Synopsis: A pair of students are beginning to film a documentary about a social media health guru, but come to realize she isn’t what she portrays herself to be online.

Note: The film has not been published as of yet; production is still in progress. However, all planning has been completed and enough is here to show my work on this project as the DP. The Editor of this production, Doug Tefft, cut 3 scenes for me to present. What else will be presented are my blocking and lighting diagrams, the gear used,

Overview

The script for this film was presented to me and some friends who work at Media Creation on campus. I was selected to be the Director of Photography (Cinematographer). The Director of this production is Lura Shultis. I read the script multiple times, and had a separate goal I wanted to accomplish for each read; a technique I learned from a recently published book by Shane Hurlbut, ASC (Fix It In Prep: A Cinematographer’s Nine-Step Script Breakdown). As the DP, it was a goal of mine to tell the story in way it could be told easily if it were a silent film. This led to much planning, rehearsing, and great execution with the help of my wonderful crew.

Reading the Script

There are two main characters of focus in this film. Kiera, one of the students, and Sabin, the social media health guru. Kiera is a pushover, shy, and is one who questions things a lot. Sabin, is a calculated but chaotic person. This is what I came to figure out after reading the script as an audience member, and while figuring out which characters we needed to focus on.

Kiera’s character, performed by Alexis Vanleuven (above); Sabin’s character, performed by Chaise Dodson (below)

After gathering these attributes between these two characters, I decided to set rules in place, so that when I break them, they have more emotional impact to the audience. For Kiera, I set the rules that we would film at a little bit of a downward angle towards her, while keeping the aperture wide open, using a longer lens, and shooting handheld. This way, we show her in a more isolating, tense way. She is truly alone in this whole story, which is another reason I chose to use a wide aperture.

For Sabin, I chose quite the opposite. I set the rules that we would film a little bit of an upward angle towards her, keeping the aperture more closed (the above image doesn’t show this, its an important rule break moment), using a wider lens, and shooting on sticks (tripod). Here, I wanted her to feel grounded, that she is in control of everything that is going on, and that this is her world we are in, hence using the wider lens to show more of her space.

Above: A conversation between Sabin and Kiera, showcasing the rules set between them.

I discussed the proposed rules I set with our Director Lura, and we agreed that this is how we were going to shoot it. I needed to get crew positions filled while actors were being found. I needed a 1st AC, 2nd AC, Gaffer, Key Grip, and other grips. These roles were quickly filled thankfully.

Planning the Shots

In order to make the lives of the cast and crew, I drew out diagrams for blocking and lighting when needed for each scene, with attached shot lists. This way, everyone was on the same page of what was going to be shot and how.

Above: The blueprint of scene 8 with some of the shot list visible. I color coded each character on here so everyone knew who was who. Sabin’s purple, Kiera is blue, and Max (the other student) is orange.

When actors were found, Lura and I rehearsed blocking with them. This way, while we were on set there would be much less stress and a lot more prep. Lura and I discussed the blocking for each scene, and I drew out the diagrams on white boards so the actors could get a visual of what they would be doing.

Above: Working on blocking with actors

Location scouting was a huge deal, as we needed the right space that will work to tell the story. Lura and I went location scouting, along with logistical help from our Assistant Director, Josh Hendricksen. For the outdoor scenes, we chose a campground in Herriman State Park, ID. For the Motel scenes, we chose the Motel 8 in Rexburg, ID (We are grateful to the owner of giving us permission to film there).

Executing Plans

With the rules in place, diagrams made and the crew selected, I could now choose the best scenes in the script to break them (the rules, not my crew). This was a goal of one of the reads of the script (Shane Hurlbut, ASC). One of these instances of breaking the rules was when Sabin attacks Kiera in the woods, trying to perform some type of evil healing spell on her. To show more of the chaos of this moment, I decided to shoot this moment at a 45 degree shutter angle, and handheld. I wanted to show an in camera effect of showing that the spell was complete, so I decided that while recording, we were going to transition back to the regular 180 degree shutter angle. I quickly realized how hard it would be to execute. The issue with changing the shutter angle is that our exposure changes, leading to an unusable image in most cases. We needed to compensate for the exposure change by using a Variable ND Filter.

In this case, I planned on having my 1st AC (Daniel Sorenson) follow me as I was moving with the actors, and my 2nd AC (Justin Marquadt) lay down on the ground out of frame, ready to turn the variable ND filter when the time was right. To our great surprise, we got it within two takes. The power of tech rehearsals is a huge one.

The cast and crew ended up camping in Herriman State Park for the weekend so that we could film all of the outdoor scenes. It was a success.

These photos are from when we shot scene 8, with the shutter angle pull. These BTS photos are courtesy of Reilly Cook.

Top: Me discussing plans again with Director Lura Shultis; 2nd: Me discussing plans with my crew; Middle: Me and my 2nd AC, Justin, rehearsing the ND pull; 4th: The execution of the scene; 5th: Looking at the result

Below are stills taken from the Motel Scenes:

Lighting wise, I used the lamps as practical keys, and filled their shadow just slightly with another light out of frame. This is when Kiera and Max are doing an introductory shoot before they head out to Sabin’s place.

Scenes

Below are the scenes talked about. Scenes 2, 6, and 8 are shown. Half of scene 8 is shown here. The film is set to release during the 7 week break between Spring and Fall semester.

Note: Because of compression, possible gamma changes, and different monitor profiles, these previews may not look like the final look of the film. These were colored by me, who is also serving as the colorist for the whole film. Also, during Kiera’s monologue, B roll of Sabin prepping their arrival will be inserted there.

Reflection

This production has taught me a lot. It taught me that I can lead a team of a production crew during a higher stakes narrative. It taught me a lot more about collaboration with the director than I already had. Overall this has taken over 250 hours to do so far. This is what I want to do, to be a Cinematographer for film and television. I want to tell stories through the lens, since I am not the most eloquent person in the world. I have been blessed with the best crew I could ask for, who are diligent in all the work that they do. This project has helped me for the world of film production, and I can’t wait to see where this work takes me. Thank you for reading about this project.

Christian Martinez | Cinematographer

Cameras used: Sony FX3, iPhone 17 Pro, DJI OSMO Action 4

Lenses: Cooke SP3 32mm & 50mm

Cast and Crew

Director: Lura Shultis

Producer: Lura Shultis

Director of Photography: Christian Martinez

Production Designer & Art Director: Lyd Rigtrup

1st AD: Josh Hendricksen

Editor: Doug Tefft

Assistant Editor: Natalie White

Prop Artist: Ricky

Kiera: Alexis VanLeuven

Sabin: Chaise Dodson

Max: Brandon Baldwin

Callum: Carson Bodrero

Terra: Lura Shultis

1st AC: Daniel Sorenson

2nd AC: Justin Marquadt

Gaffer: Devin Shanklin

Grips: Natalie White & Doug Tefft

Colorist: Christian Martinez