Wisconsin Bioscope Sets

The first Wisconsin Bioscope productions were shot outdoors because we used slow film (ISO 6) that is only sensitive to blue and ultraviolet light. No practical artificial lighting would suffice. Today we use much more sensitive film (ISO 64), but still shoot outdoors as often as possible, either in a natural setting or in front of a set built against the exterior wall of a building. Actors enjoy the health benefits of fresh air, and passing clouds or blowing snow make the productions more lively and natural. We also build sets in an indoor studio equipped with many 5,000 and 2,000 watt fresnel spotlights. On a normal set we use some 20,000 watts of incandescent light.

The cast and crew of "Cosmo's Magical Melt-A-Ways" in front of the set installed on an exterior wall of the Noel Fine Arts Center, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.	Peter Turner and Joshua Ryf act in front of the set, while Erik Langkamp waits for his cue to enter.  Lauren Griswold is directing the rehearsal of "Swift Punishment" in the fall of 2006.

Dan Fuller loads film into the Universal camera while Andrew Vann, Tim Lundt, Blaire Bergman, and Tyler Gunderson look on.	Tyler Gunderson checks framing on the outdoor set of  "Swift Punishment," Fall 2006. Sidelines have been run from the camera to establish the edges of the frame. The bright spot on the wall shows the effect of reflectors throwing the sun's light  onto the north facing set.

Roy Pearson and Tyler Gunderson, Wisconsin Bioscope gaffers, adjust reflectors to light  "Swift Punishment," Fall 2006.	Lighting above the set of  "A Day's Work," Fall 2006. Ten 1000 watt scoops in two rows hanging low from battens are used to light the front office set supplemented by a 2000 watt Mole-Richardson softlight on a stand providing fill. Farther back, the boss's office seen through the open doorway is lit by four 1000 watt scoops on a batten.

Marking the sidelines on the set of "A Day's Work," Fall 2006.	Derek Eby and Joshua Ryf, the director, block out a scene on the set of "A Day's Work."

On the lunar set of "A Expedição Brasileira de 1916," Fall 2006, featuring a large papier-mâché crater on the right and the earth and stars hanging in front of the black velvet curtain of space.	The producer, Leslie Midkiff DeBauche, gives a pep talk before the Wisconsin Bioscope shoots "Found at the Fox," Stevens Point, Wisconsin, fall 2006.

On the set of "Rent Party" at the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point. The set is lit by 9 Lowell Omni-lights hung from ceiling battens and 2 Omni-lights on the floor at right, making a total of 5,500 watts of light. This was barely adequate even for such a small set.	The outdoor set of "The Rivals" (December 5, 2005). The temperture was 10° F (-12° C).

The outdoor cafe set of "Cadtastrophe" (2003) using a painted canvas background.	"The Magic Tree" filmed in Madison Wisconsin’s Olin Park in 2003.

The criminal gang attacks the picnic in"Winner Take All" which was filmed in the University of Wisconsin Arboretum in 2000.	"The Dancer" (2004) was shot in the studio using masks and a double exposure. The dancer on the left and the dancer in the mirror are the same actress, Megan Mullins.

The set of "A Visit with Grandmother" (2005).	The set of "A Visit with Grandmother" (2005).

The set of "A Visit with Grandmother" (2005).	The producer Dan Fuller and the actors Jenni Staley, Casem Abulughod, and Max Fuller on the set of "Daddy Don't," November 3, 2005.

Matthew Siller and Tonya Schwochert on the starkly lit studio set of "The Sick Child" (November 22, 2004).