Question about continuity.

H

harmonica44

I had to cut a scene shoot short, cause we didn't get the scene space as long as I'd hoped. Now I might be able go back in a week and finish. They need to confirm, but also have to make sure weather conditions are similar so it all matches up. I also have to make the set look very much the same as it did before in order to match. I will try to get as many close ups of the actors I can without it looking too funny. This was I can block out the differences of the set as much as possible.

Now here's the big thing. The actors hair. By the time we get the next chance to finish this scene, the hair could have grown noticeably. Who knows. I heard that on the show 24, the actors have to get their hair cut, every five days to match up in the 24 hour plot continuity. So any advice on how I can do that. I don't think I can go to a barber, show them some footage and they will be good enough to do it right, instead of risk cutting off too much hair of course.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
I'm down with the photo and barber solution for the hair if that doesn't work. I had an actor shave in the middle of a shoot and I had to recreate his distinctive pre-shave facial hair with crepe hair and spirit gum.

After a quick lesson from the amazing owner of the Invincible Costume Shop, Michael... I was able to shoot the rest of my pickups without the difference being noticeable... a barber would do a much better job.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'll ask my stylist if she thinks she can do it, from looking at photos. So I will go back to the location and reshoot. With any luck I should be able to shoot the shots I missed and match them up, with the other footage. If the location becomes unavailable, or too much of the location look has changed, I will have a back up location. I prey they won't both become unavailable the same day. It will be a few weeks so hair cuts and beard trims will have to be in order to match.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
You guys gotta come to NYC and visit THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, there's this old guy on exhibit in a video and its about occupying the space on video. All he does is move his arms in different positions for hours and says "this is art, this is art" its absolutely ridiculous that people will recognize this as art. I think i;m gonna fart in a can and try to sell it as human expression.

I agree with the others about either cutting it or rewriting it to a different dynamic, maybe a phone call, I'm sure you take a still shot from the footage you have and get the available actor to cut his hair accordingly it won't be that noticeable, whats more noticeable is a hairstyle change not an extra couple millimeters in length. How big of a role is that other actors, can you just get another person? And is he a twin?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
CHamburger said:
You guys gotta come to NYC and visit THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, there's this old guy on exhibit in a video and its about occupying the space on video. All he does is move his arms in different positions for hours and says "this is art, this is art" its absolutely ridiculous that people will recognize this as art. I think i;m gonna fart in a can and try to sell it as human expression.

I agree with the others about either cutting it or rewriting it to a different dynamic, maybe a phone call, I'm sure you take a still shot from the footage you have and get the available actor to cut his hair accordingly it won't be that noticeable, whats more noticeable is a hairstyle change not an extra couple millimeters in length. How big of a role is that other actors, can you just get another person? And is he a twin?
Click to expand...


One actor is in every scene, the other actor is in only the one. Well I've looked over the footage a lot and it's going to be too risky to try to shoot different takes and splice them in I think. The problem is the location keeps changing. Different stuff is hung on the wall too much, etc, and I don't have the power to move that stuff. I have very limited control on what I can touch. I will talk to the owner more about it in the next few days, when I get a chance, but should prepare for the worst.

I'm not even sure I can get that set again and might have to scout a different location. I would have been able just to shoot some additional footage and splice it in. But there was one shot that I need that was out of focus, where there is stuff in the background, that will not match up with any future shootings most likely.

I noticed that all the takes from angle are out of focus. But they looked focused while shooting, and I couldn't tell. But as director, I was not behind the camera the whole time, and could not monitor everything of course. So I guess every time before switching angles I will try to remember to check the focus each time.

I'm am just very worried I will loose the actors, if I ask to reshoot. Especially if I can't get it done the second time. The one guy is very good and I love him! I think I may have already lost two others, as they have not gotten back to me in a while. So I may have to recast them, after I'm done shooting this current half.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Sorry to hear it man. We've all been there before.

Few things: as a director, you're ALWAYS watching a monitor. You aren't just directing people but everything. If you can't see it, how do you know if it's right? It's not important how it looks to your eye, just on video.

To make this reshoot go faster, no 20-40 takes like you mentioned earlier. Set an angle, AS SOON as the first good take is done move on. It should be a few takes max usually, 5-7 on a really really tricky shot. Because you shoot a lot of angles, you'll have a lot to work with. And do the wide first, all the way through. If the shoot goes to crap again it gives you the option of hanging on the wide shot for the duration of the scene. Not ideal, I know, but it's contingency to prevent Reshoots 2-17.

Good luck man.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
harmonica44 said:
One actor is in every scene, the other actor is in only the one. Well I've looked over the footage a lot and it's going to be too risky to try to shoot different takes and splice them in I think. The problem is the location keeps changing. Different stuff is hung on the wall too much, etc, and I don't have the power to move that stuff. I have very limited control on what I can touch. I will talk to the owner more about it in the next few days, when I get a chance, but should prepare for the worst.

I'm not even sure I can get that set again and might have to scout a different location. I would have been able just to shoot some additional footage and splice it in. But there was one shot that I need that was out of focus, where there is stuff in the background, that will not match up with any future shootings most likely.

I noticed that all the takes from angle are out of focus. But they looked focused while shooting, and I couldn't tell. But as director, I was not behind the camera the whole time, and could not monitor everything of course. So I guess every time before switching angles I will try to remember to check the focus each time.

I'm am just very worried I will loose the actors, if I ask to reshoot. Especially if I can't get it done the second time. The one guy is very good and I love him! I think I may have already lost two others, as they have not gotten back to me in a while. So I may have to recast them, after I'm done shooting this current half.
Click to expand...

Ok, how much of this location is in the rest of the movie. Its a short right? Can you use another location? If you want you can take some of the footage and ask them if they'd be willing to get better takes. The actor in every scene I assume is teh one that will be no problem getting to come back. As for the other actor I'd just get someone else if he is unresponsive. And the other two I would just find two more people. Why not post a craigslist add, ask for photos tell them its for a short and see who gets back to you? Its definitely not gonna hurt, if it doesn't work out tell them the part has been filled.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I am in the process of acquiring a second location now, depending on if I can get the other actor interested to come back. Yes the location is just for one scene, and the actor is in just the one part. I could get someone else, if he does not respond. I think he will, cause he was very passionate about it the first time, but perhaps just discouraged that I couldn't pull it off, in one day.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'm surprised nobody brought up the CGI option yet . . . missing actor or shaved beard? Create computer generated images in post to fix those problems. I'm sure there are a handful of people here that are willing to help you perfect your CGI skills.

Just kidding! Continue with your film as best as you can!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jeez lol. I will continue, but prepare for the worst in case I have to use the old footage. I feel that the footage is so good, and the actors, that maybe it's worth a couple of zooms, but I will have to get a new computer to support ACS 5.5. first before I can know such things. In the mean time I will reshoot both if I can. The whole scene in general, and then maybe the rest of scene from that same location.

Well if I can get the actors back I will reshoot the whole thing, but will still have to cut their hair to match the timeline of the plot. So perhaps I shot things too slowly. My plan was to shoot at four angles. One wide, and one narrower on one actor, then the same on the other. Plus shots of them both in to convey certain moments in the scene. Perhaps I should have only picked a narrower or wider angle to begin with, and just stuck with that? I could do the next storyboard that way.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Just give your short a cartoonlook, so you can show 2 different shots in 2 frame :P

Seriously:
You say you looked through the footage: I think you should edit the footage to see what is missing. Than you can think of a real solution.
Even if you want to reshoot it completely, this is a great opprotunity to see whether your planned shots work or not and what needs to been done differently.

And yes, I suppose the thankslist will be loooooooong ;)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yes it will. And yes I am editing it to see what we should do better on the reshoot. I have already taken the best takes, and will tell my actors do it just like those. And I wanted to shoot from two different zoom levels, like the second last post suggested, but I only had time for the first unfortunately. I just went through all the footage and there is a shot missing still that needs to be fixed. I can't reshoot the whole thing with the same actor, however I am going to see if I can use photoshop to pain in the background scenes, around the actors, and make it look right, instead of green screen.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top