Some memories from this past fall in the Liwa Dunes.
Shot on a Canon Rebel T5 with a dirty kit lens
1- Outside the hotel was a large dune where you could watch the sunset. My first evening I went up with my camera, taking pictures as I walked when I suddenly realized I had lost track of time. I sprinted the rest of the way up but still just missed the sunset. Being thousands of miles away from my family and friends, missing birthdays and more for work- missing the sunset because I was too busy capturing it felt like a strange metaphor.
2- I’m a sucker for a frame within a frame and the hotels corridors were a dream come true. I must’ve taken a hundred different pics of doors and hallways struggling to get the perfect frame within a frame, but none were as nice as this simple shot of a window I took on my way to breakfast.
3- My view during check-in. The whole hotel was facing west, with big windows along almost every west facing wall so that you had a beautiful view of the sunset and tons of natural light in every common space. As a lighting tech, it was a real treat to be in a building clearly designed with sunlight in mind.
TL;DR- lighting bro goes to the desert and likes the sunset
I always love how creative we get to be on music videos and this one we made last fall for @melancholysmistress cover of Young and Beautiful was certainly no exception. Despite having a small crew and just one day to get all these scenes I think we really made some magic.
One thing I always try to remind myself as a gaffer is that often the simplest lighting setup is the best, and our work on this one really embodies that. Slides 3-5 for example just had a Nova P300 and 60B bouncing into the walls and specials for the disco ball, but we took the time to really perfect the position and shape of the bounces. Sometimes that’s all you need. Wish I had more pics to show you behind the scenes but in my sleep deprivation the only video I took all day was Tom standing in so do with that what you will.
Huge thanks to @r.sfilms for having me on and @lisa.stapleton for crafting such a positive and creative environment on set.
Talent: @teamunicorncarl
Director/Producer: @lisa.stapleton
DP: @r.sfilms
1st AC: @onedayfilmmaker
Gaffer: 🫡
Hair: @bedofbeauty
Makeup: @aliciadangelo
Costumes: @lisa.stapleton
PA: @linsysegarra@tshore04@taylorclarkebennett
Throwing it back to a fun short I gaffed at the beginning of last year for director @anim8orrr and DP @bryanrpaez
We were going for a high contrast, noir look with our blown out windows acting as motivation for nearly the entire film. The setup was pretty simple- lights through windows with neg fill and double breaks to taste, but we almost had to scrap the whole thing due to a bunch of challenges including sub-zero temperatures, high winds, and our set being on the second floor. Ultimately it warmed up just enough for us to put units outside and the diffusion on the windows let me lower the lights and shoot up into them while still getting exposure. It would’ve been nice to have our units higher but in the end I’m just proud we were able to keep people and gear safe while still making it all look good.
Also huge shoutout to @said_and_dunn for triangulating in single digit temps with me.
Dir.- @anim8orrr
Prod.- @therealjadenmiller
AD- @meredith_mcgrath_
DP- @bryanrpaez
AC- @boonebriegs
Gaff- 🫡
Key Grip- @said_and_dunn
Sound- @aglover_sd
Boom- @moses_ammi
PD- @kylajscott
Scripty- @raymondkleinschmidt
Forgot to get a proper group pic so here’s a photo dump from the set of Broken Branches last weekend.
I can’t thank my amazing cast and crew enough. You all did incredible work and I’m so excited to finish this project up.
📸: @triplet2055
First Impressions out now! Link in bio!
Thank you so much to my amazing cast and crew, being on set was a blast and you all did such an amazing job bringing this project to life.
