A Day in the Life of a Production Crew Part 2

The first scene was of the main character and her husband in a private room getting ready for bed. The camera set up was difficult because the room was small and oddly shaped. We had our Canon C300ii set up on a dana dolly and our second camera, a Canon C300, was at a different angle on a tripod, aimed perpendicularly from our first camera, pointed at our main character. The lighting set up was a lot of guess and check work because we had to mimic television nighttime in the room, which is lights off but not too dark where you can’t see our actors. We pulled it off with smart gaffers and great timing from our production crew. The next scene also presented a challenge.

We were setting up a scene in a common area that included a fireplace. We had a gorgeous scene set up with our character drinking tea on a comfy couch, thinking about how great this facility is. The only problem is that we could not get the fire started. There was no way to light a match and start a real fire because there was restricted access to the fireplace. After what seemed like hours trying to find someone to help us and having various members of our production crew trying to figure out how to turn the fire on, we determined that the best method of moving forward would be to add the fire in post production. The scene looks great and our animator did a tremendous job adding the fire after the fact.

The Production Crew Races Against the Clock

Our next two scenes were simpler set ups but our time was limited. We knew our last scene was outside and we had to get it shot before the sun went down. The first scene was of our main character walking through the library and stopping to pick out a book. We shot it using a DJI Ronin gimble device, which allowed us to use camera movement without having the shot look bouncy or handheld. The second scene was our main character sitting on a bench in the courtyard, reading a book. The sun was at the perfect angle and we were able to get the shot we needed quickly and efficiently.

The last scene of the day was upon us and the production crew was as enthusiastic, as ever. It was an outdoor shot near the front of the Atrium Senior Living Facility property. We used the public sidewalk to mimic a separate location and film our main character with an actor playing her daughter walking down the street. We used an overhead silk diffusion to soften the sun above our actors. Our C300ii was on the dana dolly and our C300 on the Ronin to make sure we captured all of the best possible shots. The second set up for the scene was a shot of the two actors arm in arm looking into the distance. This shot was a bit simpler to set up because once we found the proper angle of the sun going down, we just placed our C300ii on a tripod and had our actors walk slowly towards the sun. The result was a really nice shot to end the piece. The sun is coming down on top of our senior and her daughter. It is the perfect ending to our Atrium Senior Care Facility shoot and a really nice visual ending to our day.

12 scenes, 25 + camera set ups, 42 cast and production crew members, and one long 19 hour day was what it took to complete our shoot for Atrium health Senior Living Facility. The only number that matters though is the 1 satisfied client.