It's all about diffusion

Stills from a film we did with Muay Thai boxer Duane Barnes about taking the game to the fight. This was a self-initiated piece and had a budget of £0,00, and we wanted to see how far we could push the limitations we had to create something quite cinematic.

In the shot above, the camera (Sony FS7) was on the floor of the gym, looking slightly up. Lens at 24mm with a Tiffen digital diffuser filter 1 on. We smoked the room for diffusion as well. There were two Kinoflo Celeb 200 LEDs (which we still had from another job) on Duane’s back. The rest of the light came from practicals and the skylight. I shot with a wide aperture and used ND filters to block out the light, because we were going for a dark, dramatic look. Shooting it at 120fps added to the drama. I love boxing shots in slow motion.

Grade was done in DaVinci Resolve, using Osiris cinematic film emulation 3D LUTs at 1080p HD with added 35mm film grain. I deliberately pushed for a silvery, green look, trying to get close to some of my favourite higher end branded online content of some of the big sports brands.

Here are some more stills from that scene and the full video as well.

Part of our All Work All Play series: Bringing the game to the fight. Duane Barnes is a Bristol based Muay Thai boxer, ranked 7th in the UK, who with total dedication and determination is fighting the way to the top. This film is part of our “All Work, All Play” series focussed on people who commit themselves completely and wholeheartedly to their goals. Shot over a long day at SB Fitness where Duane trains, and in and around his local area of Easton, the film gives you a glimpse into the work ethic and effort it takes to keep on winning. Credits and technical information Directed by Remco Merbis and Fern Scott. Cinematography, grade and edit by Remco Merbis. Sound recorded by Fern Scott. Thanks to Jess Whatley (SB Fitness), Tom Lakos and Mark May. Sony PXW-FS7 Metabones Speedbooster Ultra Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 II USM Lens Manfrotto 546GBK with 504HD head tripod KinoFlo Celeb 201 LED panels (x 2) Fog machine Shot at 25, 50 and 120fps at 1080p and 4K. Graded in DaVinci Resolve, using Osiris cinematic film emulation 3D LUTs at 1080p HD with added 35mm film grain.