Production Design

(This is an excerpt from The Music Bed Blog.)

If you’ve seen anything Khalid Mohtaseb has ever done, you know that his work is consistently, mind-blowingly beautiful. The guy is practically a legend. So we were surprised to hear that his secret isn’t some obscure lighting technique or a particular piece of equipment, but rather a person — Joseph Sciacca to be specific: a production designer.

After he started working with Joseph, Khalid hardly needed to light anything at all. Because Joseph was creating such beautiful environments, Khalid just had to point the camera and start shooting. The secret, it turned out, was creating something beautiful to shoot in the first place.

Khalid and Joseph have collaborated on projects for clients like National Geographic, Everlast, and Toyota — just to name a few. But even after all these years and high-profile projects, both of them insist they are still just learning. “Every job is homework for the next job,” Joseph told us. “Life is homework.”

Check out what Khalid and Joseph have to say about production design, lighting, and how $20 of tar paper can change everything.

KM: One of the first things a cinematographer should ask themselves when they walk into a space is, “How do I create contrast?”

 I learned this four or five years ago when I sat in on an interview with Jack Green, an AFC DP who’s shot for Clint Eastwood. I asked him what the most useful advice he’d ever gotten about cinematography was. He said that when you first walk into a space, the first question you have to ask yourself is, “How do I create black?”

I didn’t totally understand what he meant [at the time], but he was essentially talking about contrast. How do you create contrast? It’s the concept of negative fill: putting black into spaces. So if you’re shooting in an all-white room, find the edges of your frame and put black there so light doesn’t bounce everywhere. What a lot of beginning cinematographers don’t realize is that light is bouncing everywhere all the time, and you don’t realize it until you start trying to create black.

For this Everlast scene, we were in this all-white room, and there was no way to create black.

JS: The quickest solution for finding black in that location was to black out the floor so we didn’t have all that light bouncing off the tile. I drove to Home Depot and grabbed some roofing material. It’s like tar paper. It’s got this fantastic non-reflective surface and it’s relatively seamless. That’s where having experience with hands-on work — masonry, carpentry, things like that — really pays off for a production designer. You need to know what tools you have out there.

KM: We put this stuff on the ground, and when we looked at the scene again, it was the most drastic difference ever. We weren’t getting any bounce off the floor. It created this moodier look, and the actor’s face was almost silhouetted. The lighting was coming from one side but didn’t bounce; there was no fill whatsoever. And that was it. That’s what we ended up going with. We just put a small light through a window, which created a really interesting look. I think the whole fix cost us $20.

(Read More)

Useful Tools for Editors

By Scott Simmons | March 13, 2014

If you read my Notes From the 2014 Editors Retreat post then you might have seen the mention of a session called Gearheads. This was a fun session where attendees were asked to submit some piece of gear they like or find useful. This could be hardware, software, an app, anything really. I though the Gearheads submissions would make for a great Useful Tools for Editors entry. Here’s some that I made note of.

Read the full article here!

I highly recommend checking out this list, I've used several of the suggestions myself!

Creation Proclaims

In June I had the privilege to produce and direct the filming of the next Creation Proclaims series with Dr. Jobe Martin and his family. I was able to take a crew of five crew members with me to California where we were filming at an animal sanctuary with the Martins and Dan Breeding. It was a growing and stretching experience in many ways, but God was very good to us and answered many prayers during the week!

We used two Canon C-100s along with my Canon 60D as a 3rd cam for animal close-ups. Alex Lerma, Andrew Garcia, and Micah Austin did a fantastic job as the camera ops.

We rented a small lighting package from a local company for the project. I was super excited to have Philip Bolzeman as the Gaffer/Grip along with Micah Austin who pulled double duty between grip and cam op.

Joseph Santoyo was our on-set sound man, and did a great job even amids the squawking birds, howling coyotes, and planes/helicopters flying around!

Due to the heat and wind in the afternoons and staying ahead of schedule, we were only filmed in the mornings after the first day. On one free afternoon we were able to take advantage of being on the west coast and took a trip to the Cayucos beach! However it was rather windy and the water was super cold...but we had a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon!

We also had some seafood at a local restaurant which had been recommended by some friends.

It was indeed incredible!

During the week we also had some fun with Lemurs!

Here are a few still images from the footage we captured!

When the videos are released DVDs will be available at the Creation Proclaims website. They also have other resources and episodes already in the series.

Serve India Ministries

This summer I had the opportunity to oversee the post-production of a series of web videos for Serve India Ministries. We had a team of 9 people (plus siblings) all working together in one location for a week to finish 7 videos. To start the week we all worked on editing and for the last coupld of days a few of the team members transitioned over to sound, color correction, music, and motion graphics. It was a great time of film-making, fun, food, and fellowship!

Check out the trailer for the series and visit the website to see all the videos!

The people of India sit in darkness. They face incredible difficulties – socially, physically, and economically. No matter the difficulty, the Gospel is the answer. When the Gospel comes to these people, it truly changes everything.

ServeIndiaMinistries.org

Kendrick - Movie 5 Update

Over the past six months, the Kendrick Brothers team has been busy in production on Movie Five (our working title). Many of you have been keeping up with our progress through our Facebook page or on the kendrickbrothers.com site. For others, here’s a quick update:

After the release of Courageous, we began praying about producing a fifth feature film. Last summer, while serving at a ministry event, God confirmed with Alex and Stephen the direction for a new storyline. Research and writing began and continued until the screenplay was completed in the spring of 2014.

As we prayed, God opened the doors for production in the Charlotte, North Carolina area over June and July. Multiple business owners and churches offered support and encouragement. We set up a production office, conducted online and live casting sessions, and scouted shooting locations. In answer to prayer, the needed partners and funding were provided.

It was exciting to watch God "make straight our paths" as we trusted in Him. A cast of strong, Christian actors was assembled. Some were new faces to us; others you may recognize from our previous films. Still others were "discovered" out of the ministry world. The Lord also provided an excellent, God-honoring crew of 85 hard-working filmmakers including 20 interns and production assistants who arrived eager to learn and serve. Over 80 local churches in the Concord/Charlotte area graciously stepped up to support the effort. From shuttle buses and parking lots to potluck dinners, these congregations worked in unity across denominational lines to provide facilities and volunteers.

At 10:00 AM on June 10th, the first "Action!" was called in the beautiful kitchen of a historic Concord, North Carolina home - provided by a local pastor. The new production launched full throttle. Over the next two months, we experienced powerful team devotions and prayer times, growing friendships, and a cast who kept hitting their marks on camera. After thirty shooting days, "That's a wrap!" was shouted after an all-nighter in a downtown Charlotte restaurant. The team paused to thank God for what He had done.

Currently, we are editing the scenes, and the exciting phase of post-production is underway. Release of the movie title will come soon, but in the meantime, please pray for us and this movie. We need God’s continued blessing, favor, protection, and guidance to cover this entire process - down to the last frame. Our goal is to release this movie in the fall of 2015, and we’re asking God to bless and reign over everything related to it, and for Him to receive all honor and glory for what has and will be accomplished.

Watch for updates on our kendrickbrothers.com site and Facebook page as we continue in post-production. And if you haven't seen this, here’s a great press release about the movie: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/07/prweb12054075.htm

Polycarp - The Music

 It was a great privilege to work with the talented composer, Benjamin Botkin.  We can't stress enough how important it is to have the right music to bring new life and great emotional depth to the story.  Ben nailed it with Polycarp, and we think you're really going to like the music! 

We took some time to interview Ben so you folks can get an inside glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in making music for film.  

Polycarp Team: How did you get into music and composing music for films?

Ben: For as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in music to one degree or another. My first attempts at composing however, came in 2005, when I was sixteen. My dad was creating a documentary and encouraged me and my two older sisters to try our hand at writing the music. We had never done anything like that before, but we got some music software and over the space of a few months, we cobbled together something that resembled a crude documentary score. It was through that process that I was introduced to composition and film scoring, and developed a keen interest in both. As I spent time learning the tools and the trade I got various opportunities to score for various projects.

Fast forward nine years, and I still feel like I am at the beginning of my musical journey, but I am very grateful for the things I've learned, the opportunities I've had, and that I can be supporting my family doing something I love this much.

Polycarp Team: Some people may be curious about the process you go through to create music for a film. Would you describe that process for us?

Ben: The creative process usually begins with preliminary discussions with the director about this vision for the film--story arc, tone, style, mood, etc. Before I start scoring to picture, I like to have some time to conduct preliminary research on the style of film music needed [and] I like to create musical "sketches" wherein I experiment with different melodies, instrumentation and mood. These are rough, but they give the director an idea of where I'm planning to go with the music, and it gives a reference point for creative discussions. I also use this time to purchase any new software or hardware tools that I may need for the project (you really don't want to have to make any substantial upgrade or changes to your studio mid-project if you can help it).

When a locked edit of the film is created, the director and composer will have a "spotting session." During the spotting session we decide which spots in the film need music, which music, why, and exactly where it starts and stops. When this session is over I have a cuesheet with notes for every cue (individual piece of music) that needs to be written, and as I finish a cue I send it to the director for his feedback. It's very common for the director to have suggestions for changes (or even request whole re-writes on some cues), so it's important when I budget my time to set some aside for those inevitable change requests. As soon as he gives the cue a thumbs up, I will prepare the final audio files for whoever is doing the final mix of the film.

Polycarp Team: Is it challenging creating music for a period film?

Ben: It's definitely different from creating music for a modern day film, which is usually much more understated and minimal. It is often the case that period films have more strongly dramatic situations and you can justify creating more musically rich and dramatic music than usual.

Polycarp Team: With a story like Polycarp's, there is a big temptation to make it epic, bigger than life, yet this is really a story that focuses on the characters – it's a character drama. How do you avoid the temptation to make the music sound overly epic?

Ben: Joe [the director] was very good about reminding me that, though there are some epic parts in this film, the focus is primarily on the characters and what they're feeling. There were a couple occasions where I'd made the music for a scene very big and dramatic, and Joe would remind me "this is a tender moment--a quiet moment."

Polycarp Team: What drives you toward excellence?

Ben: There's a lot that could be said in answer to this, but I'll answer with a couple of verses that have been important to me:

Colossians 3:23,24 "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."

1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

Polycarp Team: Where do you find inspiration for your music?

Ben: All sorts of places! Contrary to what some musicians and artists want to believe, I don't think that anyone can or does create in a vacuum. Human creativity is derivative in nature. On Polycarp, Joe Henline and I often referenced and discussed dozens of soundtracks or pieces of music that may inspire the creative direction of our project.

But ultimately, since God is the first and perfect Creator (and from whom is every good and perfect gift), all creative inspiration comes from Him. I have found that prayer and focusing on the Word sustains and inspires my creative energy like nothing else really does (whenever I get "too busy with work" to meditate on the Word or pray, my music suffers). On every project there are instances where I've prayed for a specific idea or breakthrough that I've needed and every time I can recall, the solution becomes clear soon after. There have been many times where I've looked back over those spots later and thought "wow... that music is a lot better than I'm able to write. That didn't come from me."

I think about Psalm 127:1 a lot when I'm working on projects: "Except the LORD build the house (or score), they labour in vain that build it."

Music Preview

Not many people have heard a sneak peek from the Polycarp soundtrack yet, so we decided to share a small sample of what you'll hear in the movie.  Enjoy!

If you missed the Kickstarter campaign and would like to support the production of Polycarp, you can still do so here.

-Official movie website
-Facebook page
-YouTube