Your Vision Goes Here
Tim Tebow has taken the front and center spotlight not only in Denver, but around the US. I had the opportunity to work with Fox shooting an interview before the thanksgiving football games, 2011. I was hired as a camera operator, but also fulfilled many roles as the crew was small.
We shot on three Sony F3 cameras with Ultra prime lenses (love that glass) and about 15 lights spread around the Broncos indoor training facility in Denver.
Let’s talk prosumer large sensor cameras for a moment.
The Sony NEXFS100 is a tremendously tempting camera for the HDSLR generation (or it should be, anyway). Price-wise, the Sony F3 is probably a camera to rent with nice glass and a Gemini recorder, but the FS100 seems like a reasonable buy for the HDSLR shooters considering the features and quality.
However, while the FS100 offers a load of great features, I’m waiting for the Canon 5D Mark iii. Heres why:
Over the past year and a half, most of my “production fund” has been geared toward making my 5D Mark ii a comfortable camera to shoot with. It took some time and it’s still no perfect. Rails, matte box, ND, counterweights, monitors, lenses, audio recorders just to name a few. At NAB one of the selling points that a Sony rep was pitching me was the idea that the FS100 is ready to go out of box, whereas you’d have to “spend a lot of money to get your DSLR ready for video”. He’s right, but I’ve already spent that money!
Though we currently know little about the 5D Mark iii’s feature set, the worst case scenario is that it’s as good as the 5D Mark ii video with better low light performance. But let’s be realistic here, Canon released the 5Dmkii in 2009. With a single Digic IV processor, the camera absolutely rocks. Shortly thereafter they released the 7D with DUAL Digic IV processors, enabling 720 60p. Then they stuck that same single Digic IV in the 5D into their Powershot line, some of which are less than $300. It’s now 2011. The RED Epic is the size of a Hasselblad recording 5K at 120 fps. Sony released the F3 (and soon the FS100) that shoot very clean at 30dB (ISO 6400). And all the while, Canon watches and waits.
I’m really hoping for a clean video signal from the new 5D. I was amazed at the response with my call to action post a few weeks ago. The biggest common feature request was clean video, and I couldn’t agree more! Venturing into the vastly hypothetical for a moment… imagine the 5D mark iii DOES have clean video 1080/24 out…. and you pair that with a $2000 Kipro mini (which also has pro audio in) recording Prores…. Did we just create an Alexa for around $5000? Quite possibly!! Obviously missing some features from the Alexa, but you get the idea.
A sometimes forgotten benefit of the DSLR is that they are small enough to sneak in almost anywhere and they provide you amazing stills AND amazing video… how can you beat that? Having traveled with larger production kits in the past, let me reitterate… I LOVE travelling with my DSLR over any other system. Period. In a world where small counts, the DSLR wins big points here.
In a month or so, Apple will release Final Cut X to the world. At the world premier, Apple mentioned the ability for FCP to analyze AND sync your audio on import based on waveform. (I hope Apple is somehow helping the guys at Singular Software) Suddenly XLR inputs on the camera aren’t quite as important. Sure, it would be great to have an I/O module to hook up to the 5D. But I’ve gotten fairly used to recording second system.
Need I say more? I guess I can’t really speak to price since the 5D mk3 has no price yet, but I can’t imagine Canon is going to hike the price multiple thousands for a camera with the same name in the same line. The original 5D was around $3000, the much more powerful, better 5D Mark ii was originally $2699 . Seems to me the price will be in the same avenue. Assuming a $3000 body-only price tag, I could pickup a few batteries AND a nice L series lens for the price of the FS100 and still have my rig that makes the DSLR a working professional setup. Or, ditch the lens and batteries and buy the AJA Kipro (if we get clean video out) and start recording prores from the camera.
Sorry Sony, but the Canon 5D Mark iii is still worth waiting for. Dear Canon, please continue to be revolutionary. We will buy your lenses.
This client case study takes place in Philadelphia PA and Henderson KY and takes a close look at how Accellos and Edisoft work together to help Budge, a cover manufacturer, increase productivity in their warehouse.
Shot on Sony FS100
Terralux is a company doing big things in the LED lighting space. This short piece looks at some key pieces to how they plan to revolutionize the lighting industry.
180 is a ministry dedicated to breaking the chains of addiction in the lives of men. 180 is an effective and comprehensive Christian faith-based solution to life-controlling drug and alcohol problems to help men become healthy individuals and productive members of society.
One of a series of videos I was hired to put together for ATA Clothing, a company with the motto “Express Yourself, Change the World”. They do just that by selling t-shirts that relate to each organization. The 180 shirt will be coming out soon on ATA’s website, ata-clothing.com
Shot on the legendary Canon 5D mark ii.
The Breaking Out Foundation is a 501(c) 3 corporation founded on Christian principles. It was created for the purpose of providing a program that will motivate and inspire at-risk youth to establish career goals in both the entertainment and sports industries, and to provide them with the guidance, education and training to pursue those goals and realize their dreams.
In this video, Michael Franzese explains his hopes for the upcoming Breaking Out program in Denver.
Launching soon!
This is one in a series of video I made for ATA clothing in their mission to help nonprofits in Denver. Soon ATA will sell the Breaking Out t-shirt on their website, ATA-clothing.com
The Snowmass Balloon Festival. Totally cool experience in the stunning Colorado Rockies. I was privileged to go shoot this piece and absolutely loved the experience. Save the date next year, this is a festival worth going to!!!
Shot on the Red Epic.
I have some killer “night glow” footage that I will post (sometime soon).
“No Country” is a recreation of the coin toss scene from “No Country for Old Men”. The characters are quite different, but the general idea is the same. I was DP on this shoot.
Shooting in this location needed some quick creative lighting choices due to the limited space in which the entire scene took place. The room was no more than 10 feet across and 12 feet long, guiding me to choose large soft lights to light it, while the Fresnel and PAR lights were setup at a distance for detail. A few screen-grabs from the set. (Click on pictures to see a bigger version)
Shot on my trusty Canon 5D Mark ii.
Shooting video with a DSLR takes a bit of investment to really get the most out of the video capabilities.
If, for instance, you’re in the market to shoot professional interviews, you MUST shoot second system audio, and you MUST have a good system to support your camera (to avoid the long list of problems these cameras can have with movement).
Below is my setup….
Start with your favorite video-capable DSLR. My choice is the Canon 5D Mark II
The next step is to determine the best support for your needs. I want a matte box and (eventually) a follow focus, but I also want to be able to convert the system to shoulder mount or tripod mount with very little time delay. Therefore, I choose 18 inch 15mm rods with a shoulder mount attachment and a baseplate capable of screwing into a tripod.
An important investment with any camera is a set of filters. I’m in the market to purchase some Tiffen 4×4 filters. I’ll probably end up with a polarizer, one or two graded ND filters, and a IR filter. Having a matte box setup is the best way to use the same filter on all of your lenses.
A decent monitor is key. The 3″ LCD on the camera can be a challenge to work with, if you don’t have a DSLR viewfinder
The whole setup quickly expands to much more than just a small DSLR camera setup!
I also have an audio system that hooks onto the back of the rails system positioned for easy access in tight situations (not pictured).
Southside is a cool place. A photographers playground, a serene destination hidden in plain site. A short walk away, interstate 70 traffic speeds by. Further North, Denver International Airport moves thousands of people daily all over the world. Yet amongst the constant motion, Southside stands still.
Shot on Canon 5D Mark ii with a 17-40mmL and a 30 year old Kiron 80-200 f4 Pentax K mount lens.
Enjoy
Denver Academy wanted interviews from their alumni to show the strength and success of their program. I was hired as camera operator to work on this project. The challenge with these videos was that all of them had to be in one location around the same time because of the time constraints of working with busy alumni, but they still all had to have some variation… We decided to shift around the room and use different artwork for each interview.
Shot on the HVX200a.
Check out their awesome program for grades 1-12 here http://www.denveracademy.org/