cinematography New short coming up. Lots of car shots

[Fender2322]

Alright guys, I'm working on a short scene out of a feature length script to hopefully get funding in the future. The scene is about 12 minutes long and is a very very heavy dialogue scene between the two characters in the front seat of a 1971 Chevelle. I don't have much experience shooting heavy dialogue like this in such a small environment where I can't get many angles.

I'm curious on how to make the scene very interesting in such an uninteresting environment. The scene takes place mostly in the daytime, but what is the correct way to light the interior of a car out in the daylight? I'm not experienced much with lighting and a new task I've been taking on is correctly lighting outdoor shots even when ample light is available just to keep good balance.

Here's where it gets difficult. The other half of the scene is at night in the car. How do you properly light the interior of a car and with what type of lights?

Also I have a car mount that can be mounted virtually anywhere we need to, but can only hold the weight of a DSLR. I'm looking for a better camera placement other than the backseat because that's done way too often and is pretty boring in my opinion. Any advice?

 

[GuerrillaAngel]

Put the car on a trailer and tow it behind a truck. You'll be able to stand anywhere on the trailer to get your interior angles through the windows (rolled down) or windshield.

For night lighting, buy cheap 12 volt map lights you can plug into the cig lighter and put them at dash board level aimed at actors faces -- you may want to diffuse or add color to the lights (green?) -- experment!

Good luck.

 

[PaulGriffith]

Wide lens, shoot inside from the windshield.
Shoot through the windshield. Tights, two shots.
Shoot through windows. Tights, two shots.
Shoot the mirror's reflection.

The Chevelle is a cool car. We have a 72 and I love it. Lots of great cutaways possible. If you have the cowl induction flap, shoot it opening. Shoot the wheels driving, turning. Drive in front and behind with a chase car. Etc.

Polarizers will help with window glare.

Or, fake it all. Video copilot has a great greenscreen car tutorial. Best way to get optimal sound and light conditions if you can pull it off.

Night time, use a fast lens. Battery powered led lights (even Flashlights and Christmas lights in laps) can give just enough light to look like dash illumination.

Post it here when you're done!

 

[Fender2322]

Hmm. The christmas lights is an awesome idea! I like that! I can find someone with a trailer most likely and I've been dying to shoot like that.

I'm new btw everyone. Paul, it says you're a local in FW? I'm in the Dallas area. I work for a company in Denton, but business has been slow.

I'll definitely try all this out. I'm shooting on a 5D or T2I with a hack on it to help with widescreen. I'll have to look for a trailer, but that's attainable. I'll have to play around with lighting though. I'm a student right now and I usually shoot something with a car scene in it because quite a few of my friends do autocross racing and what not so I can get some cool driving stunts done without hiring anyone, but this is the first time it will require a lot of dialogue so sound will be a different monster for me.

 

[PaulGriffith]

Sweet. Yeah man, I'm a freelancer here in Fort Worth. We jut finished a (very short) car scene. Links in my signature.

We're starting to shoot pretty often if you ever want to come to set. Check out our website or shoot me a PM or something.

 

[ngoforth]

Typically on a 'real' movie you'd use a hood mount and a hostess tray. A hood mount is a bar that rides above the hood and provides mounting positions for lights and camera(s), a hostess tray is clamped to the doors - if shots are tight they use arms to slide down inside the window well and support the weight, but on wider shots (you see the bottom edge of the window) the mount is sucked up to the door with ratchet straps.

You can go rent these items, but applying them safely takes some expertise. Not only do you have to worry about the camera coming off and bouncing down the street (they don't bounce well), but you can damage the car, or - if you are trying to do this on a 'live' street - you could damage other cars or injure people. It's almost certainly illegal to do without a permit and police escorts.

The trailer thing can work, but the permit problem still exists - will you get stopped for having people climbing around on the back of a trailer running down the road? Probably. Real process trailers have side extensions that allow you to really move around the car with camera and lights, but the wings will stick out into other lanes - permit and police escort again. Plus the safety issues. Any lights and tripods (and the car) will need to be secured really, really well. Additionally, trailers sit above the roadbed (even process trailers that are meant to ride low) and there is an odd perspective of seeing other cars lower than you are. There are also tow dollies (front wheels only) but many of the same problems exist.

SAG has rules about acting and driving at the same time, and there is a reason for that. You don't want to find out why the hard way.

I think the green screen "poor man's process" route is your best bet. This is frequently done for night shots, but can work for day as well. "405 - The Movie" was done almost entirely in the makers' garage (but those guys were experienced FX artists). This will allow you to put the camera wherever you like, and light it with simpler instruments (night) and with a reflector(s) through the windshield (day). Put a couple guys on the bumpers to give the occasional shake.

Whatever you do, try it first with a simple setup. You can also try mixing this footage with real on the road footage (shot from a chase vehicle, and from 'drive by' positions), but it probably won't match well - though it may match well enough. Try it with ten or twenty-second shots before you try to do the real thing.