Breakdown: From the Ashes

Where to begin?

Overall, this piece for me was a departure as to how I typically tell stories. In the past I have typically followed the “confessional style formula.” Translated, sit the person down in front of the camera, have them look into it and just let them talk. Certainly there are pro’s to that style, and I’ve used it for quite some time, but there is a degree of control that is lost. You just kind of get whatever individual is able to muster up to say. Let’s face it, the lights and camera are intimidating.

So, we decided to go with a scripted format. To accomplish this, we put in some checks to make sure the story remained as authentic as it was told to us. We met with the couple on several occasions before we ever started shooting. We talked to them on the phone, met with them in person twice, and several follow-up conversations. Also, we had each Jennifer and Jason write down their story in their own words from their own separate points of view. The script was then comprised of the notes we took in our meetings with them as well as literally copying and pasting statements from the stories each of them wrote down. Then we sent our completed script to the couple to make sure the integrity of the story remained and they were comfortable with it overall. After all, this was their story.

This was also the first time that I have cropped a heavily shot piece like this to give it bit of cinematic flare. This was a decision I didn’t make until towards the very end of my work in post. It was just a curiosity that turned into action. So I didn’t shoot for the crop, but you can offset your footage using Final Cut’s widescreen video filter.

Also was the first time using the Glidetrack. It’s a fantastic piece of equipment and I’d recommend getting ahold of one just to play with it to see what you can do.

This was an extremely heavy B-roll piece. In some ways, the A-Roll become the B-Roll. But the imagery needed to tell the story as much as their words. We shot over a three day time period. Two days devoted to b-roll, and and an afternoon capturing their story. Shot on the Canon 5D MKII using the Canon 50mm f/1.4, Canon 24-70mm f/2.8, and the Canon 70-200 IS f/2.8.

I used only two lights for the whole shoot. Two KinoFlo Diva lights with interchangeable bulbs depending on the setting. The rest was natural light, and I really like the look that I got using it.

It took three days to edit and color the piece. Edited using Final Cut Pro. Colored in After Effects. The music was composed by Davis Harwell, and he did a phenomenal job.

Here are a few before and after style frames from the coloring:
Here’s a quick look at the coloring breakdown for this frame.