Give Up the Ghost

I recently shot a USC thesis film called "Give Up the Ghost" directed by Jeff Hersh. We shot on a RED MX with RED Pro Primes provided by the excellent gentlemen over at 3 Guys and a RED.  Our grip and electric package came from the fine people at Cine Power and Light.  If it weren't for the generosity of these two companies, this film would not have been made.

The director wanted a high-key look slightly on the side of hyper-real so we tried to give the characters a hard edge light wherever we could motivate it. I used an 1/8 Black Pro Mist filter in front of the lens for the entire film just to soften the Red Pro Primes a bit and glow the highlights.

90% of the film was shot handheld with a Mantis rig on my shoulder. I knew the RED was heavy from previous shoots, but I'd never done an entire film handheld with it. Two weeks later and my right shoulder is still sore. The guys at 3GuysRED were great at helping me accessorize the camera in order to alleviate the strain.  With the camera perfectly balanced on my shoulder and the EVF in a comfortable spot at my eye, I found I didn't need to use my arms nearly as much to operate the camera. It was way easier to swing my hips and shoulders about, moving the camera more smoothly and holding it for longer periods of time.

fitness note: a strong back is critical to a job that requires lifting heavy things all day.