Adrift
Adrift
Adrift has finally been finished and I’m happy to now be able to share it. I co-wrote the short with my friend Pete Naylor and we’ve both had a lot of fun bringing the idea to life. We really just wanted to play with a basic dream twist idea and Pete had always wanted to take an antique bed to the beach for some reason (strange lad) so we based the idea on that basic principle.
The whole thing was shot on my 5D and 7D using a combination of lenses including 24mm, 50mm and 70-200 2.8 L series lenses. We used a glidetrack shooter and glidetrack HD for the sliding shots along with my Steadicam Pilot for some of the dune shots and a hague boom. The boom proved to be a little tricky as the 5D wouldn’t quite fit on the carrier so we mounted the camera upside down and then rotated it in post.
I’d like to say a big thank you to Justin Smith, Ryan Sutton, Liam Hind & Jamie Crown who came along to help out on the shoot. I’d also like to thank our Actors, Sally Connelly and Mya Turner who were fantastic, my friend Tim from Coast to Country Beds for the cool bed and my girlfriend Sylvia for preparing a huge supply of food and drink for us all.
Last but by no means least I need to say a very big thanks you to Joe Yates who did a fantastic job with music and sound effects.
I’ve really enjoyed the last few years where I’ve been able to develop my skills shooting some of the more abstract videos that are posted on the blog. Filming kids, dogs, clothes pegs, cutlery, and even the odd bit of lego has given me an understanding of technique that I’m now able to put to use on projects like this. Now that I’ve broken into doing something with a bit more meaning I plan to do a lot more in the future.
Don’t let anyone put you down for shooting stuff that may seem meaningless though, it’s all about developing your passion and skill. Contrary to what some people will tell you, it’s not all about the story, but when you get to the point where you can use your skills to start playing with story ideas it’s a nice progression to make.
I’d love to hear you’re thoughts about Adrift so please feel free to leave comments.
This was an inspiring film, you’ve encouraged me to start one of my own.
Can you tell me exactly all the lenses that were used? were
any cine lenses uses to create this?
All the lenses used are listed above in the description, all Canon L lenses, no cine’s at all.
Brilliant and the cinematography awesome!
again, impressive camera work. already said that, but again – thanks for all the inspiration, just found my new “the next level” goal here :)
Awesome camerawork Paul. Compositions are staged well. Entire film feels surreal but I kind of didn’t get the concept. Is she meeting her past self in her dream?
Yes, it was never meant to be overly complicated, just an experiment really to play with the idea that dreams do really weird things and mess up any form of structure.
Wow Paul looks great. I had to double check if it was shot on DSLR. Look forward to seeing more of your work :)
Paul, a fantastic video. Really enjoyed it!
Great film Paul,
Sorry if I missed it somewhere, but you seem to be using a jib on some of your shots from what I see in the photos. Which model is it, and did you enjoy using it?
Thanks.
It was a hague Jib, I always enjoy using them as that’s one thing I haven’t spent much time with yet. http://www.b-hague.co.uk/hague_hdv_boom_k8.htm
Quite lovely. I might have shot a few of the dream scenes with a mist filter for a more ethereal look, but then I’m quite trite and cliche-riddled. Exceptionally clever how you got the bed and actress onto the wet beach without showing tracks in the shots. All in all, very, very nice. And love the advice about shooting things even without worrying about a complete “story”… so good for we beginners wanting to build skills.
Very inspiring to read that you started so recently and progressed so quickly. Brilliant. Keep ’em coming.
Well done guys, everything about this works really well, love the brief shot at 12, but it all looks great.
Paul what did you do the Colour grading with also did you use any sharpening in post if so what did you use?.
Many thanks
Robert
Hi Robert, thanks very much for the feedback.
Grading was done in magic bullet looks, although we didn’t use any presets we just played with levels etc. Sharpening was taken right out of the settings during the shoot and I applied a very small amount (8%) of edge sharpening during the export to 720p in compressor. I don’t like the sharpening effects in FCP but adding a small amount during compression seems to be more subtle.
Very impressive marriage of technology and storytelling – something you don’t tend to see a lot of. The film doesn’t look like it’s shot on either the 5 or 7D and goes to show what you can achieve if you make a few different choices from the norm.
I don’t know about the music and sound effects rescuing the film but they certainly helped.
Looking forward to seeing the next one.
Ps did you enter this in the recent Vimeo competition or were you too late?
Thanks Anthony. I meant that we were rescued because we were struggling with the sound. I’ve updated the text as it sound sound like the audio saved the content.
Many thanks
Paul.