@missbeane had a dream. She wanted to memorialize the cast of “NCIS,” the longest running drama currently on CBS (18 years) inside their iconic diner.
But there were caveats…
We’d have to shoot on production day. We’d be photographing the cast in smaller groups, as they were available. For one of the cast members we’d have to use existing artwork. We’d need to see as much of the diner as possible and pull in as much ambient as possible. And we’d need to shoot both a vertical and a horizontal.
And we’d need to do another diner-exterior group. And we’d need to shoot singles of everyone on seamless.
Who ya gonna call? The tireless, inventive, @jtergo to finesse the light.
And it was a job that required the production coordination talents of the fearless @samanassefi. It was a job that required the organizational skills of @evanmulling. And the light building skills of @nd_lei, @dylan_catherina and intern @gasper_white. And the digital teching of @mariatroncosogibbs. And the photo gear of @screamingbroccoli. There is no OMG in “team” but there should be.
Scout the diner. Find the shot. Find the ambient. Add three beauty dishes outside the diner to add to the ambient. Add a large Photek umbrella outside the diner to light up the talent in the second booth and then add a small Photek or a small, gridded @chimeralighting soft box to individual talent as needed. Add a fill card as needed as well. Set the Canon R5 for the horizontal and squeeze in the Hasselblad H5 for the vertical.
Use stand-ins to figure out where talent will sit, lean or stand. Give the talent eyelines in order to tell the story of the coming season. Get the talent to perform the same look for both the horizontal and the vertical. Be ready to jump into or out of the diner at a moment’s notice as talent availability will change as the production schedule evolves.
And…make sure that you are fulfilling the vision of @missbeane and the design requirements of @danishkids and @hello__its__bre!
Many, many thanks to everyone at NCIS. We had almost every department massively supporting our team and helping us make this shot possible.
@ncis_cbs @cbstv #ncis
And the result? A CBS original! The key art for Season 18 of “NCIS,” the longest running drama currently on CBS, beat out only by “Lassie” at 19 years and “Gunsmoke” at 20 years!
That’s Wilmer Valderrama, Sean Murray, newcomers Katrina Law and Gary Cole, Rocky Carroll, Diona Resonover, Brian Dietzen, David McCallum, and in the power booth, Mark Harmon…in Elaine’s diner which sits just outside the soundstages at Santa Clarita Studios where the show is in production.
This was a fairly complex shot that was part of a fairly complex shoot that involved two groups and eight singles all while the show was in production.
The diner group was shot in four pieces and added one of the talent in post (from pre-existing art work). At the last minute we added and photographed the waitress at far left and the anonymous patron exiting at top right…just to give the scene a sense of movement.
While I have many people to thank for their collaboration on this project I have to shout out @samanassefi who made the whole production run on time…from crew testing to talent scheduling. Amazing.
@jtergo managed the lighting on a grey seamless (two looks), outside the diner and inside the diner where he hand held a number of different sources as we finessed the smaller groups within the bigger group.
@evanmulling managed client expectations and my wanting to be in three places at once, all while melting in the 98 degree heat.
And of course the miracle worker @angiemariehayes who comped and masked and dodged and burned color corrected and built and extended and light-shifted this file seamlessly.
And thank you to @strixdigital for nailing the vertical so beautifully!
Since the show aired in 2003 I’ve been fortunate to have photographed the cast a few times, and I’ve included a few of those oldies, if you swipe left.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to @missbeane, @hello__its__bre and @danishkids for their inspired collaboration!
#markharmon @wilmervalderrama #wilmervalderrama @therealseanhmurray @katrinalaw @briankdietzen @dionareasonover #garycole #rockycarroll @ncis_cbs @cbstv
