It may not come as a surprise that out in Hollywood, they have automatic budget "add-ons" that producers count on when they are doing their "cost to make the movie" math:
Animals and Kids, add 30% each for production costs.
So, when for some reason, it got to be an itch to scratch- the creating of a modern masters painting, specifically, el Greco's "St Martin and the Beggar"- and I wanted to use a "big white horse" for the shoot, I vaguely remembered hearing that bantered around when we were making a Lexus ad (using horses for a Marlboro ad), or maybe it was on the Walt Disney set out in Crested Butte (using kids in Snowball Express). Since we were shooting this with NO BUDGET, what the heck, right?
I remembered fast when one of the models I casted didn't show up at all. Another got up on the horse and fell off.
When I met Simone, the guy that owns the stables, he took me into the stall area and asked, "which one"? How generous was that? A stable full of jumpers, dressagers, and polo ponies, each horse worth more $$ than all my digital gear AND the cars we came in on.
Of course, the biggest, proudest, whitest horse of all would be the only one and his name was AMADEUS- I should have known...
After setting up 6 lights, one big stripbox on the beggar, an open snooted head for St Martin, the rider , a couple of fill lights, a rim light and a couple of ambient space lights for lighting up the oak tree behind the scene, Simone brought on the grand horse, Amadeus. Emily once again told me she wasn't scared and got boosted up into the saddle, when we (Amadeus and the rest) realized Emily's skirt wasn't exactly saddle wear, making her a little shy and jiggly, which Amadeus sensed as he just started walking off, snorting. Pull him around! No no no, not on both reins, he's going backwards and bucking!
Finally, we got it down to where Amadeus wouldn't freak about the softbox, the flashes, the generators, the people, the rider and he just walked around the tree in circles, leaving "the beggar", Oliver, to close in on him and me to time and shoot "the photograph" once every 3-5 minutes- when Amadeus decided to kind of cooperate with Emily and with a little help from time to time from Simone.
Did Amadeus walk within the 2 foot lighting zone every time? Once in 10 maybe he was just close. Too hot, too dark...
Did he stop and raise his left fore leg like St Martin's big white horse in el Greco's painting? Once or twice that whole afternoon. I guess I could have asked for a prancing Austrian?
Did Oliver, the beggar, converge into frame in that 2 second window when Amadeus was in the lighting zone and Emily was turned sideways like St Martin in el Greco's painting? Once or twice that afternoon he did. But he never stopped paying close attention to Amadeus. Shoot, he was barefoot and had good reason!
Did we have any technical difficulties outside the actors/subjects/location/lighting/weather? Typically, yes. The lights didn't fire all the time when I snapped the photo- the pocket wizards were not cooperating perfectly. I missed several shots and had to rework the wizard placement to get better results.
Did I catch the focus just 'so' when everything was just 'right'? No- originally, I wanted to set the focus and have Amadeus and Emily converge with the beggar, Oliver, at the perfect pre-focused spot, but not once did this happen- they never once walked into the same point. So I had to follow the action with my focus as it unfolded, accounting for the more than usual out of focus shots...
Did the models handle their jobs as required? They were stars, especially after watching Elvys got this one shot before he hit the deck with Amadeus heading for the barn and dinner. He didn't regain his confidence or spirit for the rest of the shoot. Luckily we had two more models! A couple of extra models is really a great idea on a shoot like this!
Did I get the perfect shot? No, but with a tiny bit of photoshop (I moved Oliver, the beggar, in closer to Amadeus and Emily by about 2 feet), happily, we almost did!
And sometimes, you get a photograph you didn't plan on getting at all (when a smaller, more manageable horse was brought in after Amadeus got fed up):
I think, considering this is an "animals at +30% budget add-on" shoot, we did get a great and useful photograph I am proud of having made.
Thanks over the top to Rick Lesser, hair and make up, Simone for the use of Amadeus and the location, to Emily and Oliver as models and to Elvys, model, who fell a grand 10 feet or so when Amadeus headed for the barn. He's putting in his contract he won't ever work again with animals.
I will! It was a challenge and a blast!!
Check out Wick Beavers Photography
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