Spotlight: DP Carter Fawcett
Join us on a commercial set for PlayStation Portal, shot by Carter Fawcett (@carterfawcett_dp) in the Enigma 3 Studio(@enigma3.rentals).
Enigma 3: Playstation is a really cool client, how was the project?
Carter: It was a rad job to be a part of, especially since it was here in Utah, so close to home. We had a pre-light day and then 2 days shooting in studio. We worked simultaneously for both a photo and video campaign. We built a living room on the stage, and then they wanted to mix these living room shots with tighter handheld shots of the device on green screen to place it in a variety of locations.
Enigma 3: How much prep did you do for this job?
Carter: I’m a big proponent of doing work in Pre-vis, and so for this job I built the set in the program using the exact paint color for the walls. The client wanted it to feel like dusk, so we set up two 1200s from the side windows with a bounce behind them for some ambient blue. And then we put an 8x8 soft box up top. And then we had sky panels on rollers that we pulled over as we needed them. I love having hit ready because on the pre-light day I can use my time more efficiently. And then my gaffer, Al Williams (@alanwilliamssr) came in and got everything set up beautifully and polished everything up for us.
Enigma 3: Product shots are a unique niche, how was this console?
Carter: The console was a little tricky, and this light set up just looks like a monstrosity in the photos. The console is the size of your hand and we want to give it a beautiful look and some shape, but when we set up edge lights we started to run into issues with the buttons. The buttons are clear, but the designs inside of them are opaque, so we were getting light pushing through the buttons and making shapes on the controller. It took a bit of finessing to get all of the lights right where we needed them to be. Product shots can be fun but it takes a lot of detail work.
Enigma 3: Tell us about your camera, what did you shoot on and why?
Carter: We shot on the Alexa35, I love the Arri system with their color science and their onset workflow. And for lenses we used the and we settled on the 16 mm DZO Vespid to give us a wide look at the console in hand but also enough of the living room to give us the environment. And then everything else we shot on some rehoused Zero Optik Nicors. The lenses were sharp but also gave a little character and softness. I really love the look of these lenses, one of my favorite sphericals.
Enigma 3: Thanks for taking the time and walking us through this project!
