The Covet – Shoot #3
Well, it was a great night of shooting at the Trader’s Pawn Shop in Central Florida. We had a decent crew of about 6 amazing hard working individuals. I learned the importance of an First AD to keep me on track with the shot list. Usually, I wear that hat as the director.
Our location was a pawn shop so we made the most of our set design with all the items that were there. We found a traffic light that plugged in and a slot machine that was turned away from the cameras. We turned the slot machine around and plugged it in.
As for the lights, we used mostly practicals and a few of our lights. Since it was such a large space doing it this way was such a time saver. The cases below the talent also had lights in them which helped. We found a Budweiser lamp that is used for pool tables that was hanging but not plugged in. We needed an area that was dark for an insert shot so we turned that on and it solved it.
The main fluorescent lights we turned off 2 of the 4 sections and unscrewed light bulbs closest to the walls so it was low key. It gave the pawn shop a sketchy feeling and made the areas we hazed very textured feeling. We also added some long skirts to the fluorescents to keep the light contained and off the walls again. You can see the fabric here in this picture and it was just weed blocker for your flower beds. You can pick up a roll at Lowe’s for like $30. Way cheaper than fabric.
The hazer we used was the bug fogger again and I’m loving that tool more and more as I use it. I know it’s not super pro but it does a better job that $2,000 hazers I’ve used in the past. The oil suspends in the air for far longer and it’s only $2 a bottle at Walmart.
We shot from 6pm to 12am. I was concerned we wouldn’t make all the shots on the list but we only had the place for one night. Found out that one of the ladies who worked there has a son in LA who was a producer of the film “Waiting” with Ryan Reynolds. Ryan agreed to shoot that film as he began his career for free just so he could show what he could do. The rest you know.
