June 2, 2009 By Daron Keet

I recently finished shooting MerriMe, my latest web series feature comedy that is available at www.merrime.com on a computer near you.

It stars the Web Series co writers / creators/ actors Kaily Smith and David Weidoff, also starring Tom Arnold “True Lies”, Ryan Eggold “Beverley Hills 90210”, Tia & Tamera Darvette Mowry “Sister, Sister”.

The show plot centers around 20 something Merri Weisman threatened to be cut off her father’s trust fund if she does not find a real job. In a state of panic, she concludes that a husband not a job could save her. She signs up to every online dating website in her frantic race for suitable bachelor, setting into motion an hysterical online fun and games rollercoaster ride to the 21st Century alter, like the web has never seen.

This was my first collaboration with the projects talented, young, up and coming director Sherwin Shilati. When you share common cinematic sensibilities and passion with a director, for sure you try hanging onto those collaborative opportunities for dear life. I am always interested in utilizing every technique possible to enhance stories visually, thus elevating the audience’s emotional experience and a result, personal connection to the subject. As much as I use technique, my work strives to propel the story in an honest manner, without allowing the camera to draw attention away from the story itself. 

Filmmaking in essence is the art of story-telling through pictures and sound. Great stories are about “big ideas”. I have extrapolating this “big idea” concept into the personal approach of my cinematography work. On each new job, I throw myself into absorbing the script, the storyboards, the director’s treatment and the locations in an effort to figure out which “big idea” approach to incorporate, in my quest for crafting exceptionally work.

One of the biggest contributions I am able to make on each project I am attached, is ensuring we have the appropriate locations to stage scenes against. If I think a location is inappropriate, it is my responsibility as the cinematographer to let the director and producer know. Once locations are locked, another huge contribution I can make is picking the best time of day or night to shoot. Often schedules are dictated around actor availability, but in preproduction I am forever suggesting, cajoling or trying to influence my 1st ADs schedule around the sun’s schedule, as nothing can save money, speed up or enhance aesthetics quiet like taking advantage of perfect God–given light, or lack of light if required.

MerriMe was fortunate to be staged primarily in furnished luxurious Beverly Hills home, set against a spectacular Los Angeles city backdrop. My “big idea” approach for MerriMe was exposure efficiency. I figured that by using the fastest prime lenses available [Zeis T1.3] shooting wide open at T1.3 exposure, although challenging for focus, would require smaller lighting units, less electric cables, no generators, and most efficient use of crew. Lighting at very low light levels for big night scenes on MerriMe, not only speeded up lighting time required, but gave us wonderful opportunities to showcase the dimly exposed Los Angeles city that our location was juxtipositioned against.

MerriMe was shot on the Red One. I shot on both the daylight and tungsten modes, even though tungsten mode has a tendency to at times introduce digital grain, as the blue channel in that mode is not activated. I used many filters in order to control exposure and enhance in camera images as desired. I used a polarizer to saturate skies or control reflections when shooting at angles through glass or water. I used graduated neutral-density (ND) filters to control exposure. I used straight neutral-density (ND) filters to ensure I could shoot at T1.3, thus creating the shallowest depth of field possible. I also used a Tru-Cut IR-750 filter, which corrects the potential for color shift from the digital Red Camera’s chip.

Having chosen a small lighting package without big HMI’s, my next efficiency challenge was day exterior shooting. My solution was simple; shoot split days from 11 in the morning to 11 at night. Because we were shooting 3 scenes a day, split days ensured that only 1 scene would face the difficult challenges of harsh lighting when the sun is very high in the sky. The 2 scenes would because of the schedule planning be shot in low sun, magic light. I am always trying to get what I call my “Days of Heaven” magic-naturalism-moments, like when the late, great cinematographer Nestor Almendros shot that entire best Academy Award for cinematography award feature in gorgeous magic light. We would then shoot the 3’rd scene at night, my absolute favorite. Night shooting gives you the fullest control of every aspect of exposure. By also breaking up our days into 3 parts, harsh light period / magic light period / night light period, we where able to have crew to pre light for each scene ahead of time, as the peramentors of the external / natural elements where very much predetermined.

I feel that the artificial movie lights we use on film sets needs to mimic the color temperature and quality of light believable in the reality of the world we have created in the place and time of our stories. On MerriMe I primarily used tungsten fresnals, as much of the settings where motivated candle light, HMI with a 1/4 cto was used for exterior shots. I always joke with production when they ask me what lights I want to order. I tell them I am shooting available light. The always repeat available light thinking to themselves oh my goodness this cinematographer is saving us so much money in not ordering lights, Then I reply, yes available lights, all the lights I have available. This joke is not to be clever, but highlight and reinforce the concept that to even create magic naturalism require great technique, and lights, the direction of lights, the quality of lights and the color temperature of lights have infinite value in transporting images to their fullest emotional realizations. 

Our big idea on utilizing smaller lights, great locations, steadicam and cranes when required, and primarily efficiency of daylight planning allowed us to shoot 54 scripted pages in 9 days. 8 of those 9 days where by the way completed in 10 hours, with only one day going into overtime, a 14 hour day. We where averaging 30 set ups a day, not bad going considering most of the wides where executed with dolly or jib moves, while close up’s where executed on a slider, to keep even traditionally static set ups pulsating with energy.

When you next have 8 precious online minutes, please check out an episode at www.MERRIme.com

I think that you will be pleasantly surprised by the production value, quality and performance created for series intended for the web.

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Canadian actor Eric McCormack got his big break in 1998 playing Will Truman in NBC’s hit series “Will & Grace,” a role that earned him five Golden Globe nominations and the Emmy for Leading Actor in a Comedy. Now, McCormack – whose credits include “Lonesome Dove: The Outlaws Years,” “The Andromeda Strain,” and “The Music Man” on Broadway – stars in the new retro sci-fi thriller Alien Trespass.

In Alien Trespass, McCormack plays dual role: Ted Lewis, a nerdy science teacher, and the charismatic alien Urp who takes over Ted’s body. Did they pay him twice? “I guess they should have. Except that when I’m Urp, I’m inside Ted’s body, so I think they looked at it that way,” he laughs. This was the film debut for his director Bob Goodwin, who worked on “The X-Files.” Did that make him nervous? “No, because I’ve worked with a lot of directors who’ve done a lot of things and it doesn’t necessarily make them any better,” he told me. “And often a first-time director brings a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and desire. They’re not jaded.” I asked Eric about the actors strike, and he said the same thing so many people have told me – “I think it’d just be suicidal right now, with the economy the way it is.”

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Was chatting with Shawn Levy – the ultra-successful director whose next film Night at the Museum 2 looks likely to be another huge hit when it opens on Memorial weekend. He called me from the Fox lot where he was busy finishing post. Although a lot of people don’t know who he is, Shawn is very hot thanks to such hits as What Happens In Vegas, which starred Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher (the film grossed over $160 million worldwide to date), and the blockbuster Night at the Museum, starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney, which grossed over $580,000,000 worldwide. He’s also turning into a top producer, currently developing several films through his production company, 21 Laps Entertainment, which is based at Fox. These projects include Matchbreaker, Father Figure, Devil You Know, The Seems, and Back Magick for Fox; Me, Me, Me at New Line; and Overachievers and The Talent Thief for Universal. 21 Laps also produced the Fox release The Rocker, which stars Rainn Wilson (“The Office”). I asked him, “Does all this mean that you’re moving more into producing now?”

“Not really, I like producing, but mostly when it’s projects I direct myself, as then I’m really able to control the film and reduce any meddling!” he laughed.

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Just got a call from a friend at Sony who’s excited because British comedian Ricky Gervais is teaming up with the studio to shoot The Men at the Pru, which he’s co-writing, producing and directing with his “The Office” partner Stephen Merchant. Ricky will also play a small role in the coming-of-age tale about insurance men set in the ‘70s; and the film is set to start shooting later this summer on the lot. The busy Brit is also starring in Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian with Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Hank Azaria, Owen Wilson, and Steve Coogan, and has his directorial debut, This Side of the Truth, set for a September release by Warner Bros. Now, if he could just find time to host the Oscars next year, he could single-handedly bring it back to life…

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Bumped into a reporter from Reelz Channel who wasn’t too happy about his company’s recent decision to relocate from LA to Albuquerque. “It’s all down to money,” he said. “We shoot the show at LA Center Studios which is very convenient for covering everything in Hollywood, but the governor of New Mexico made us offer that they couldn’t refuse, so now we’ll be based at the Albuquerque Studios instead.” While he told me that the facility is “great,” he said, “There’s just nothing to do in Albuquerque.” He noted that because New Mexico’s big tax breaks are siphoning off shows and movies from LA, California will finally try and enact its own tax breaks – “but it’s too little too late,” he said.

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I was chatting with Dennis Quaid, an underappreciated actor who’s still going strong after over 30 years in the business. He was honored at the 2009 ShoWest Convention as “Male Star of the Year” and when you look down his long list of credits, you realize how accomplished is as an actor – notable roles include his emotional turn as a closet homosexual in 1950’s New York in the critically acclaimed 2002 film, Far From Heave; the title role of a high school baseball coach in Disney’s box-office hit The Rookie; Doc Holliday in the Western Wyatt Earp; an astronaut in the Oscar-nominated space epic, The Right Stuff.

“You just keep working and adapting – that’s the key in this business,” he told me, “You have to change.” Dennis, who’s always loved music (and gave a memorable performance as Jerry Lee Lewis in “Great Balls of Fire”), says he still plays with his band The Sharks “when I get the time – but I’ve been too busy working recently.” No wonder – he has 4 big new films due out this year. He recently finished production in Berlin for the horror film Pandorum, a story about a pair of crewmembers aboard a spaceship who wake up with no knowledge of their mission or their identities. Overture Films will distribute Pandorum in September. He also stars in the upcoming Legion – directed by Scott Charles for Sony Screen Gems – a dramatic thriller about a group of strangers stuck in a diner after a biblical apocalypse descends upon the world. He’s also one of the stars in the ensemble cast in the Paramount Pictures’G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, an action adventure feature by director Stephen Sommers. Quaid plays General Hawk, the head of an elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe. G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra is due out in August.

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I’ve talked to Michael Caine many times over the years, been to his Beverly Hills home when he lived here, and always found him to be one of the most entertaining people in the biz. He called me at home the other day for a piece I’m doing on him, and we caught up. He was at home in Box Hill, England, and told me it was “still too cold” to be out gardening – one of his passions. At an age – he just turned 76 – when most of his contemporaries have long since retired, Sir Michael – he was knighted in 2000 – is still going strong and has two big new projects; Is There Anybody There and Harry Brown coming out soon. He told me that he has “no intention of retiring” and says that acting is more fun for him now, “because I’ve got to an age where I don’t get the girl anymore, I get the part! So you no longer have the constraints of being a movie star, the part’s gotta be this big, I’ve gotta get the  girl. Now I can do what I like, and I only do things that I really enjoy.” With a career spanning over half a century and encompassing more than 100 films, the star is a two-time Academy Award winner - he won his first Oscar, for Best Supporting Actor, for his work in Hannah and Her Sisters, for which he also received Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations. He took home his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in The Cider House Rules, also winning a SAG Award and earning Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations. But although he’s worked almost non-stop throughout his career, he has had some down times, he told me. “ I took a long time off when I wrote my autobiography, and then I got lazy and I didn’t want to come back,” he admits. “Then when I wanted to come back nobody knew who the hell I was, I couldn’t get a job. Then finally I got Blood and Wine with Jack Nicholson, and Bob Rafelson, and that got me back.” And he hasn’t looked back since.

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For the past year or so a filmmaker friend, Justin Guerrieri, has been telling me about his debut feature project, a horror film titled Trail Of Blood. Now it’s almost done. Justin made it with his brother Joseph Guerrieri, a film instructor at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and Ventura College, They shot on the Red One camera, which the filmmakers chose for “its film-like 4k capabilities and its flexibility and ease of use in the field,” says Justin.  The Guerrieri Brothers edited the film, which they co-wrote and co-directed, at full resolution on their Mac in their home studio and sent the VFX shots to another old friend and ex-college roommate, Chris Redmann, now an assistant professor in Drexel Univeristy’s Digital Media Program where he’s using students to finish up the VFX. The indie, starring Robert Picardo (“Stargate: Atlantis,” “Star Trek: Voyager”) and Executive Produced by Joe Dante (MASTERS OF HORROR, GREMLINS, THE HOLE) is being produced by Matthew Hsu and Vero Shamo-Garcia. The film is scheduled to be released in 2009.

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Thanks to the huge success of Slumdog Millionaire — $125 million US domestic take so far — the British film industry is really kicking ass these days. Now The Weinstein Company (TWC) has acquired Nowhere Boy, the John Lennon coming of age story directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, starring Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Thomas Sangster, David Morrissey and Anne-Marie Duff. It tells the never before seen story of John Lennon’s (Johnson) childhood on the streets of Liverpool. Principal photography started this month on location in Liverpool and at Ealing Studios. The script was developed with the support of the UK Film Council’s Development Fund and the film will be produced by Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae for Ecosse Films (Brideshead Revisited).

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Natasha Richardson’s skiing accident and death was so tragic. I interviewed her several times over the years and she always was charming and fun to be around. She leaves behind a legacy of great performances on stage and in movies. Coincidentally, when I was in the Rocky Horror Show in London in the ‘70s, her mother Vanessa used to hang out backstage a lot, and then later when I moved to the U.S. and California, it turned out that Lynn Redgrave was our neighbor in Topanga. I’d often run into her on the trails hiking, before her marriage ended in a very nasty divorce and she moved back to England. What a terrible loss for the whole family…

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