Behind the Scenes: Desert Wasteland

Here's a peek behind the scenes of Desert Wasteland Day 3:

Joseph Inveire captures sound as the Camera Hogs crew surrounds the car

Our third day began on a bright and early morning on a ranch in the desert.

In this scene, our main character Melania Jovino (aka M.J played by Jade Diaz) is castigated by two men of the cartel, El Jefe and El Ocho(Basil Pena & Richard Beserra).

Levi Hart bounces light onto Jefe as Marilyn Brindis captures a POV shot

Two cameras (Rubio and Brindis) were used to film this scene from different angles inside and outside of the car. The scene begain with Rubio on a crane from atop a sandy hill and Brindis covering shots from inside the car.

Natural light and bounce boards were used to light our actors.

Script supervisor Melissa Aragon attentively watches the scene

The scene flowed smoothly the entire morning, ending with Rubio on a steadycam and Brindis getting static close-ups.

 

 

 

After a nice 5 hour break, the crew was back to work for our second desert scene...This time at night.

 

 

Positioning cars for the shot

Our desert night scene was our toughest scene yet. 

Our first obstacle was figuring a way to effectively light the scene, as we were unable to obtain a quiet and reliable generator that could power sufficient light.

We instead improvised using headlights of cars, a large fire, and very low lens aperatures.

   

Actors rehearse around the fire while cars get into position

By positioning the cars in a half circle around the fire, we were able to capture desirable high contrast lighting to fit this intense scene.

After a long and careful application of makeup, (courtesy of Gary Vau Jr.) actor Kasey Seats is ready to be mangled... "Playing the lead role of Steve is completely different than my other roles," Seats remarked. In this scene Steve gets wiped out by MJ and her cronies. "I like being the bad guy for once."

Actor Kasey Seats gets the beating of a lifetime

Our scene seemed to be flowing nicely until we ran into another obstacle... The cars could not sustain the light for as long as we needed- batteries began dying. We began a system of running cars between takes and jumping the ones that needed it.

What a great crew and cast! We were able to shoot this intensly lit scene thanks to everyone's much appreciated effort and work!

 Camera Hogs gives a huge thanks to everyone that came out and helped work on this set!