Spotlight: Utah Gaffer Brett Weidmann

Come on set with us to meet Brett Weidmann (@beardedlightguy). Brett was the gaffer on ‘Dusty Bluffs,’ a series filmed in rural Utah this summer and produced by Rad Content (@radradcontent).

Enigma 3: What was the inspiration for the look of this project? It’s got a very unique tone to it!

Brett: The inspiration behind the look of the project was sepia tone desert. We pulled from a lot of western films. We decided to go for this warm tobacco, arid feeling.

Enigma 3: Tell us about one of your favorite scenes to light.

Brett: The scene is two dudes in an RV at night having a conversation. So it’s night interior in the RV, and then they get interrupted by what they think is the police.

These lighting set ups were really fun. For the exterior we built a moon box on a Condor. The key grip, Sam Blaze, built this out for us. We put a couple of sky panels inside and a layer of diffusion. And then we operated the light from my iPad, which was wonderful.

Lighting for RV interiors was a challenge. This RV is from the 80s, and it’s a small tin can. We were running 2 cameras and 2 main characters so there just wasn’t a ton of room for lighting. We had a set of the Aperture MC pros that had just come out and they were perfect for this scenario. They’re lightweight and they’re magnetic. So I was able to tape washers wherever I needed them and then we can stick the lights on where we needed them. We leaned on these MC pros for most of the lighting in this RV. We also installed a baby-pin in the ceiling behind the driver so we could install lights as we needed right there behind him. My best boy, Cody Romero (@analog.mp), is a good friend and we go way back. We were a can of sardines in that van but we made it work.

Enigma 3: What is one of the most useful tools you used on this set?

I used my color meter more on this project than any other project before. On ‘Dusty Bluffs,’ I pulled it out every day. We worked in a lot of different lighting on location. Every room was different so I could read the color in every room and then match whatever lights we were bringing in.

It was a really great crew and very fun to work with.