This weekend, we took the concept of guerilla filmmaking to new levels when we set up the ultimate backyard ghetto studio. We had to do some greenscreen work for some newscaster footage, and not being able to use a professional studio, we did the next best thing... we set one up in the backyard! In a studio, the screen has to be lit seperately from the talent, but there's nothing that lights a screen better than our own sun, so we were able to use our little thrown together lighting rig (2 utility lights and a white cardboard box as a bounce card) to keep the shadows off of our newscasters' faces. So we attached our homemade screen (a lagre piece of posterboard painted with chroma green) to the fence with some gaffers tape and some bricks along the bottom. Then we set our mic on top of an old beer keg, held the lights by hand, and shot. In the footage, all you see is the newscasters' faces in front of very even green color. In the pictures that I'll be posting as soon as they're developed, you'll see the funniest looking studio setup in the world. Viva la revolucion cinematico! Afterwards, John and I went back to my house and edited our first scene together. It's a party scene with a mixture of 4 different master shots and a bunch of coverage, plus lots of incredible improv and a dolly shot that we did by attaching the tripod to a bike and wheeling it down the sidewalk. Given what we had to work with, I'm thrilled with the rough cut that we put together. It really re-invigorated me for the eventual finnished product! The continuity geeks are going to have fun with it, too. We're doing our best in those regards, but it's not like we have a budget or anything.