Young Adam, USC Thesis

I just finished 5 days of shooting a USC thesis tentativly titled, "Young Adam" directed by Kyle Burns. It was a lot of fun to work with Jon Miller, the cinematographer, again. I had worked with him on this Heineken sponsored Music video for a band called Low Stars and he is always great to work with because he is easy going on set and he allows me to do my job while he concentrates on camera and telling me what light he wants and not what lights he wants.

Another friend of our, Rob Edgecomb, was 1st AC on it- it's always great working with him, too. Also, a PA named Will Ewing, who I had met the last time I was in New York for a film came out and was a grip/electric on the film. In fact the whole crew was very supportive and had the right attitude. It was fun because we did very little lighting; we took a cinema minema approach(inspired by gaffer Jim Plannette and cinematographer Robert Elswit ASC) to make the lighting look natural and seamless like in movies such as "Michael Clayton" or "Children of Men". We only lit when we had to and that was so much fun... it's going to look so good. The only lighting I was unhappy with was when we had to use tiny units in the small bedroom scene. It is going to be the only thing, I think, that looks like it is lit. Anyway, here are some pictures from it, I tried to make the captions like an article in American Cinematographer Magazine:



Director Kyle Burns(top left) and Cinematographer Jon Miller(with camera) shooting on the small bus. There is a lot less room then you would think.




The film's star Adam, played by Luke Eberl, sits in position while Kyle Burns and Jon Miller discuss the next shot.




Luke Eberl and Kyle Burns sit between takes at the bus stop, lit by a single battery powered 1x1 light panel made to mimic a sodium vapor street lamp.




Jon Miller going over the steadicam shot at Venice Beach.




Key Grip Raul Fernandez checks out his handy work for the night exteriors, entirly lit by battery powered Litepanels.




Cinematographer Jon Miller poses bellow the Litepanels rigged to replicate street lamps.




Grip/electric Will Ewing poses under a Litepanel rigged right under the ceiling in a hallway.




The crew decided to switch positions for the day: (L-R) Boom Op Chris Brenner, First AD Mike Witman, First AC Rob Edgecomb and Cinematographer Jon Miller.




Best Boy/Wannabe Producer Mike Klein observes the monitor during a take.




Roger, played by Warren Sweeney, gets ready for the next take.




Raul Fernandez and Gaffer Phillip Matarrese pose for tie-day, the last of principal photography tradition for both of the Matarrese brothers.




"Absurdly Rediculous Rigs Monthly's" cover for May, by Raul Fernandez.




Producer Pip Satchell does shoe acrobatics as Boom Op Chris Brenner looks on in amazement.




Steadicam Master Dave Baldwin and 1st AC Rob Edgecomb reset for the next take.




Director Kyle Burns tries on the steadicam rig during wrap on the final day of filming.




Cinematographer Jon Miller poses with Director Kyle Burns and Camera PA Monica Sender after wrap.

Check out more pictures from the "Young Adam" shoot on my Flickr page by clicking HERE or by going to: http://flickr.com/photos/15005161@N06/sets/72157605223811807/



PhillM tip-of-the-day:
The small brick shaped Litepanels work well when you make a little "car port" or "fish belly" of diffusion that bubbles out from it. They work well right out of frame next to a practical lamp to just push the soft light a little further to hit whoever is standing next to the light. But careful, their batteries run out fast and there is a slight magenta hint to them.