Lighting long tracking shots - Cinematography Breakdown

[@BryanBirks]

I’m not even in film or video but I am a photographer and I love your no bullshit approach. Keep doing you, Lewis.

[@YuvalAloni]

Ladies and gentlemen, he's back.

[@SeanMarsalis]

Won't lie. The way that she stepped out of that car I thought she was about to deliver an ass whooping to somebody. Thanks for all the insight, Lewis.

[@lewispotts]

😂

[@myronwatkinsii1915]

Some of the most informative videos from someone who actually knows what he's talking about. Bravo.

[@carlosdlguerra]

There are so many good tips in just 7 minutes and such a "simple" shot, thank you so much

[@BlaineWestropp1]

he's back!

[@KenFlanagan]

You had me at hello. Your best video yet imo for so many reasons. Practical simply told problem solving on a budget and making the Komodo look great. A bit of post that all makes so much sense and is equally straightforward as the shoot. Grade reference perfect and perfectly done. Bravo and thx. Always a pleasure.

[@lewispotts]

Thanks Ken!!

[@paulconway1176]

Thanks I lost my passion for wanting to film stuff. After watching this you have inspired me to get back into it after a couple of months out!

[@brandonwong5662]

so glad to see you back

[@nurniazfilms]

I waited for 3 months :D finally a new video from Lewis 🎉

[@lewispotts]

Haha thanks man, love your work!

[@marcusmezzano]

BABE WAKE UP!! POTTS POSTED!!

[@harryspeakup8452]

This is a wonderful seven minutes of practical insight I can use. Thank you.

[@cinematools]

The lighting looks very organic. Great breakdown.

[@EdProsser]

Thank you for the friendly and simple breakdowns - you're a fantastic teacher!

[@jatingibs]

Hi Lewis, i love the way you explain the process in details and make it so easy for the learner like me. Thank You so much.

[@jaemiem]

Ayeee! Look at those fades between grades 😉. Really dig the lighting. I like the idea of moving the lights as you go through!

[@lewispotts]

Haha thanks for the tips on that one man. Such a simpler way then key framing!

[@IanSPeterson]

Yeah this was one of the biggest take aways! That's ana amazing trick!

[@JosiahObregon]

Love the breakdown!

[@Guerrero97]

How is it possible that every video you make is pure gold?

[@innatemusic]

As always, love it! Always get excited to see a video from you, man.

[@AprilRawApril]

Great tutor and nice work

[@-Flynn]

I immediately saw the influence of No Country when I started watching, good job. At the very start the baseball bat almost looks like Chigurh's air canister too.

[@lewispotts]

Haha true I didn’t think of that

[@EddyTheChump]

I fucking love this channel, i love seeing cool shit made possible

[@phonorarmedia2864]

Amazing Thank you so much. Your Videos really Help!!!!

[@JulioBHJ]

Very nice shot, the lighting is simple yet effective, but that grade is something else! Looks awesome!

[@JulianTryba]

Such a nice breakdown, love the idea of moving diffused light with the camera. Came out great, also like the color grade cross fade idea at the end!

[@lewispotts]

Thanks Julian

[@aalooprod]

Thanks for sharing!

[@Waseem_Mohamed]

ohh we missed you lewis

[@davidthompson9295]

Thank you for sharing.

[@andrebanks2272]

I never thought of fading between grades def will try it out in the future

[@brendanclark.8059]

So simple, but I never considered it. Great!

[@MattSpaugh]

I needed that. Thx.

[@chidrass]

thanks for your videos, your quality is flawless!

[@pat_makes_stuff]

This channel is a goldmine

[@michaelryanhahn6581]

Nicely done! Wonderful clarity and clever ideas. Good job.

[@JoshuaFaleatua]

Discovered your page at the beginning of this year and have loved learning through your BTS videos. So many of my fav youtubers are now just pushing adds through "gear reviews"...But I feel like your videos are just straight to the point, no BS while giving so many golden tips.

[@imDonDiestro]

Love that you still do gorilla style run & gun shoots. Shows the true love for being a visual artist.

[@afzan1111]

LETS GOO

[@SketchBenjamin]

getting away with the moving light is so cool! Thanks so much for that insight. Great vid

[@Samuel-lf9ov]

Looks great

[@atomsofstardust]

That’s a really cool breakdown! I think what really sold that wrap around light moving seamlessly is that light at 0:38 at the wall. Not sure if it was built into location or you’ve added it, but that kinda motivated the light source from a few seconds before. Also, really nice trick with the ball, totally sold it, especially with that sound effect. Also, pretty smart to actually film it on location to get similar lighting and motion blur. Nice job 👏🏻👍🏻

[@lewispotts]

Thanks, all the practical lights were already built into the location. We just turned them on

[@jackleahy7133]

nicely done Lewis

[@lewispotts]

Thanks!

[@ross4814]

I have a Ronin 4D, and this answers a question I was just starting to ask myself. I was worried we would need to stabilize the light source somehow, but it doesn't look like that would be necessary. Thanks! Great video.

[@BrennanMartin]

Love your videos! I used the aputure spotlight trick on a commercial last week. Looks great. Thanks man. Looking forward to more of your tips!

[@lewispotts]

Thanks man, good to hear!

[@mauriciotrujillo9016]

Amazing lighting!!

[@lewispotts]

Thanks!

[@Mikey_Perth]

Top work as always

[@Rawvisualsmedia]

Beautiful shot!

[@JacobMcCaslin]

Love your work man! Thanks for making these video demonstrations :)

[@rodritorres_com]

Thanks for sharing all this Lewis, all your videos are super interesting!! I am learning a lot. :0)

[@philiphovensjo5011]

So good

[@MattAitia]

Looks great and an awesome solution! We have it so easy today with battery powered lights, having to do this while wrangling a cable would be much more difficult

[@CrossCultureStudios]

Digging it man. Great work

[@JuanKharlox17]

good video brother. Looking forward to more lighting tutorials or color correction and grading!

[@lewispotts]

Thanks Juan!

[@michalguzikfilms]

would love a grading breakdown on this one, love the inspired look!

[@TyStrange-n3b]

I love a good long tracking scene, Lewis, so thanks for sharing your lighting process. How did you, or do you in general, set your white balance for long tracking shots like this?

[@goose_esooge]

BABE BABE WAKE UP NEW POTTS

[@tillarvidborner4311]

This is gold

[@CineDailies]

thank you! great info

[@lewispotts]

Thanks man!

[@JanbroMunoz]

Wow, never thought of fading between grades during a one shot, sometimes the small things open up so much!

[@afrosymphony8207]

i honestly channels like yours would show the log output more than or the same volume as the finished color graded look because log versions are probably the version most of us see whenever we're making our own stuff too. it'd be really effective for learning cause color grading is subjective nd many ppl can handle it many ways but the logs are the logs, its the version everyone works from to sculpt their final image

[@obe3]

Would you please consider doing a break down of the grade, truly lovely!

[@starterpvck2043]

Amazing video, thanks for breaking down the bts

[@tristan_video]

Really insightful!

[@_JosephEbanks]

Very helpful! Great information!!!!

[@AnLe-yg9ln]

a lot information,thank you!

[@DaCarnival]

Lighting was great! Grade too! The shot itself... is good, but there are a few spots where you feel the gimbal being a bit robotic, and I don't think shooting into the ground at the beginning was the right choice, I'd rather it be level with the feet. But maybe you would need an Arri Trinity like system for that (or a Tilta float for the given budget).

[@lewispotts]

Tilta float could of been a good option

[@DeathXDiabetes]

I actually loved looking at the ground first. It left me thinking where is this character going with the bat and who are they? Are they going to seek revenge on some one? Not knowing what the story was it left a lot of tension. When it tilts up to reveal what seems to be either a mom or a coach, I’m left with an oooo feeling a almost relief from the tension. For me it was the right choice I thought it was quiet good

[@lewispotts]

@@DeathXDiabetesspot on, this was exactly the point of the video/story

[@GlenReed]

@@lewispottslove my Tilta float!

[@cinema-q]

@@DeathXDiabetesI don’t think he was saying don’t show the feet first but in showing the feet, keep the camera level with the feet so that the frame has depth vs shooting directly into a flat surface.

[@ekphotography]

Thanks for another good one, Just wondering at around @ 37 seconds, she is lit well but then it mixes with I imagine what is "ambient" light as well from the stadium lights? bc she is lit from slightly behind camera left and from the right camera right? but both lights look to be cooked balance pretty much? was it a mixture? Nice job by the way... You kind of explained that I am seeing at 5:00 but she does have light from "behind" as well...?

[@lewispotts]

That part has the biggest fade between grades on it because the lights on the stadium were making the pitch grass turn blue, so there’s a lot going on practically and in the grade on that part

[@ekphotography]

@@lewispotts looks great thank you

[@WhySteve]

Damn, really shows you how important sound design is!

[@The_CSI]

great vid Lewis!! Love from Nigeria. please could you say the name of your light panel again or maybe a link. Thanks

[@lewispotts]

Thanks, intellytech mega light cloth

[@dimitridjuric3886]

super, thanks for sharing

[@formx9796]

if you dont mind me asking, what is this super hollywood app effect you used? please thnx

[@weztastudio6170]

Wow very beautiful

[@kristiyangoytchev3005]

I got a question... When you decided to pick a look, how exactly did you put it on to your Rec 709 ? :D Тhanks in advance!

[@mrfryfilmguy]

How's old mates arm holding the light panel ? Good vid..

[@lewispotts]

😅

[@dylamlan]

Love these breakdowns! Question, how come you faded between grades versus using dynamic keyframing to tweak things as the shot progresses? Is it just easier to fade? Still getting the hang of Resolve myself so was just curious!

[@DastanZhumagulov]

it's way easier to do different grades and fade between those compared to trying to keyframe every little color tweak

[@sashatatsiy1815]

Very cool. How many real takes did you guys manage before the sun set?

[@lewispotts]

This was the last one, we probs did about 8 or so..

[@IsThatYouSimon]

Which is the ref of the light ? Thanks for sharing !

[@cinema-q]

Did you need to use the full strength of the Mega Litecloth, or did you have to dim it down some?

[@lewispotts]

I can’t remember, but as it got darker we would of had to dim it down

[@quantaun]

What made you previously choose the Komodo over similar priced cameras such as the fx6?

[@lewispotts]

I had another older red before that and I liked using that system

[@mtcreate9944]

Good video，what model for the light ???

[@seanlefloch]

Totally got no country vibes right off the rip. Replace that baseball bat with a bottle of compressed air and you got it. You have any references for scenes in movies with moving key lights?

[@Vladshirokov]

Да я уже 6 ролик в подряд смотрю интересно

[@joelarvidsson]

Did you use aputure infinitive bars in the roof? Or was it the practical on the location?

[@lewispotts]

They were just the practicals at the location

[@joelarvidsson]

@@lewispotts Thanks Lewis.

[@nm800]

2.16: did you really get an alexa 35?? Waiting for some videos about that! Nice content as always btw.

[@joshmillerdp]

Did you have to adjust the aperture at all during the take?

[@lewispotts]

No all the levels were luckily the same

[@imDonDiestro]

Naw bruh you need to do a whole video on fading grades for tracking shots lol. I need to know more about that

[@lewispotts]

Haha just give it a go, it’s just as simple as it looks

[@lemonjuce]

🤌🤌🤌

[@UrDomb]

"Baseball pitch" lmao

[@lewispotts]

I do sport

[@NellerProductions]

The trick where you tweak the grade over the lenth of the shot is something I do quite often. I feel like learning what you can or can't achieve in a colour grade is really important.

[@lewispotts]

Agree

[@chillywilson]

This scene doesn't make sense. Who threw the f'n ball

[@canalinativo____2024]

Where can we watch the film ?

[@lewispotts]

www.lewispotts.net/jayle

[@BRobin2023]

What light was he following her with

[@lewispotts]

intellytech mega lite cloth

[@TheRealKongKK]

Does anyone else notice a halo effect around the legs at the 10 to 12 second mark?

[@colourberry]

That will be a grading issue and not the camera or lighting.

[@SustainableGal]

absolutley love your videos as always, but please mix your voice over into the video a little tighter lol, your down at like -16 db while the music intro is like -3db lmfao. (also I keep forgetting you litterally just BOUGHT a frikin Alexa 35 lmfaoooo)

[@ForlornCreature]

how the hell can you afford an alexa 35

[@Fushikatz]

But where does the ball come from in universe? Noone is on the field.

[@tellwaypictures]

That´s awesome for sure! We actually made an action western short in one long tracking shot in 2021. Would be awesome if you´d like to check it out! Cheers!

[@deonvnzl]

hi dad.

[@lewispotts]

Haha, hey mate!

[@deonvnzl]

@@lewispotts are you happy with the ratios and vibe overall? anything you would do differently? think it worked out great - just interested in the retrospective.

[@lewispotts]

@@deonvnzl yeah for what we had I think it worked out alright, maybe I could of added an additional bounce board or light near or under the camera to help the wrap the light round and get it into her eyes, or maybe a Lightsock just above camera, which would of helped with the grade a little too. But that would be another person walking next to the camera. There’s some other practical flood lights in the bg near the end as she’s walking on the pitch which didn’t get turned on, which was a shame, they would have filled in some of that moment with the dark sky. This was the last take, the levels of the ambient sky were probably a bit better a take or 2 before this!

[@deonvnzl]

@@lewispotts thank you for that :) yea - I can imagine it with a tiny bit more ambience and those spots in the background. Would have been rad! is what it is. I was pretty engaged in the character so didn't really notice any of that when watching it the first time.

[@lewispotts]

@@deonvnzl thanks man! :)

[@dodo13111]

steadicam next time bruh

[@hyperspace]

i was hope she'll crash someone car in the end 😎

[@superemesean5907]

1:57 her batting stance is absolutely atrocious 😂

[@cinemasucker6446]

what a cool guy

[@lewispotts]

😎