Anatomy of a TV Shoot

How does an idea go from this: To this: Well, come along for a never-before-seen, mind-blowing look behind the scenes at a Ten Adams TV shoot, as we share a few lessons we learned along the way. Lesson #1: Film crews are notoriously awesome at making a scene (wink, wink) + disrupting traffic. Especially when 40 feet of banners are involved. Lesson #2: Helicopters are just as cool now as they were when we were seven. (Helicopters with remote cameras? Even cooler.) Lesson #3: Creative directors + associate creative directors evidently are not insured to climb suspension bridges with the rest of the crew. (Lesson #3 ½ — this makes them cranky.) Lesson #4: Shooting a movie theater scene? Foggers are a great little trick used to achieve that awesome projector beam. Lesson #5: But, foggers can malfunction. (And when they do, the only other way to get a little ‘atmosphere’ is to set a piece of toast on fire. A very smelly solution that has the added benefit of shooting to the soothing shriek of the smoke alarm). Lesson #6: This is Ray. Ray is from Germany. Ray worked on the set of the original Willa Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. Ray invented a theatrical light that melted a street lamp on the set of one of the Batman movies. Ray owns a 400-acre tree farm in Costa Rica. Ray makes his own shampoo. Ray is the Most Interesting Man in the World. Lesson #7: How do you achieve that pretty flicker of light on the faces of talent in a movie theater shot? Like this (Sorry, I was too dang excited to remember to turn the phone horizontally. Also, note the lovely shrieking alarm we referenced earlier from the smoking toast): Lesson #8: Everything looks sexier through a lens. (Well, at least banners do.) Lesson #9: Another handy trick of the trade — if you’re shooting a street scene, ask your friendly local firemen to do a wetdown of the pavement. It makes for a way prettier shot. (Plus we like fire trucks almost as much as we like helicopters). Lesson #10: We learned from our fearless director, Norry, that each member of a film crew has a ‘uniform’. Just like us agency folks are always cloaked in black, this is the typical uniform of a member of the art department. (And there’s no better AD than Amy, trust us.) Lesson #11: It’s intensely gratifying to cross that red marker through a shot in the storyboard. Fin! Lesson #12: A green screen can (and will) appear just about anywhere Lesson #13: If someone asks if they can use your car in a commercial or movie, think it through — because this is probably what they intend to do with it: < Lesson #14: Art directing is way better from the backseat of a truck. Your own chauffer. Police escort. A monitor-on-a-stick. Oh. And walkie-talkies. 10-4, good buddy. Lesson #15: Yes, we require constant supervision. Lesson #16: For some reason, talent gets nervous sitting on a bicycle, rigged to a trailer, being pulled through rush-hour downtown traffic by a dude she’s never met. We don’t get it Lesson #17: Apparently, we’ve been riding bikes the wrong way most of our lives. Lesson #18: It is not a good idea to drive like this. Lesson #19: In case you haven’t learned this yet, cameramen love to rig things whenever possible. Lesson #20: No, this outfit is not available in stores. (So, the shroud is to help her see with special lenses she wears to control the helicopter’s camera. It takes two people to shoot with a helicam — one person to operate the copter, the other to operate the camera. But only one gets to wear the outfit.) Lesson #21: It’s way more fun to shoot before a live studio audience. And it feels good to be inside the yellow tape for a change (as long as it’s not crime scene tape.) Lesson #22: It hardly feels like work when you get to hang out with people who are as nice as they are talented. (But that’s a lesson us Ten Adams folks learned long ago).

Comments

[jeremy morris]

Great post Sarah! Great ad too. Looked like a lot of fun to shoot and I'm sure it'll be a huge success for Christ.