The reason this blog is so rarely updated nowadays is that I’m the showrunner of Ren: The Girl with the Mark, an award-winning fantasy web series. I first joined the project in 2014 as DP for director and co-creator Kate Madison, then helped with post and various attempts to get the second season made, before […]
Genre Fantasy action series (4×15 mins) Directors Kate Madison, Christopher Dane, Jonnie Howard, Sophie Black Cast Oriana Charles, Alexander Hackett, Richard Zeman Release YouTube Tech specs 2.39:1, ARRI Alexa Mini, Cooke Classic S4 glass Marked by an ancient spirit and chased from her home village, Ren is now on the run with Hunter, a man […]
The reason it’s been so quiet on the blog here is that I’ve insanely taken on producing a no-budget fantasy-adventure web series, Ren: The Girl with the Mark. Readers with long memories may recall I was the DP on the first season way back in 2014, and got involved with post throughout 2015 and into 2016 […]
Film industry jargon isn’t shy of national references. A Dutch angle is a canted shot. To Spanish a piece of kit is to get rid of it (a corruption of “it’s banished”). To German a light – I think – is to lie the stand horizontal, attach the head, then raise the whole thing vertical. […]
Ren: The Girl with the Mark, the fantasy web series with over 8 million views and 14 international awards which I’m the DP on, is crowdfunding new episodes right now. Of all the projects I’ve ever worked on, there are few that I’m as proud of as I am of Ren. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mythica/ren2 Please head on over […]
Many light sources we come across today have a CRI rating. Most of us realise that the higher the number, the better the quality of light, but is it really that simple? What exactly is Colour Rendering Index, how is it measured and can we trust it as cinematographers? Let’s find out. What is […]
Season one of Ren: The Girl with the Mark has come to an end, and to ease the pain a little, here’s one last video breakdown of the show’s cinematography. This week I talk about the exterior scenes from daylight through sunset to night. Here is the lighting plan for the final scene: Check out the article I […]
On Tuesday the penultimate episode of Ren: The Girl with the Mark was released and so here’s my video breaking down the cinematography of that fourth episode. This week I cover lighting the guardroom and the prison cell, and demonstrate cross-backlighting. Here are the lighting plans for the guardroom and the cell: You may also be interested to […]
It’s the mid-point of season one of Ren: The Girl with the Mark and here’s my video breaking down the cinematography of that third episode. Topics covered this week include grip equipment, aspect ratio, smoke and faking candlelight. Here is the lighting plan for Ren’s bedroom: There is more on simulating firelight in my First […]
Here’s my video breaking down the cinematography of episode two of Ren: The Girl with the Mark. This week I discuss lighting Ren’s house, tweaking wide-shot lighting for close-ups, and depth of field. Here is the lighting plan for Ren’s house: And here is a video blog from the set of Ren’s house: Check out […]