Lately, Waco has felt like a second home to me. A few months ago I was down there shooting a pilot. Just a week ago I was back to shoot some pick-ups. This time I found myself in Waco, TX shooting a sizzle reel for a potential reality show. Rockin’ a HDX-900, a few Go Pros, and a MYT Slider, I got to work.
While I can’t tell you exactly what I was shooting because, well, that’s top secret. I can talk to you about equipment, set up, and share some pictures and screen grabs. It was a two-day shoot. We spent the first day following our subjects around. We went mudding with them on their ATVs. I attached a few Go Pros to their recreational vehicles. We got some really cool shots.
Later we filmed them enjoying a BBQ. The night ended with a huge bonfire scene. All of our subjects gathered around to enjoy the fire and each other’s company. To add some depth to the night shots of the bonfire scene I lit the house in the background. I used a 600w open face on the garage and a 1K on the house it’s self. I just wanted there to be something settle in the background instead of complete darkness.
The second day was all about shooting interviews. The producer wanted the interviews outside so I got out a couple of HMIs. After figuring out the background I set up a scrim and locked that down. I used a 400w HMI as the key and a 200w as a backlight. We literally spent the entire day shooting interviews. Afterwards, with only a few minutes left of sunlight, I pulled out the MYT Slider and shot some “Hero Shots” of the entire cast in a nearby field. We ended the day with a scene at a local bar. It was then time to hit the road and head back to Dallas.
I had a blast shooting this sizzle reel. In fact this was my first time shooting one. It’s not much different from shooting a pilot or reality show. I’m looking forward to the prospect of this getting green lighted for a pilot. That would be awesome.
