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How to Shoot Close-Up Animal Sequences

Having doubts about going into a secluded forest? Well, director Adam MacDonald is here to help reinforce why it’s maybe not such a good idea. With his 2014 film Backcountry, it was a couple facing off against a predatory black bear. In is followup, Pyewacket (2017), it's a mother and daughter against a demonic evil spirit. This time around in his latest film, Out Come the Wolves, Adam pits three hunters against a pack of wolves, which turns into a bloody fight for survival. Something that makes Out of the Wolves so brutal are the ravenous animal sequences, which MacDonald continuously tried to push the boundaries on, with the help of DP Christian Bielz. When discussing this topic Bielz says, “Although we'd worked with a bear on his first feature Backcountry, capturing wolves was a different challenge. The script called for numerous shots of the wolves lurking, eating, snarling, and attacking. Figuring out how to capture all that effectively took careful planning with wolf trainer Andrew Simpson and his team”. Storyboarding became key for a lot of the closer up shots of the wolves. Bielz explains, “Adam and I discussed framing and camera movement for each scene, but storyboards really came in handy for the wolf attack and stunt sequences. We had a lot of beats to hit, so Adam sketched them out and even created a previz of the sequences on his iPhone, with his family members, dog, and a teddy bear playing the parts”. Check out some more...

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Published By: NoFilmSchool - Thursday, 19 September

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