ADVERT I SEMENT FE ATURE . CVP
A CAMERA FOR THE STORY
CVP-propelled filmmaker Daniel John Peters takes us through making the feature film of his dreams – using the RED Komodo
SAVE JANE IS a distressing story about a woman’s journey of self-destruction – and presents, in detail, how a person’s life can be turned upside down by a series of tragic events. It’s the work of multi-talented Daniel John Peters, a filmmaker who single- handedly wrote, directed, shot, edited and composed the feature – his first to date. “I had been shooting shorts, but wasn’t getting anywhere. I was winning awards and expected agents to be waiting around the corner with a bunch of money for me to do a feature film, but it doesn’t always work out that way,” says Peters. “So, I thought screw it, I’ll do it myself – I sold all the equipment I had bought for corporate shoots, and decided to make a feature film with what I had left.” For Save Jane , Peters bought a Sony A7 Mark III, but after some lighting tests, decided that the blacks in the shadows weren’t rich enough for what he wanted to create. He had previously owned a RED camera, and had a good experience with it. This time, his eye was on the Komodo – but, like the animal, these cameras can be hard to find. “I reached out to Sam Measure – he’s one of CVP’s technical consultants and is especially knowledgeable about RED equipment. I was keen to buy one through them, but they were facing a huge backorder. So, he recommended a Facebook selling page and, oddly enough, I found a listing for a brand new Komodo,” he says. “I got in touch with Sam again and asked, ‘If I buy this camera from this person, who’d originally bought it from CVP, would I still be under warranty?’ He said
of course, which was a relief. It’s one thing buying a new camera, let alone one that’s nearly £10,000.” A PERFECT MATCH In the film, the eponymous Jane is expecting her first child with partner Rob. One evening, they rush to the hospital as she is about to give birth, but Rob has to go back home after realising he’s left the overnight bag. On his return, he’s involved in a collision, and Jane wakes up from labour to find out her husband was killed and the baby didn’t survive. Peters explains: “I wanted to twist the story of trauma from the male perspective to the female perspective, because you don’t often see distraught women going down a rabbit hole of depression in film. It’s usually depicted from the male side, perhaps because it’s easier to show feelings of anger.” Peters envisioned a moody, rich tone for this narrative, and the Komodo’s sensor was able to illustrate that perfectly – albeit with some slight underexposure. “People will probably throw up reading this, but because I needed the blacks to be super-clean, and also wanted to create a certain creamy, atmospheric tone, I didn’t shoot in a very technical way. I had to work fast and knew that I would run into trouble if I lit too much in the sensor, so I shot and lit for 320 ISO,” he explains. “I think it looks perfect. It’s creamy and sharp without going too far – I really do love that sensor.” The filmmaker had to work fast due to a tight budget. He planned to shoot the hospital scenes in Wales and London,
“Peters envisioned a moody, rich tone... and the Komodo’s sensor was able to illustrate that perfectly”
CAMERA WORK With CVP’s help, Peters found the perfect kit to bring his challenging concept to life
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