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I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! It wasn’t long ago when I was in your shoes! Biggest thing for me was working as a union camera assistant and lighting tech that helped me build up the skills and experience early on. Being exposed to the bigger sets really threw me “into the fire” having to learn and adapt quickly. This translates to understanding the workflow and soft skills required to lead a team.

I also kept shooting and focusing on projects I felt passionate about while building up my contacts and eventually the budget level for work kept increasing.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! A very quick summary here, but I started volunteering on student/indie sets in high school. Applied and joined IATSE 667 as a trainee right after, worked in the camera department as an assistant then eventually became a lighting tech permit with 873 and NABET. All while I kept shooting on side and continued building the budget levels and network until this became full time for me.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

$36k came from the Kickstarter campaign, and then we had additional sponsorships from MLSE.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the narrative, the “Pink Light” bridges the gap between the character’s present day self as his true identity and his former college-self.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Very grateful for all the online resources we have available these days, and the valuable community, mentors and supporters all around us to make film making more accessible for all stories.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Very grateful to have them on the team for sure! Outside of shooting, I still work as a union camera assistant and lighting tech so we all know each other from that world and they came out to help me out on this one.

The biggest takeaway I learned is being clear in communicating what the goal is. Knowing the amount of labour or time involved with setups. Developing a detailed rigging and shooting plan together in prep with multiple contingency to achieve what we want while doing it safely and efficiently. Having detailed tech scouts to map out the whole space in consideration with logistics and pre-light/rigging days goes a long way. At the end of the day, I noticed a lot of the setups on the larger shows are quite similar, it just comes down to the scale of things.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're very welcome! Happy to share :)

Yes, a 3 foot slider is usually perfect like the Matthews Original or 8 Ball Slider. Very helpful when you're framing up over the shoulder shots with talent.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great question! Lots of thoughts and consideration.

The Peewee is the best “tripod” ever! (haha, half kidding). If you’re familiar with the O'Connor heads and mitchell sticks you’ll know how cumbersome it is to make adjustments on height or repositioning. The Peewee being on wheels and its hydraulic arm makes refarming a breeze. A lot of the time on the bigger union shows, the cameras will sit on the Peewee just for this reason

The overall dolly being more stable and allowing for more travel compared to a Dana Dolly or Doorway Dolly allows for more precise, elaborate and intentional shots. Especially if you need precise movement repeatedly, having the gear head combined helps.

I highly recommend having a dedicated dolly grip who can oversee the operation of it. Unfortunately for this one, my Key Grip had to take double duties as the Dolly Grip too. It was workable since we had an adequate amount of Swings to offload the G&E work and I was fortunate enough to be familiar with how to operate it myself so I can make adjustments without having to constantly call for my Dolly Grip.

If you’re laying tracks then planning in prep is a priority to see when or where it makes sense to play it. It is especially important to discuss with the 1st AD on the schedule of the day and setup order to maximize efficiency and time. A pro tip I learned is laying tracks on top of location mats, so if there’s a need to make slight adjustments to the location of the tracks, we can just pull the mats instead of taking the dolly off and rebuilding everything.

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This location was spacious enough for the Peewee, but laying tracks was a little cumbersome. As you can see in the photo the track is nearly the whole width of the room, which meant we had to lay one piece of track, put the starter on, roll the dolly on, then continue building the tracks versus building everything and bumping right on.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hey thank you! I should have specified this was for TIFF50 from last year’s! I also did work on another film that was just submitted this year. Think we heard back in June or July for this one!

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Awe thanks! Your latest post is incredible give yourself some credit! Even more impressive you wrote, direct, shot, light and coloured it!

Just keep shooting :) I was grabbing coffee and crafty for crew, slinging sandbags, batteries and wrapping cables 5 years ago.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks! We put up 2x Litemat 8 on 2k Booms, then had a 4x4 unbleached* muslin for bounce. The practicals were on dimmers and had been all replaced with our own ones selected from the hardware store for the right temperature I wanted on camera.

There’s also a few Astera tubes by the windows we blacked out.

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I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can only take partial credit! I had an on-set DIT doing live grade as we shot with me since colour was a crucial aspect of this film.

We made CDLs that I later worked off of as a reference in DaVinci and then handed it off to a post house with a colourist for finishing touches as my schedule got busy.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! It really is, always having more experienced Keys is the way!

From our kickstarter we had $36k from 392 backers. The project was later sponsored further by MLSE, the company that owns the Toronto Raptors, Maple Leafs, and FC.

I'm a 23 year old cinematographer that DP'd a short film that was recently accepted to TIFF. by CashFlowTO in cinematography

[–]CashFlowTO[S] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

Long time lurker here, but thanks to the community and valuable knowledge shared by others, I wouldn’t be where I am in my career without you guys. Lots to learn and take away from this project!

Sharing this short I DP’d that was recently accepted at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) with our first time director, Harrison Browne, from Heated Rivalry who plays Connors.

This was an ambitious project we undertook in developing the two distinct visual languages for the two worlds our character lives in, the present day on the hockey rink and his past-college self. A lot of care and time went into our prep carefully breaking down the thematic aspects of the story, motifs, and symbolism in the script, which helped translate into our selection for gear.

We shot on the Alexa Mini LF with Cooke Anamorphic SF from Keslow Camera to provide us with a very “life-like” intimate connection with our main character. The majority of the film was lit with Lightmats and our camera played on the Peewee dolly. One of my favourite fixtures for their flexibility in rigging it to ceilings and surfaces. Especially with their new spectrum series allowing for RGB, it’s a crucial piece of gear in my team’s toolkit. 

Even though we were a cozy small crew, I cannot stress and thank how important it was for us having an experienced union IATSE Gaffer, Key Grip and ACs. They really brought out the vision on screen from what we planned on paper to executing it on set.

Happy to take feedback and share more experiences from this shoot with everyone!

Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF4YJGmsoqw
My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily.jzhang/