Shooting a feature with the Panasonic GH2 and LOMO anamorphic lenses

[Andrew Reid]

A guest post by director Roberto Miller.

Andrew asked me to write a brief article for EOSHD about the experience of making my feature film, Mandorla, now in post, with a pair of GH2s and LOMO anamorphic lenses. I’m happy to do so because, truth is, it’s Andrew and the EOSHD community that inspired me to go the GH2-anamorphic route, which achieved a cinematic look and vibe that I never thought possible for a low-budget indie feature.

[Wit]

* Panasonic camera (GH3) -   check

* White brim hat -  Check

* Have to safe another couple of years to check the LOMO anamorphic lenses I'm afraid   :rolleyes:

 

Thanxs for another brilliant article!

[/p/]

2deep4me

[QuickHitRecord]

Roberto, the footage looks great. Finishing in 3.55:1 takes some guts! Thanks for sharing your experiences. Which monitor did you use for this?

[ND64]

just few years ago, in Hollywood only, this could be happen 

[FilmMan]

Very nice.  Thanks for posting.

[robmneilson]

I love that you left the 3:56 ratio when you unsqueezed the footage. Why did you decide to go with this ratio, and did the extra wide frame change your method of production in any way?

 

Looks really great, and I hope this film has a long festival and theatrical life.

[Fly-Catchers]

Great looking footage and I can't wait to see the finished film. Interesting to see that you swapped back to an unhacked camera for longer than 5 minutes of shooting. Love those LOMO lens :) 

[tehellet]

Hi. Is it just me or did anyone notice that there's a few shots in the trailer where the lens feels mis-aligned. Verticals slanting to the side. It's very distracting and one of the more annoying things about anamorphic videos. Do you plan on fixing it before the final cut? 

 

Other than that I commend you on your film! It looks very interesting and I like seeing more independent diy anamorphic feature projects!

[Tim McC]

This looks great!  I've been considering switching to a GH2, and this may have just convinced me...

[RobertoSF]

* Panasonic camera (GH3) -   check

* White brim hat -  Check

* Have to safe another couple of years to check the LOMO anamorphic lenses I'm afraid   :rolleyes:

 

Thanxs for another brilliant article!

 

Stay passionate about your work you'll find a way. Only took me 15 years to get the feature rolling... ;)

[RobertoSF]

Very nice.  Thanks for posting.

Most welcome. Glad it is of some benefit to others.

[RobertoSF]

I love that you left the 3:56 ratio when you unsqueezed the footage. Why did you decide to go with this ratio, and did the extra wide frame change your method of production in any way?

 

Looks really great, and I hope this film has a long festival and theatrical life.

Thanks so much. I experimented with other aspect ratios but decided to go with what the camera naturally shot. I quite like composing the frame to it. More about how it affected production in a followup...

[tehgeek]

Hi. Is it just me or did anyone notice that there's a few shots in the trailer where the lens feels mis-aligned. Verticals slanting to the side. It's very distracting and one of the more annoying things about anamorphic videos. Do you plan on fixing it before the final cut? 

 

I noticed this immediately. Not a fan of the 3:56 at all but the footage does look nice. Indoor/low light shots look a lot more "video" to me.

[HurtinMinorKey]

This will take a while to digest, but it's is a badass article.  Thank you Andrew and Friends. 

 

The film is beautiful the aspect ratio afforded to you by the the anamorphic is powerful in its affect. 

[RobertoSF]

Hi. Is it just me or did anyone notice that there's a few shots in the trailer where the lens feels mis-aligned. Verticals slanting to the side. It's very distracting and one of the more annoying things about anamorphic videos. Do you plan on fixing it before the final cut? 

 

Other than that I commend you on your film! It looks very interesting and I like seeing more independent diy anamorphic feature projects!

 

It is impossible to misalign an anamorphic lens with a PL mount. It is pin registered. Some can be mounted upside down, but the effect you see is immediately obvious. You may be referring to shots that were done with the 10mm LOMO, which is non-anamorphic. The rectilinear nature of that lens largely straightens out what would otherwise be a fisheye-like look, however the very top and bottom edges are very slightly curved. If you're into the story, you don't notice. Naturally, I will be focused on the story in post more than anything else.

 

Thanks for the comment and good wishes!

[ike007]

It is impossible to misalign an anamorphic lens with a PL mount. It is pin registered. Some can be mounted upside down, but the effect you see is immediately obvious. You may be referring to shots that were done with the 10mm LOMO, which is non-anamorphic. The rectilinear nature of that lens largely straightens out what would otherwise be a fisheye-like look, however the very top and bottom edges are very slightly curved. If you're into the story, you don't notice. Naturally, I will be focused on the story in post more than anything else.

 

Thanks for the comment and good wishes!

I was about to write that I did not noticed this issue, since I was not looking/searching for that kind of stuff....

The imagery looks outstanding. Yes, some clips have some hints of video look on some part of the images, yet you notice only if you are looking for that kind of stuff. but sure you will take care of it in post. then again, who cares... over all the look of the images is plenty good.

The story seems very promising and i'm looking forward to see your film when it will be wrapped.

Congratulations with your work!

[Julian]

I like the look and the aspect ratio. I do see the misalignment too. It is weird if it's impossible with the PL adapter like you say. Look at the shot at 0:59 - 1:00 for example. Even the woman on the left looks a bit distorted?

[Sean Cunningham]

I like the look and the aspect ratio. I do see the misalignment too. It is weird if it's impossible with the PL adapter like you say. Look at the shot at 0:59 - 1:00 for example. Even the woman on the left looks a bit distorted?

 

I've noticed this skew in other LOMO footage posted online.  Could be some misalignment in the adapter if there's no possibility of misalignment between LOMO and taking lens.  I've got cheaper Nikon-F to M 4/3 adapters and one of the areas where they skimped on craftsmanship was in assuring that the adapter itself was true once attached to the camera.  In this case it's about a degree, if that, off, making the lens support option practically useless because it isn't perpendicular once attached.  

 

It's not hard to imagine something similar is at fault here, somewhere in the collection of strangers between the LOMO itself and the camera.

[RobertoSF]

I like the look and the aspect ratio. I do see the misalignment too. It is weird if it's impossible with the PL adapter like you say. Look at the shot at 0:59 - 1:00 for example. Even the woman on the left looks a bit distorted?

 

I see what you mean. The camera rig was placed on the conference table for that scene, I suspect the balance was slightly off. Regardless, will address it on that and any other shots after we lock picture.

 

Just for the record, the entire lens set was inspected, mounted and projected at Focus Optics in LA before purchase, and were certified as being in perfect alignment and in exceptionally excellent condition.

 

Thanks for the feedback.