For the first time, I got to work on a project that I may actually get to see on TV. Most of the projects have been internal corporate videos, but we shot commercial spots for Neumann University in Pennsylvania. I’m not sure whether they’ll air on television or simply be on the Neumann website.
All of the shots were outside, which in my small student film mind generally made setup easier, especially on sunny, clear days like the ones we shot on. They set up a large scrim to diffuse the sunlight around the subject of the interview, and would use bounce cards and other reflectors to add fill or key for the subject.
Every shot they had used a dolly. The cinematographer gripped that it wasn’t a very good dolly, but I was pretty impressed. It had the ability to run either on tracks or on the ground, and they had both straight and curved tracks.
My job was to hold the cords running to the monitor, where the producer were watching the shot. It was a very hot couple of days, as the temperatures got close to 100 degrees (especially the first day, when they told us not to wear shorts).
Here’s a picture of the dolly they used:
