A producer with whom I've done a lot of work, Lee Gluckman, of Producers Group Ltd., recommended me to a company in New Zealand, Omnicron. They were shooting a music video for Spacifix (a rock rap group from NZ) and needed a verse shot here in LA by the famous rapper AMG. The parameters of the shoot were that they would hire me as a Director/DP and I could hire one other person. That's all! I did a scout at Skip Saylor's studio, and shot digital stills of the best angles. I emailed the stills with descriptions to my client and confirmed four set-ups by phone. 
I put all the lights and camera gear in Combotruck and headed for the location. I shot on a Sony HDV Z1U in HDV PAL.
Using only equipment from the truck, I created what were essentially two small set-ups: one in the control booth and one in the studio that could be shot without resetting any lights. I put 500 watt EAL's in the control booth practicals (which were on dimmers), made a menace arm for a back light and chimera for a key and was able to squeeze two set-ups out of the control booth with AMG sitting behind the console lip syncing to the camera.
In the studio, I put 1000H tracing paper on the glass baffles which were in turn put on full apple boxes and then backlit I t-boned a 12' piece of speed rail and hung two back lights coming over the top of the baffle and made a menace arm and put another chimera above the window from the studio to the control booth. 
This allowed me to shoot AMG close and medium in the studio and then drop back into the control booth for a wide shot of AMG through the control booth window and over the shoulder of the mixer.
Two of us rigged for 3 hours. I shot four set-ups with AMG and extras, had lunch and wrapped in a ten hour day. All lighting had been prerigged so I was able to get AMG in and out in 3 hours and shot 40 minutes of footage to cover the single verse that AMG sings.
Coverage included close-ups, mediums and wides both on sticks and hand held for each of the four set-ups. I cloned the tape (keeping a protection copy) and Fedexed the original to New Zealand where it was cut into the rest of the video.
Check out the group at Spacifix.
--- Tom Feldman
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