Apologies to the loyal blog checkers. The posts lately have been a little lackluster, I've been spending a lot of time shooting and not a lot of time writing. Recently, Angela and our friend Matt Carleton hooked it up so I now have google analytics and can see how many people visit, where they are from, how long they stay on the site and which content they view. It is very neat and a little addictive. The analytics results really surprised me, although I only have 21 "followers'" at the present time, there are over 100 unique hits every day from all over the Maritimes, NY, California, BC, Toronto and elsewhere. The best part is most of these people come EVERY DAY. So I wanted to say thank you! You guys are providing exactly the type of motivation I need to keep waking up and shooting everyday. This post will be one of the more lengthy ones that will get you up to speed on all things related to this project. If you're not interested in reading and only come for the videos, here is the link to the Vimeo channel so you don't have to search the blog looking for the spread out videos on various pages.
Canon SLR Video.
A lot of people have been asking about the camera I've been shooting most of the content for this project on which is the Canon 5D mkII. Over the last 16 months an incredible amount of interest in this format that has developed. Which makes sense, these cameras have the best low light imaging I have ever seen, they have huge sensors with beautiful depth of field characteristics. They weigh basically nothing and are (relatively) super cheap bodies. These characteristics sold me on the camera and after testing the first generation of the 5D when it camera out in 2008 I used it off and on for commercial work until I bought my own kit in August 2009. Since then I've been shooting with it a lot. I've done commercials for broadcast, Music videos, lots of work for the internet and a few projects destin for digital projection. Since January 4th I've been shooting with the camera every single day and also dealing with the work flow on my home computer. I have a lot of thoughts about these exciting new SLR video tools, both good and bad but I am nothing less then ecstatic about what these cameras will become in the near future. I don't want to turn this into a technical blog, because there are others that have this subject well covered,but I am very open to learning, sharing and talking more about these cameras and their work flow. If you've been shooting with Canon SLRs, or you'd like to, email me, lets get together to chat and learn together. There are two feature film projects about to go to camera in Halifax that are considering taking Canon SLR footage to a 35mm film print finish. I cannot wait to see these results!
Green Screen Test
(warning this section is probably only interesting to fellow filmmakers) As regular readers know, I just completed a green screen test this past Friday. The test was to determine two things. When lighting green screen, what color temperature bulbs pull the best key and how much does a fast shutter help for a cleaner key? Answers to these questions are of particular interest to a cinematographer. Ultimately we are responsible to deliver the most workable footage possible to VFX but we are also the people who have to submit equipment requests to the Producers and justify the sometimes high rental cost of these items. This test is an attempt to find the best comprise between budget and quality.
Shutter speed: Traditional wisdom is that the higher of a shutter you shoot, the better. However the higher the shutter the more light you need which costs on rental fees, power consumption and labour costs. So what shutter do you need to pull a great key. We shot tests at shutter speeds at 50th, 100th, 250th, 500th and one at 1000th for fun.
Color Temp: Most digital based capture tests indicate that daylight color temperature fixtures are best for croma-key work, but kino recently released new "super green" bulbs specially designed for green screen work. To my knowledge this is the first time these bulbs have been in Halifax, I feel lucky to have gotten my hands on them for this test. We shot each of the shutters mentioned above with Daylight, tungsten and supergreen fixtures. *Note, one exciting thing I noticed about the super green kino tube right away is that they offer a full stop more light than the daylight bulbs but draw the same 75 watts per bulb. Bonus!
Results, the results are coming soon, the footage will be keyed by two compositors, Animation and effects superstar Jacob Owens who heads the animation department at Hatch Post and Hardworking, talented up and comer, Jon Brayer. These guys will receive files unlabeled as to the color temp and shutter, they will pull a quick key of each one and report back on which ones were easy (if any) and which ones were messy (if any) I'll post the results here and we will all know a bit more about lighting green screen, especially if you plan to use the Canon 5D mkII as your capture device.
Morale and project updates
I'm over halfway through the project, I'm getting tired my wrist is still messed up, but I'm really excited for the upcoming projects of which there are lots of exciting ones. With only 11 shooting days left there is a pretty full schedule of shooting. Upcoming highlights include: "Broga" Directed by Cory Bowels, Aram Kouyoumdjian and I are shooting ice melting timelapses for an Acres & Acres music video most of next week, You loyal followers might remember the test video I did in my basement on day 003. Several projects with Eric Duncan Including a music video for Judge Bitch.
Today I shot two things, another interview for my Operation Mongoose friends, this time the subject was meteorologist and all around genius Richard Zurawski. I also shot a short video with Eric Duncan that involved my first attempt at an old-school ghost effect similar to but much less refined than in this Michel Gondry video for Everybody gonna dance tonight. Who thinks I could get away with cutting my new reel to that song?
That's it for now, as always thanks for checking up on my project and stay tuned for exciting things yet to come. Some of the video from the last couple days tomorrow, I promise.
Here are a couple of photos as well, One is a still from the green screen test, the other is my calender for the month. Despite it being a desk calender, I've taken to carrying it in my back pocket. Take that iCal!
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