The Last Hope
The last job of 2020 for me was not only great fun to shoot, but introduced me to a great location in Toronto. Shot at Harry's Steak House, this pitch piece is being used to pitch the full show to a few different networks.
Michaela Wright and her team have had this powerful and engaging concept in the fires for some time now. After speaking with Michaela about the project and seeing the original pilot they had made, this was something that I very much wanted to be a part of.
From the outset, I knew it was the right decision to shoot anamorphic. Ideally something with a fairly clean feel, sharp and modern, which led me to settle on the Atlas Orion Anamorphic.
After scouting the location, I could tell that this was a location where the practicals were going to play a lot! the design of the restaurant was a perfect fit for what we needed, and I wanted to show as much of the location as possible.
After taking a few measurements, to be able to utilise on the practicals already installed, I would either need some faster lenses or a very light sensitive camera. Since I had settled on the Atlas Orion's, I decided that the Red Gemini would be a perfect combination for this need.
After numerous tests, we shot in low light mode at 1600 ISO, allowing me to close down to my desired T4 stop on the lens (for some extra depth) and still utilising a lot of the practicals without too much addition of our own lighting.
The overhead fixture had the potential for so much intensity, that we decided to use this and diffuse and gel from inside the lamp. in addition, we had a Kino Freestyle pushing through a 6x6 1/2 silk as a soft fill from the far side, and that was it at the table! Bounces and solids were used to shape further on each shot change.
Want to know more about the setup? Add me on Instagram and ask away! @everittlock
Daniel Everitt-Lock, Cinematographer, Toronto