Teddy Boy

[Erik Bien]

I've just completed one of the most exhausting and rewarding weeks of my life working on a new indie feature, Teddy Boy. Those of you who also read REDuser may have seen this thread which ultimately led to this production. Fortunately we have a three-day weekend due to the Memorial Day holiday so I have now caught up on a bit of lost sleep (as mostly a live performance guy, reporting to location at 5:30am for breakfast and wrapping between 6 and 7pm isn't quite what I'm accustomed to) and have a minute to check in on HV20.com.

The project is being shot in 4K on Scarlet and RED prime lenses. The gaffer and DP have worked with each other extensively for more than ten years, covering several features and a successful reality TV series, and they are both unfailingly nice and terrific at what they do. I'm working as a grip/electrician and have the pleasure of using the most incredible indie G&E package I've ever seen, nothing but the latest and greatest: KinoFlo fluorescents from 100 watt BarFlies to Vista Singles to 4 foot 4 banks and K5600 HMIs in 200, 400, 800 and 1600 watt varieties, each with every possible accessory from scrims to softtubes to eggcrates to extension head cables; a couple of 8x frames with a full complement of rags; every type of stand from turtle bases to mambo combos, with everything from 1x solids to 4x frames and floppies to shove in them, all of which somehow fits (barely) into a Sprinter van.

So far I'm only scheduled for one more week, but the Key Grip may have to leave for another gig, so there's at least a possibility I could be on the picture until mid-June. Which would certainly be awesome, if even more exhausting — the shoot finishes on and around Grand Lake, which sits at 8437 feet (2572 m) above sea level.

As usual, I can't yet tell you very much about the movie: for one thing, I'm under an NDA but beyond that I'm rarely near camera or video village when we're rolling and I haven't read the script! I've attached a couple of lame phone-cam BTS pics below; I'll try to take more next week.

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[Jim E]

"Teddy Boy"!!!

Now there's a term I haven't heard in a looong time - a long time.

[Erik Bien]

Seriously exhausted after a 14 hour shooting day, but this was such a cool lighting setup I had to share!

This is the master bedroom of the main house in the movie, where much of the action takes place, so we were on this same basic setup with minor variations throughout the day.

From left to right in the photo, that's an 800 watt Joker with a medium lens ungelled on a Mambo Combo stand giving a hard hit of sun (softened with 250 on the upper half and opal on the lower half of the window), a 400 watt Joker with a wide lens and 1/4 CTO on another Mambo Combo dappled through a "branch-a-loris" lofted on a Combo, and two 1600 watt Jokers side by side, firing almost straight up through 2x3 frames of 1/4 CTO into an 8x8 Ultrabounce flown between the eaves and the tree. Further down the back deck is another 400, shooting through the kitchen window to give a little hit on the opposite wall at the bottom of the stairs, as well as two 4-foot 4-bank Kinos for general ambiance. On the roof (unseen from this angle) is an 800 watt Joker firing straight down through diffusion into the tented skylight, and another raking through the clerestory windows (strategically gelled with NDs) at the opposite end of the room. We also had 200 and 400 watt Jokers with Chimera softboxes playing on the floor.

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[Dr. Benway]

Intense!

[1]

Sweet!!!!

[Almohada]

Damn, very intricate indeed.

[Erik Bien]

I just discovered that my crew-mate who was stuck on the roof for most of that day also posted a pic of the setup from his viewpoint at Instagram. Left to right, you can see the 8x Ultrabounce, a couple of layers of ND gel (varying density throughout the day as the sun passed overhead), the Visqueen "tent" over the skylight on the upper roof, a Joker 800 and a 4x floppy blocking the direct sunlight.

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He also took one of myself and the Key Grip in a rare moment of repose:

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Speaking of repose, I ended up sitting out this week of production — they pared down to a skeleton crew to shoot the sailing sequences on Grand Lake (which makes total sense: limited accommodations, small boat, shooting at altitude, on and around water that averages 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit, etc.). I still don't know if the budget will stretch to have me back for the final weeks (I was only contracted for the first two), but most of the decision-makers seem to think it's a done deal, so I'm guardedly optimistic. Either way, it's been fun!

[omnibozo]

Glad to see you having a great time on that shoot. I interviewed for the scripty job but couldn't start on their start date due to evil day job... and didn't convince Sean that I had sufficient experience, probably. Anyway... I know lots of the crew on that shoot... as you do from Mind's Eye! I'm co-producer and production designer for another indie feature shooting now in Denver, "Joshua Tree" and just worked a deal to rewrite and direct another indie feature as soon as JT wraps!

[Erik Bien]

Hi Bob, thanks for checking in!

If any of your upcoming projects needs a grip/gaffer/carpenter/painter, or a creepy character actor of a certain age, you know where to find me ...

[Playing]

I am jealous of you guys.

[omnibozo]

You just have to start making it happen for yourself. We've done, and will continue to do, lots of microbudget stuff for the fun and the experience. We get better, then we make better opportunities for ourselves. I'm already thinking of hiring Erik as both bad guy AND gaffer! I love stereotypes!

[Erik Bien]

Sadly, I only ended up working on the first two weeks of this show as originally scheduled (the wrap party was last night). Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this outsider's perspective on a later portion of the shoot. He's not kidding, to a person the cast and crew were extremely dedicated, positive and professional, and I'm humbled to have worked with them.