Bloodlust

09 April 13

Posted at 2:08

I spent much of the last three months of 2012 working on a constructed photography project. It involved creating 'film stills' using studio and/or flash to created the desired lighting effect. I really enjoyed the project so you can imagine my delight when I was invited to be the stills photographer on a film shoot. Aniko Madi the film's producer invited me through a friend. Aniko is one of the founders of Kormorant Pictures     (currently under construction) and here on Facebook

So bright and very early on Saturday morning I headed south of the river to darkest Blackheath. 

The day was to be spent filming the main scene of a short movie called Bloodlust. The scene is a Fight Club run by men who are over 40 so too old to go to war (WW2). They let out their frustrations and pent up emotions at one sided fight clubs. The main character is Albert who watches the fight from the back. I believe there will be a voice over narration of his thoughts.

I arrived hoping the 'drama hall' we were shooting in would have fantastic lighting so the understandable 'no flash' rule in my brief would be of little consequence. Wrong! The fight club would have been in a dark area with bright lights picking out the fighters only, so the set was lit accordingly. Also shooting whilst filming is taking place brings a further challenge, even though Nikon provide a quiet shutter option it can still be picked up when the film set is quiet. So real world film stills were going to be miles away from last years 'constructed photography'.

My brief was to capture some stills, get some images for the actor's portfolios and capture some behind the scenes shots of the crew.

Here is a glimpse of the results..

The cast...

The Fighter

Charles Burns - the victor in the fight scene

Untitled

Simon Dawkins - the loser in the fight scene

Albert 1

"Albert" centre played by Chris Platz aka Roxy

Paul Stephen Spratt

Paul Stephen Spratt

Billy Loveridge

Billy Loveridge

Mark Sweet 

Mark Sweet

Bill Hannan

Bill Hannan

Brian Stewart 2

Brian Stewart

David Bewsher

David Bewsher

Sean Hannan

Sean Hannan

Next some images of the fight scene..

Untitled

/

Untitled 

/

Fight Club 2

/

Fight Club 4

/

Fight Club 8

/

Untitled

and finally the loser is knocked out

Out Cold

Well as you can see make up is important.

Make Up

Above Fiona Alexander does some on set repairs to the fighters face. Meanwhile...

The Director

....the director Roozbeth Tavakoli gives instructions to the fighters of exactly how he would like the scene to go. As I assume is a sign of a

good director Rooz went about his business in a calm but positive manner commanding respect from all around him.

The Cameraman

Also calm and displaying confidence throughout the day was cameraman Rupert Hopkins

Over my Dead Body

Rooz and assistant director/soundman Joe Watkins calmly discuss progress whilst Simon Dawkins remains out cold on the floor.

Technical Hitch

Camera Rupert Hopkins, DOP Nik Nemeth and Producer Aniko Madi deal with a technical hitch but quickly things are under way again..

DOP

/

Filming 3

/

Filming 1

/

I was impressed of just how smoothly and efficiently the day, the long day, went exactly to plan. What a professional bunch Kormorant Pictures are! I trust that my images are up to the mark and I look forward to shooting with them again.

I'll finish with just one more image of Fight Club..

Fight Club 5

 

 

 

 

 

5 Comments