Last year, we got wind of a movie crew shooting at a home in Lake Highlands. (A front yard execution-style murder scene really had folks buzzing). By the time we wrote the story, the Lake Highlands shooting had wrapped up, so photographer Danny Fulgencio had to come up with something apropos for the magazine.
Here’s his explanation, including some tidbits for serious photography hobbyists, of the final shot:
“I don’t know about you, but I’m a big fan of dissecting movie posters, particularly how the photographs were lit and just how much pixel-pushing was necessary to arrive at the final product. It’s a fun photographic study for only a select brand of photo geek.
All that said, I was excited in making a conceptual photo for our July 2012 story about a locally produced independent film titled “Dahl Dynasty,” which was a bloody rendition of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”
Producer Bryan Quinn and writer Kristen Reed had locked in their film location after having placed a Craigslist ad seeking a receptive homeowner. Tommy White of Lake Highlands responded to the ad and agreed to host the cast and crew.
To make this photo at Tommy’s home, we used a simple two-flash setup: one flash positioned behind Kristen to give her some rim light and a second flash off-camera-right shot through an octabox. It was a brutally hot day, so our shoot time was limited, but the results weren’t too bad. In post-production, I used a common cinematic color grading technique called “Split Toning” which, in this case, warms the highlights and cools the shadows.
We also incorporated a number of props used in the film: an urn, a fake handgun and authentic crime scene tape, courtesy of Bryan Quinn’s friend, a police officer.
Bryan let me keep the crime scene tape as a parting gift, and the bright yellow coil sat in my trunk for several weeks before I considered what conclusions authorities might draw in the unlikely event that my car was searched.”
