The Magicians, week 4.

Looking towards downtown from Granville Island, one last little respite on the week-end before heading back to work on "the Magicians".
 

walking on the seawall of False creek, random flower shot.

and finish the week-end off watching the sunset at Spanish Banks.

and then back to make believe land, this is one of the sets at our studio that will act as the residence of one of the actors. I can't show or say much right now, the show will not air until next year.

speaking of make believe, this curtain is behind the set, and from a distance will look like a city back drop outside of the set.

later in the week I was busy heading out to the airport to pick up actors that are flying in for roles on our show. The first order of business is to stage at the "taxi stand" close to the airport. I then call a central dispatch and they assign me a  parking stall close to the arrival terminal to pick up my cast.

Today, the coveted number 1 spot, literally right ouside the arrivals door.

back in the smoking hot Okanagan, my brother-in-law sent me this picture of his chance encounter with this rattlesnake out in the bush in the area where he was working.

waiting for cast, I can see a diffrent kind of sunset, this time my view was at the back of a shuttle van.

as i have said before, once in awhile boredom sets in, this was a pic of my thumb on top of one of the cast van interior lights.

The outside of one of the sets inside the studio.

But it was not being used today, so the sheets came out to keep the dust off of everything.

In another area of the stage, there is the mighty "green screen". The actors do their magic, then the editors do theirs, making the back drop anywhere and anything.
It does not have to be green. The technique can be done using any color, even colors which are outside of the spectrum of human vision (as long as you develop a camera that can pick it up). Green is used often because it's easiest for most modern cameras to pick up, giving the editor the cleanest possible image. It's also a less common clothing color, meaning it's less likely to cause any embarrassing disappearing outfits. Blue was once common, but it's common in wardrobes and is a common eye color. Still, you can avoid this, and it's a good color to try because it shouldn't interfere with skin color. White is a bad color because it's common in wardrobes and eyes. Same for black, only add to that hair. Both of these play a strong role in lighting and shadowing. Avoid these. Red is a bad color because it's seen in your lips and mouth and your skin tone. To select a good color, pick one that's not going to be found on anything else in the scene. Almost neon colors work well because they're bright and strong. For materials, anything matte and flat is good. Shine, reflections, and heavy texture is bad. How does it work? With digital processing, it gives the editor a solid background that's easily removed by software. Speaking of which, most consumer video software with chromakey capability (Adobe Premiere for example) will allow you an option to select any color to be removed

The sun sets on the first three episodes, and 19 days of shooting for "the Magicians"

this week-end was one of the worst wind storms in the lower mainland. My place had no power for over 24 hours, and this tree was laying across my nomal route home.