There was a key scene in towards the end of the film which required us to shoot 2 actors driving away in a car.  Their interaction and expressions were a key element in the scene. 

To accomplish this we used a panther multirig.  This allows mounting of a tripod head on 3 heavy suction cups.  We mounted it on the hood of the car for a straight 2 shot of the driver and passenger.  A couple of issues came up,  First the interior of the car was distractingly dark.  Second the windshield had too much of a glare to allow a good shot.

If the glare wasnt an issue we could have worked with exterior lights to help bring up the levels.  Besides the glare we didnt really have enough power to light a large enough area.  So we decided to mount a 575 HMI on the hood of the car.

To accomplish this we use a clever combination of maffers, cardellinis, hollywood arms and sound blankets to mount the light off center.  Then we ran stingers for about 250 feet of run for power for the light and coiled it up ready to follow the car.  A grip ran on the side of the car uncoiling the cable as he went during the shoot which was quite tricky to do while staying out of frame.  Where was the ballast?  In the back seat with the window open to allow the header cable to reach the light.

To add a additional hitch we couldnt monitor the shot because of cabling issues.  So we rolled the camera, did a shot.  Prayed and then reviewed.  The shot turned out great. 

In case you are wondering sound was captured by wireless lavs.

This was a great collaboration of camera, grip and electric to create a shot which doesnt stand out but is very effective in what it needed to portray.

When shooting PJ scheduling limitations forced us to shoot most of the nightime scenes during the day.  While much of the film occurs indoors this still presented some creative and logistical problems.

I enjoy using the concept of strong moonlight when using creative nightime lighting.  Especially HMI light which has such a sharp beautiful quality.  Since a lot of the film occurs in Dr. Shearson's office we had office blinds to work with as a concept.  The easiest option would have been to close the blinds and locked out the outside light.  However, this would creatively limit us to lighting with interior lighting. 

This led to a daily task that the grips on set learned to dread.  We had to create a lighting tent outside the window to block out the daytime light and allow us to put up a 1200 watt HMI far enough and high enough from the window to create a nice moonlight effect.  Normally we could create the tent with duvytene and frames.  But we actually were at a shortage of these materials and ended up having to build it from material, stands, frames and anything else we had on hand.  Moreover we had to build this everyday and take it down at night in case of high wind.  This took about an hour on each end at first but then by the end could be accomplished in a half hour.

Having the right materials would have made this easier.  Even easier would have been to have shot night for night but alas that schedule was not possible at the location.  But in the end the moonlight through the blinds added a great moody look to the office scenes.