EXPERIMENTS
As an exercise to improve my skills here are experiments I’ve attempted with various time or resource constraints.
Apple Unboxing Ad
The main rule was I had to finish today (May 18) and I couldn’t buy or rent anything. Just use what I have at home. I did not complete the full ad but got pretty far. To be fair the most heroic shot - the peel was not achievable with what I had. Also don’t start at 3pm - not as much light as you think even with just a few setups.
The main thing I learned is this ad was harder to make than it looks. Everything has to be done perfectly or it doesn’t achieve the right feeling. Getting the box to slide out slowly just right is a feat or great VFX.
Having more equipment also would not necessarily have helped except for the last two parts. A beard would have really helped and also jeans that are not raw denim. If I gave myself a budget and more than a few hours, I would have rented the Laowa probe lens and a rhino slider and then bought and returned an iPhone SE. That would have helped me complete it.
I did google for iPhone factory plastic seals but you can only buy those in bulk. And saran wrap just did not look good. I wanted to make this look as good as possible with what I have - not trying to be funny here, more of an exercise to see how far I can go with what’s available.
Sound and VFX are something I did not attempt here which probably make up half or more of the work? Then there’s the art direction, production design, casting, light etc. I only used available light but I probably could have done more negative fill in some areas and bounced for better light on the box. I also could have recreated the beams of light shining through and the lens flare but I cut things for time.
Also if this were a real ad I’d leave a bunch of legible things out but its a remake so I planted a few Easter eggs.
More and behind-the-scenes here.
In The Mood For Love
Getting this shot was not easy. A lil dunning-kruger reality check for sure. It took hours but I was camera, lights, set design, production, hair, wardrobe, all by myself. I also bought a shirt because I don’t own any collared shirts. When I got home realized its a short sleeve, whoops. Good thing it’s a tight shot. I also had to smoke about 4-5 clove cigarettes which really sucked.
I had incense burning too for more atmosphere but it kinda looked weird. I also don’t own a rotary phone and may have been able to get away without it but thought it was important for the shot to set the time period. In total there were about 30+ takes to get this one end result. Excited and stoked for this next year. Thanks to Shotdeck for having the reference in their database.
Parasite
First test of a scene from Parasite I want to try to recreate next. I have a video intercom too and think I can play all the parts myself. I do need to use a wider part of my apartment to get the distance right though. And I think I placed the camera too low, it should be up a tad and pointing at a downward angle? I am currently using one light but don’t think that it’s enough. Also need it to be softer. Will also need a second light or a big v-flat on the other side or in front maybe. I’m not going to get all the furniture obviously and sucks that I have white walls but not going to let that stop me from trying this exercise.