My name is Julien Jarry.. I am a Director and DP based in New York. My team and I specialize in documentaries and commercials, focusing on communicating a message, and casting a vision. We tell stories to accomplish goals such as raising money, awareness, and marketing a product or strategy.
Recently, we were tasked to create a short documentary that could act as an ‘About’ video for a local architect. Here, you’ll learn how we lit and shot the scene and captured the B-roll. Of course, you’ll also gain an inside look into our process. Let’s jump right in.
Shooting Black and White with the Sony BURANO
The Sony BURANO‘s 8.6K image sensor is gorgeous. I thought it would enhance the footage of the architect’s work to capture everything inside his office and his creative process in black and white. I aimed for clean and punchy blacks to create a strong visual impact. Black and white footage thrives on contrast, and we kept that in mind while lighting his workspace.
I paired the Sony BURANO with the Sony FX6 as a B camera and it held up to the task. For lenses, we went with the new DZO Arles primes because of their clean yet interesting look at T1.4 apertures. I enjoy shooting with shallow depth of field, and the new Arles lenses at T1.4 looked beautiful.
The DZO Arles lenses strike the perfect balance of size and weight and combined with the BURANO, shot in black and white, really landed where I wanted for this project’s feel.
Lighting-wise, I leaned on my trusty Aputure lights, keeping it simple with a few 600Ds, a 36-degree spotlight mount used creatively, an Amaran tube light, and some ultra bounce. For sound, I decided on the Sennheiser 416 shotgun microphone, which is all you need sometimes. It’s considered the industry standard for good reason.
Additionally, we utilized my SmallHD monitors, Wooden Camera accessories, Anton Bauer batteries, and Sachtler tripods, which are always standard on my camera packages. They make everything seamless for us no matter what we throw at them.
The Sachtler Flowtech 100 and 75 with Aktiv 10 and 8 combos I own really pulled their weight on this shoot. We were butted up against the back corner of the room, as the space was tight. But I was able to manipulate the legs up onto a desk so that I could achieve the composition that I was looking for.
Location Scouting
I scouted the location the day before to ensure that the concept I had in mind would work, and thankfully, it did. I initially tested a frame using the 24mm f1.4 GM lens on my Sony A7RV, knowing that we were going to use the DZO 25mm T1.4 lens for the main angle.
On set the next day, we began by setting up our interview frames and lighting. We positioned the A and B cameras and, again, the tripods were enormously helpful in achieving the desired setup. The lighting was motivated by the natural light coming in through the window in the space. Thankfully, the sky was consistently cloudy on the day of our shoot.
However, the window was not positioned ideally for the shot. It was just far back enough, lacking the frontal level we needed, so we threw up an ultra-bounce and used the Aputure 600D Pro and 36-degree spotlight mount to simulate a “window” effect across the room. This was necessary because there was no room to put another light modifier where we needed this level to come from in the room.
The setup ended up working out very well and I am super happy with the results. The additional lighting on our subject’s face was exactly what we needed. To maintain consistent ambient lighting throughout the day in the back room, which was in frame, we used another 600D pro bounced into another ultra bounce. Additionally, we used an Amaran PT2c tube as a hair light, and finally, a single B7c in a desk lamp in the background completed the lighting setup.
Production Crew
This was a relatively small job in a compact space. We kept our crew small to maintain agility. After shooting the interview and some office footage, we needed to relocate to a construction site to capture additional B-roll.
My wife Kelly was the B camera operator and swing, while Kevin handled the lighting as the gaffer. We had Antonio shoot the behind-the-scenes video for the footage you now have access to on Adorama TV, and our friend Enrique took a couple of BTS stills.
The Shot List
I had a rough shot list in my head, and it worked because the project was simple. Usually, I don’t recommend doing this, as you can easily forget things. I knew I could shoot our subject simply doing what they naturally would do and also shoot all the cool stuff in their office. It worked out, and I like working that way. It feels like a documentary because it is.
Innovative Feature of the Sony BURANO
I was pleasantly surprised by the Sony BURANO’s IBIS (in body image stabilization). Initially, I didn’t think I needed or wanted it, but I used it throughout the entire time of shooting b-roll. I’m happy to say it significantly enhanced the stability of my handheld footage captured on the Easyrig.
I found it difficult to imagine turning it off for this project, as it took my footage to a whole new level of perfection. The ability to map IBIS on/off to a custom button made it easy for me to transition to and from a tripod. The 8.6K resolution is truly next level. For me, upgrading from the FX6 is the next natural step when looking for more image quality.
Overall Thoughts
Part of my ongoing project with this client of mine is still photography. Although I had previously spent time photographing homes he had built, I was particularly excited about the documentary-style work I could make in his office. During this video shoot, I didn’t have time to shoot any stills of him. However, with the resolution of the Sony BURANO, I can pull high-quality frame grabs that I can be proud of. Overall, I’m truly stoked about what we produced.
