HurtinMinorKey

[quote name='PAVP' timestamp='1344369725' post='15078'] I really think we're missing the point if we look at this footage and are critiquing the manner in which it was shot. It's a good thing that it wasn't a perfectly lit, steadycam'd, big production that accounted for every weakness the camera could have. What would we learn from that? With enough time and money you can make any camera look great and yet not know much about what the true character of the camera is. This is like a window into what the camera is really like minus all the trappings. [/quote] 1. To some degree I agree with this, but there are certain technical things that even the most indie film maker should/could iron out. 2. If the article had prefaced these shots with something like, "we wanted to show what the camera looked like, ungraded, and under poor shooting conditions so we...", I would have judged it [b]very[/b] differently. 3. Clearly Mr. Brawley is an accomplished and talented filmmaker, and I doubt he gives two shites about what some meathead like me thinks about some of his unpolished work from an unreleased camera. All I did was criticize the footage that was shown to me without any context.

Hey, maybe he'll grade the shit out of this footage, make it look great, and I'll eat my words. I'm all for it. But if I didn't know any different, and you told me the same guy that made this: http://www.johnbrawley.com/watch/showreel/ also made the BMC clips above, I'd call you a f***cking liar.

[quote name='tabac' timestamp='1344367049' post='15069'] The aesthetic they choose was probably down to one of two things. A) they like it like that, loose and informal, can be read as intimate. B) [/quote] There is a difference between informal and sloppy. What we saw was sloppy work, for all the reasons I listed above. [quote name='tabac' timestamp='1344367049' post='15069'] You've seen next to nothing yet you demand something that doesn't have "terrible lighting". It's a daylight shoot with a 3 man crew! [/quote] Last time I checked, a three man crew was enough to use a glidecam while someone else holds a reflector. After going to John Brawley's website, and looking at his reel (and seeing how good it was), I'm even more disappointed with what we see here.

[quote name='tabac' timestamp='1344363313' post='15065'] Just signed up here just to say, where do you get the balls? [/quote] From a Y chromosome...duh. What part of my criticism do you disagree with? 1. The handheld was shaky throughout, starting with the very first shot 2. Sloppy focus at 0:15 3. Guys face mostly in shadow, with a bright spot ocasionally hitting his forhead (1:45) 4. Weird tracking shot swaying back and forth (2:40 ish) 5. Guys face is too dark in the last scene Look, it's not terrible, it's not even bad, but it's not what I'd put out there to show off new tech just weeks from the suposed launch.

Another Black Magic test that proves only one thing: They need to give the camera to someone else who knows what they are doing. I liked the pool footage better. This was shot with terrible lighting and bad camerawork. What's up with the huge sways durring the tracking shots? It's got a small sensor(relative to most of the competition) so i'm not surprised about the low light perfromance, but I want to know what this thing can do when lit properly.

I understand you didn't need a fluid head, but why spend $200 on somthing that can't pan smoothly. For $500 you could have gotten somthing decent. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/822102-REG/Sachtler_1001_Ace_Fluid_Head_with.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iISwRT_mmM This guy is using fresnels, but you get the idea. There are a ton of videos like this, so if you search for a bit you'll find somone doing exactly what you are. Hopefully you can put a bright kicker light on top of the bookshelf, out of view, and point it down at the back of your head, this creates a nice little bright contrast between you and the backround. You can then use the LED lights as the key/fill lights. You could probably use a tungsten light for the kicker, without it f-ing up the white balance.

[quote name='switters' timestamp='1344193694' post='14998'] These videos need to be highly professional in appearance, and because of the particular set-up in my home office, the only feasible background is a bookshelf. It's distracting if the books are in sharp focus, so I want to blur them slightly and in order to do that I need an ILC and sensor large enough for shallow DOF. A simple manual lens is exactly what I had in mind. Thanks for the tip on the 550D. Maybe I can pick up a used one on FredMiranda.com or something. [/quote] I wouldn't use DOF to achieve the desired result, you need a simple three light setup to get you to stand out agianst the backround. You can get some cheap light 3-light kits for less than $200. Proper lighting in this setup will trump any kind of improvement in camera or lens on this tight of a budget. Just look at the Sunday morning political shows. People are always giving interviews with bookshelfs as backrounds, and they don't really blur them out of focus. It's the lighting that makes them look pro.

Yet I think Moby Dick is one of the best novels of all time, but I can't understand why someone would select Citizen Kane as one of the best films of all time? Is this simply becuase printing technology hasn't really evolved while film has?

[b]'846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors have voted – and the 50-year reign of Kane is over. Our critics’ poll has a new number one."[/b] With an average age somewhere over 65 i'm guessing. It's not that these movies arn't all great, but a lot of them are difficult to apreciate once you have seen what's come after. Movies like Citizen Kane and 2001 were extremely innovative, but if you watch them out of context they are really sort of meh(for lack of a better word).

At this point BMC is dammed if they do, dammed if they don't. We've seen so very few clips, that if they start selling them really soon, then one has to wonder what they are hiding: like a movie that doesn't get reviewed before its opening. The alternative is a longer delay before the general public gets their hands on it. I'm hoping for the latter. I like what I've seen so far, but I am still very very very very suspicious.

Honestly, i'm not a big fan of switching between the high contrast shots in the sunlight, and low contrast scenes in complete shadow. You need some fill lights, or if those are'nt practical, use some reflectors. I liked the framing of the dude with the sax in the tall grass. The dude with the bag over his head was unsettling but effective.

[quote name='Axel' timestamp='1343629636' post='14715'] Today all talk regarding poor video quality really is lamenting on a high comfort level. Never before were the means to deliver [i]sufficient[/i] quality for cinema so affordable. Don't look at the aesthetics too close.[/background][/size][/font][/color] [/quote] And there's the rub: [b]sufficient quality[/b]. In fact, i'd say that cinematography has never been LESS important to the overall sucess of a film than it is today. Everthing is expected to look good, the margins between good and great are thinner than ever, and it's almost impossable to show people something they haven't seen before. Holding all other elements of production equal, 99% of your audience won't care(or be able to tell) what type of camera you used.

[quote name='Bruno' timestamp='1343420944' post='14651'] Well here they say they're ready to go and could even start shipping in July. Still want to bet? [/quote] There's 4 days left in July, so yah, I do wanna bet.

[quote name='Bruno' timestamp='1343401246' post='14628'] The sensor is not that much smaller than s35/APS-C, i haven't done the math, but to get the same as an s35-18mm on this camera you probably need a 14mm or so. A Tokina 11-16 should be quite handy with this camera. [/quote] It's closer to super-16 than s-35. Either way, I can't believe people were griping about the DOF, I felt like the director used the the proper DOF for all these shots(but I won't go as far as to say i loved the overall composition). The colors and the detail looked good. But I'm still expecting more in terms of test footage at this stage of the game. Who wants to take bets on the actual release date? I'm thinking sping 2013, November 2012 at the earliest.

Put these tools in the right director's hands and you'll get magic. Jackson has never been cutting edge. In fact, he's kind of cheesy.

[quote name='Germy1979' timestamp='1343174127' post='14452'] I was curious about dof like a bunch of folk. These shots look fine to me. It's supposed to be a m43 sensor anyway right? Most professional films don't look like they were shot on a full frame with a 0.95 wide open anyway... Now i can pre order the dmn thing. [/quote] gh2 sensor : 17.3 x 13.0 mm BM: 15.6 x 8.8 mm (active), 16.64 x 14.04 mm(total)

[quote name='EOSHD' timestamp='1343166560' post='14442'] Considering what they are offering the world, I think I can wait patiently and not sit there moaning like some people I've seen start doing recently. What are you, a child!? [/quote] No, but a it's a good sign if a company can deleiver on schedule. Conversely I don't think it portends well for the ultimate product if a company uses an early release date as "bait".

Is this thing still supposed to be available by the end of July? I somehow doubt it.

Axel, when you say the problem is 8 bit, i tend to agree with you. People always say the efective resolution of 35mm film is somwhere in the neighborhod of 5k, but arn't they talking about 5K @ 24bit color, like our monitors?

^ I'm amazed that anyone would consider it close. And not that it really matters, but No Country actually won the Oscars for best picture, best director, and best adapted screenplay. I honestly thought There will be blood was sloppy story telling. It needed better editing, and better acting and character development from the secondary characters. Kevn Dano (who i loved in little miss sunshine) was so bad that he almost made his scenes unwatchable (I blame the director for this). That, and the ending was completely retarded. The Cohen bros are in a differnt league than Mr. P.T. Overated.

Maybe if the movie was only 15 minutes it would have been great, but it was a bloated 158 minutes. I'd have to say that I think No Country for Old Men has better cinematography, and is way better movie overall. There Will be Blood 's inconsistent script, poor soundtack, and Paul Dano's painfully bad acting automatically disqualifies the movie as great.

I guess I never apreciated the cinematography in There Will be Blood because the rest of the movie was so godamn terrible.

It looks like the 5d3 was shot with less light, maybe later in the day.

So I have finally decided to take the plunge and get the gh2. What are some good primes? I have some Canon glass (EF mounts), so am i better off just using an adapter? It will be used exclusively for video.