10/05/2026
I think we should turn back.
When you get to use everything in your arsenal for a scene and it comes together better than you’d hoped, nothing feels better.
Back when I was a camera trainee for ICG 669 (only last year lolololol), I took advantage of being able to ask the several DPs questions about what they were doing and how. Many were eager to answer as they all love their craft! I used everything I knew about lighting direction, highlighting the background, colour, and motivation both from a story perspective and a technical lighting perspective I learned from them.
Fast forward to this summer: I get to DP and colour the opening film for the Forks Film Festival with my good friend Woodenball Studios. I had my Nanlite Canada Pavotube 30Cs out in full force, all the Aputure I had gathered, my oldest light I owned — the GODOX LIGHTING VL300, every single SHAPE - Camera Rig and Accessories stand and product I owned at the time, my EcoFlow Canada Dual Fuel Generator powered by propane to light the major lights, and every ounce of knowledge I had to light my first big, open forest, night scene.
With the help of Kostya, Daphne and 横山 敬祐 Keisuke Yokoyama, we lit this scene as best as possible. Lauren Carnahan and Lauren crushed their acting roles, helping perfect this scene we all worked so hard to throw together. My RED Digital Cinema and Nikon Canada Inc. Nikkor AI-S lenses were essential for bringing this all together too!
The craziest part? Kostya and I didn’t even sleep this night. I switched over from my handheld setup to my gimbal one, we packed my drones, and we hiked up the local mountain to Observation Point, and filmed the sunrise for our final scene.😤 Oh, then I drove to Vancouver from Christina Lake after a ten minute nap😅
Directed and edited by: Woodenball Studios
Cinematography and colour by: 👋🏼
Production and costume design by: Daphne who can’t be tagged
Composition by: Brandon Kootnekoff