BEHIND THE SCENES: MAGIC HOUR

This entry was posted on 10/31/2006 3:17 PM and is filed under production

Magic Hour is the time of day when the sun provides a warm and dramatic style of lighting at twilight. Filming during Magic Hour is challenging because the sun is quickly setting and there is no time to waste. You have to get your shot within an hour so everyone has to be ready to go. Usually, Magic Hour scenes are one long take without much coverage.

But with good Actors who were well rehearsed, I managed to shoot a scene with seven angles of coverage and multiple takes. We moved fast to get the four angles I had planned but since we got them with time to spare, we picked up another three angles before the dramtic lighting vanished behind the Catalina mountains.

Filming on top of a roof downtown also provided some great visuals of the downtown area without revealing the heavy traffic below, to maintain the illusion of a dead city. Actors Tom Rogers and Santiago Craig performed their scene with relentless precision, take after take, angle after angle, with the help of our Assistant Director Justin Mashouf, Makeup FX Supervisor Frank Guerra, with Danny Borrego assisting on the lighting. Behind us, we had our Producer Gabriele Andres coordinating all of the location arrangements and costuming to get us up there and wrapped out on time.

 
James Arnett unlocking the roof access hatch at Artfare.
James Arnett and Lighting Assistant Danny Borrego hauling equipment up through the rooftop hatch.
Assistant Director Justin Mashouf and Lighting Assistant Danny Borrego on the Artfare rooftop.
Makeup FX Supervisor Frank Guerra applying Small Pox pustules to Actor Tom Rogers.
Makeup FX Supervisor Frank Guerra applying Small Pox pustules to Actor Tom Rogers.
Makeup FX Supervisor Frank Guerra applying Small Pox pustules to Actor Tom Rogers.
Actor Tom Rogers with Small Pox pustule prosthetics.
Actors Santiago Craig and Tom Rogers filming the rooftop scene during magic hour.
A.D. Justin Mashouf, Makeup FX Supervisor Frank Guerra and Lighting Assistant Danny Borrego behind the camera.
James Arnett filming Actors Tom Rogers and Santiago Craig.
Actors Tom Rogers filming his scene with Santiago Craig on the Artfare rooftop at Magic Hour.
The Cast and Crew working through seven setups in a under an hour.
James Arnett blocking out the action between the Actors.
Filming Actors Tom Rogers and Santiago Craig with the last light of Magic Hour quickly disappearing.
James Arnett filming the deep focus shot of Actors Tom Rogers with Santiago Craig far in the background.
Actors Tom Rogers and Santiago Craig taking last moment direction.
After the light disappeared, Actor Tom Rogers filming a pre-dawn shot.
After the light disappeared, Actor Tom Rogers filming a pre-dawn shot.
 

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