How was “Brighter” filmed?
Actually, no video cameras were used in the making of the stop-motion “Brighter.” Each frame that went into the video was taken by either a Canon 40D or 20D digital SLR. The raw footage consisted of over 6,000 JPG images. Doing it this way gave us a way to add special effects, finely control the lighting, and of course – getting that unique look!
Scene: ZOMGZ!
Where/how long did it take to film?
While you can watch “Brighter” in only 3 minutes 40 seconds, it took us quite a bit longer to produce. Actual filming took place over two nights, 8 hour sessions each, in the cemetery behind the band's house in East Austin.
The first night we knocked out the band shots, zombies, and tombstones sequences. It was really a party, with special guests as zombies, makeup, craft services, two fog machines, props, and makeshift tracks to guide the filming! The police even paid us a visit to ask what the noise was about! Neighbors just don't respond well to drum solos coming from a cemetery in the middle of the night.
Zombies love makeup!
The second night we shot most the solo scenes of Paul and Jaylinn. Some of the pickup scenes were taken after that weekend.
How was this video edited?
With over 6,000 raw images, organizing all the frames was a challenge. Picasa
came to the rescue and provided a way to separate the work into 100 scenes.
The band and I met for about 8 hours to lay out the initial structure of the
video in one go in Sony Vegas. Then, over the course of several weeks, band
members Paul Waclawsky and Jaylinn Davidson, along with friend Matt Murray of
Built by Snow worked extremely hard scrubbing scenes frame by frame!
Scene: The band frantically jamming until it gets brighter!
The lighting looks amazing. What was the setup?
In order to keep the cemetery looking like nighttime, we shot at night and used anywhere from 3 to 6 lights. It was a mix of continuous (work lights!) and remote-triggered strobe. The tungsten work lights provided a yellow-ish backdrop that set the eerie mood. Naturally they stayed continuously lit so we could work in the dark. However, much of the pop came from a host of gelled flashes... Who says Strobist techniques can't be applied to videos, too? :)
Behind the scenes: Victor in action. Notice the mix of continuous and flash lighting (unlit).
Flashes? Yes! I had 3 or 4 Nikon SB-25/26 flashes triggered by Pocket Wizards. Even at 6 frames a second, those Wizards never skipped a beat. Though, as the night progressed we had to dial back the frame rate as the flash batteries weakened :) In some scenes, the flashes were mounted on lightstands; in others they were aimed by assistants, or set on carts with the smoke machines. These portable flashes gave us the perfect blend of portability (battery powered) and look (with light modifiers, like a Honl Speed Grid).
Technical: Carefully crafted lighting.
(The mix of continuous and flash lighting worked because each frame of the
video was actually a still picture. Whenever the camera took a picture, it
triggered the flashes through radio signal and thus sees all lights "on" that
split second. When put in a sequence, like in a flip book video, it gives the
impression that it's all "continous" lighting.)
Scene: The "dark figure"
Technical: Shooting with a large frame SLR allows narrow depth-of-field, compared to video
Behind the scenes: our illustrious lighting crew Ryan (manager) and Kevin (drummer)
What was the orb?
Believe it or not, the orb itself was a cheap light fixture! We tried many
ways of holding it up, from fishing wire to string to an inflated balloon.
Serious. We ended up tieing a string with clips with various people guiding it
around objects. We had to airbrush out the string in post processing. :)
Behind the scenes: The orb is a Paul lifting a broomstick attached fishing wire and clip, with Pocketwizard and flash inside!
Behind the scenes: Fishing anyone?
But the interesting part is actually how it glowed! The Pocket Wizard trigger
and a Nikon flash to the rescue. It was dark except for the flashes triggered
when the camera took pictures.
Where did you find those customized tombstones?
Believe it or not, those tombstones were custom made to our exacting
specifications, shipped in from California. Haha, just kidding. Actually, we
reused all of the existing stones in the cemetery. In post processing, the
team airburshed the old engravings out, and added our own text in -- frame by
frame! Let's just say we all got pretty good at free transforms and the clone
tools. :)
Scene: Living zombie in the graveyard
How did you do the squiggly letters?
I get asked this a lot, and it’s one of the easiest things to do. Each frame
was a long 15 second exposure. When the shutter was open, Paul used my LED
flashlight to draw (in mirror image). Rinse and repeat; and paste them in
sequence.
Technical: 15 second light painting with LED flashlight
Behind the scenes: We're pooped... it's a wrap!