandise department of Boondock Saints Productions and also freelances as a Script Supervisor. Prior to joining Boondock Saints Productions in 2009, Concannon worked as a Production Assistant on various television shows and short films. Television credits include VH1’s TOOL ACADEMY, the John Wells episodic drama SOUTHLAND, HGTV’s $250,000 CHALLENGE and MTV’s A DOUBLE SHOT AT LOVE. She has had the privilege to learn from and work alongside talented individuals at Warner Brothers, NBC, VH1 and MTV. Concannon is fluent in American Sign Language and one day hopes to combine her love of film and Deaf Culture.

Meet the Make-Up/Hair Artist

Moira Taylor, a graduate of the University of Miami, is relatively new to the city of Los Angeles. After relocating here from a short stint in Kansas, she decided to follow her passion of all things beautiful and headed to Studio Makeup Academy to specialize in Beauty Makeup and Special Effects. She has spent the last couple of months working on anything she can get her hands on ranging from weddings to feature films and is quite excited to be working with the cast and crew of A Note to Etienne.

Visual Strategy

In this piece we witness Amorette go through a wide range of emotions and we are also peer into her mind as well. Our overall approach to support this visually is to switch between both Hi Def and S16. We will be using S16 to shoot everything but the scenes where Amorette is recording her message to Etienne, this will be shot on Hi Def.

Visually for these sequences we will be creating a very narrow field of view. The framing will enhance and immediately reveal to the audience how the character sees herself in the world she lives in addition to how she sees her relationship to Etienne.

Lighting wise we would like a sense of a catatonic atmosphere, hollow like a cavern in the beginning but towards the end of her interview a sense of rebirth for Amorette. Sometimes when you are in a room the sunlight, when its not directed at window, can have this barren atmosphere but as it peeks in the edge of a window the feeling shifts to a more hopeful atmosphere. This progression definitely parallels through the emotional journey.

For Amorette's memories we will be taking full advantage of S16. Film has this organic feel which parallel's Amorette's experiences which are full of life. Visually we want it to contrast Amorette's interview with vivid color saturation, wide angles with our characters being more prominent in the frame as opposed to withdrawn. The camera will flow and move within the space gracefully which compliments Amorette's analytical sense as she takes us through her thoughts. The light will be diffused with detail in the highlights and shadows. Skin tones will glow. Overall the feeling would be warm which would contrast her feelings of questioning the involvement of Etienne.

The end result will yield a visual experience that will support our central character's plight.

- Jorge Urbina, Cinematographer

Storyboards

Before I begin describing the storyboards, let me preface this post by admitting my lack of artistry. I'm completely aware of how terrible these drawings are and would be first in line at the scribbles and stick-figure conference. So there.

Storyboard 1: The first sequence is probably the longest sequence, because I really want to introduce both Amorette and Etienne in an honest, yet humorous way. Remember, I want to utilize the 16mm film and include the reds, blues, and green hues as much as possible.

Storyboard 2: Sound cues are important in this short film. Since the scenes move along relatively fast, all the components need to interweave seamlessly.

Storyboard 3: Since the short film is primarily voice-over, I wanted to include interesting camera movements to tell the story (along with production design and costume). Therefore, Jorge and I have a very specific blue-print of how we want the cinematography to translate to screen.

Storyboard 4: Lighting will also play a huge part in the film. Many French films tend to have more theatrical lighting that furthers the inner-thoughts of the characters, so I wanted to subtly include that in A Note to Etienne.

Storyboard 5: Probably the most difficult scene is the park scene. We're incorporating a crane in a specific choreographed shot which will depict the isolation she's feeling.

Storyboard 6: The final scenes will sum up the story of love and loss -- or more specifically, Amorette's feelings for Etienne that never really disappeared. Their relationship was real, but the love they used to share is no longer there. Make sense?