ON THE STREETS OF TOKYO

[jhnkng]

I was in Tokyo earlier in the year and I shot this over an afternoon. Most of it was shot on a D500 with the Sigma 17-50 f2.8, the bike shots were on a GoPro Hero 3 Black, and I recorded the interview on a Rode Lav hooked up to a Zoom H1. Amazingly the bike audio was all off the GoPro -- I'd recorded some engine sounds on the H1 as well but the GoPro sounded great so I saved myself the hassle of synching audio.

Edited and Graded in Premiere Pro with the Impulz Kodak Ultramax LUT (which was great because they had a LUT made for Nikons AND GoPros) and I used their 2.5K Grain track as well.

Overall it turned out pretty well. If I had more time I might've found a better way to grip the GoPro to try and dial out the camera shake, but I wanted it to look rough anyway and I grew to like it. I'm constantly surprised by how well GoPro footage can look if you use it in the right way. Kinda wished I'd had the Hero 5 with the Karma grip, might've been able to do some faux drone shots by putting the whole gimbal on a stick and holding it from the back of the bike as we went along. 

Hope you enjoy the film, love to hear your thoughts!

----
What drives you to do what you do?

With 
SEVEN ESCOBAR

Direction/DOP/Sound/Edit/Grade 
JOHN KUNG
 

[Tim Sewell]

Left me wanting to see more (well, maybe not more rolling shutter ;-), but definitely more of the story!).

[webrunner5]

Yeah, the dreaded Rolling Shutter thingy. You know, other than us and others like us, I doubt "Normal People" would never even notice it.

Yeah those new GoPro HERO Sessions are the cats ass to have. Crazy good even under water. I sure as heck don't want to see them go Bankrupt.

[mercer]

Was this D500 4K? It looks stunning.

[jhnkng]

Thanks guys! Yeah that rolling shutter kinda freaked me out at the beginning, but I decided to roll (haha) with it because frankly that's kinda how it felt on the bike! It didn't help that I had it super clamped on the crash bar which was directly attached to the front subframe and picked up every vibration from the engine! I have the Hero 5 Black and the Karma Grip now so I'd be curious to see if that would help in that situation.
 

2 hours ago, mercer said:

Was this D500 4K? It looks stunning.

Thanks mate, this was just regular 1080p. The more I work with that camera the more impressed I am, and I really want Nikon to put that sensor into a camcorder body. 

 

12 hours ago, Tim Sewell said:

Left me wanting to see more (well, maybe not more rolling shutter ;-), but definitely more of the story!).

I'm so glad you feel that way! I originally wanted to see if I could get a few of his mates to come down and ride with us, but I couldn't get a translator on board in time. I really want to go back with a grant or a bigger budget and hire translator and driver so I can get some proper coverage and on-the-road stuff. It'd be great to go on one of those camping trips with them and really nut out a story!

[mercer]

That was just 1080p? Did you use the Flat Profile? If so, did you bump up sharpness in camera, or in post? Did you use the DIS? Sorry for all the questions, just really impressive IQ, figured it was resolution. I can only imagine what the 4K would look like.

And yeah I feel the same way the more I work with my humble D5500, there is just something about that Nikon image.

Also I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the most important aspect of the work... the story is interesting and well told. I didn't know there was a Harley culture in Japan. And Seven's reaction at the very end was priceless. Good work!

[webrunner5]

51 minutes ago, mercer said:

Also I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the most important aspect of the work... the story is interesting and well told. I didn't know there was a Harley culture in Japan. And Seven's reaction at the very end was priceless. Good work!

Yeah as someone that lives in the US, it would be interesting as heck to see how "Bikers" in Japan look like, act, what their bikes look like! Make it happen LoL, and use that Damn Nikon again jhnkng !

51 minutes ago, mercer said:

That was just 1080p? Did you use the Flat Profile? If so, did you bump up sharpness in camera, or in post? Did you use the DIS? Sorry for all the questions, just really impressive IQ, figured it was resolution. I can only imagine what the 4K would look like.

And yeah I feel the same way the more I work with my humble D5500, there is just something about that Nikon image.

 

Oh boy, I see a Nikon D500 in your future LoL. I must admit that video is pretty sweet looking. That dark mood would fit you to a tee.

[mercer]

Haha, nah I may be interested in the D7300 when it gets released.

1 hour ago, webrunner5 said:

Yeah as someone that lives in the US, it would be interesting as heck to see how "Bikers" in Japan look like, act, what their bikes look like! Make it happen LoL, and use that Damn Nikon again jhnkng !

Oh boy, I see a Nikon D500 in your future LoL. I must admit that video is pretty sweet looking. That dark mood would fit you to a tee.

 

[jhnkng]

4 hours ago, mercer said:

That was just 1080p? Did you use the Flat Profile? If so, did you bump up sharpness in camera, or in post? Did you use the DIS? Sorry for all the questions, just really impressive IQ, figured it was resolution. I can only imagine what the 4K would look like.

I shot it on the Flat Profile as is with the Saturation bumped down to -2. I find that Nikons can go overboard on reds and yellows, pulling back on the overall saturation helps to keep it under control, and if the surrounding colours are looking flat I can boost that in the grade. I also shot with Active D-Lighting on High -- I like the extra shadow detail when I'm shooting so I don't raise my exposure too high looking at an overly contrasty image. I don't think it really gives me any extra dynamic range, but it's not hurting so I leave it there.

No sharpening in post, having a grain track overlaid gives the impression of sharpness -- if you look closely you'll probably notice that the only time I nailed focus was on the very last shot on his face, and all the GoPro shots where it was infinity :D

I haven't shot that much on the 4k, that additional crop means I don't have a lens that suits what I do. I only use the D500 when it's super run and gun; if I have more time or control (or if I'm not travelling) I shoot my BMMCC. Having that 4k crop means my 17-50 isn't wide enough when I'm indoors, and if I put the 11-16 on then it's not long enough for when I need to punch in. I don't love the image from the Sigma 17-50, but the IS really helps and the range is perfect for what I use that camera for. 

Oh I also shot the whole thing with Auto ISO on, it's so great! It does occasionally get confused, but it never goes more than 2/3 of a stop off and you can keyframe it back in the grade pretty easily. 

 

3 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

Yeah as someone that lives in the US, it would be interesting as heck to see how "Bikers" in Japan look like, act, what their bikes look like! Make it happen LoL, and use that Damn Nikon again jhnkng !

Hell yeah, I can't wait to get back there with a bit of a budget and do a proper deep dive into the scene! There are some proper outlaw clubs there as well, I dunno how they'd feel about a guy making a documentary but there's only one way to find out!

[webrunner5]

Well I would ask before you shoot, because I bet they would shoot You without asking! 

[mercer]

11 hours ago, jhnkng said:

I shot it on the Flat Profile as is with the Saturation bumped down to -2. I find that Nikons can go overboard on reds and yellows, pulling back on the overall saturation helps to keep it under control, and if the surrounding colours are looking flat I can boost that in the grade. I also shot with Active D-Lighting on High -- I like the extra shadow detail when I'm shooting so I don't raise my exposure too high looking at an overly contrasty image. I don't think it really gives me any extra dynamic range, but it's not hurting so I leave it there.

No sharpening in post, having a grain track overlaid gives the impression of sharpness -- if you look closely you'll probably notice that the only time I nailed focus was on the very last shot on his face, and all the GoPro shots where it was infinity :D

I haven't shot that much on the 4k, that additional crop means I don't have a lens that suits what I do. I only use the D500 when it's super run and gun; if I have more time or control (or if I'm not travelling) I shoot my BMMCC. Having that 4k crop means my 17-50 isn't wide enough when I'm indoors, and if I put the 11-16 on then it's not long enough for when I need to punch in. I don't love the image from the Sigma 17-50, but the IS really helps and the range is perfect for what I use that camera for. 

Oh I also shot the whole thing with Auto ISO on, it's so great! It does occasionally get confused, but it never goes more than 2/3 of a stop off and you can keyframe it back in the grade pretty easily. 

 

Hell yeah, I can't wait to get back there with a bit of a budget and do a proper deep dive into the scene! There are some proper outlaw clubs there as well, I dunno how they'd feel about a guy making a documentary but there's only one way to find out!

Great tips, John. Do you know if the 1080p is an internal downscale of the 4K? The camera labs review of the D500 hinted at that but the statement was part of a half of a sentence, so it wasn't a hundred percent clear.

[jhnkng]

9 hours ago, mercer said:

Great tips, John. Do you know if the 1080p is an internal downscale of the 4K? The camera labs review of the D500 hinted at that but the statement was part of a half of a sentence, so it wasn't a hundred percent clear.

Not sure, but I thought all the new Nikons did a 3x3 pixel site per HD pixel reduction? I certainly didn't see any moire or other weird artefacts. 

[mercer]

Hey John, sorry I missed this. Excuse my ignorance, but I have no idea what a 3x3 pixel reduction is? 

[bamigoreng]

1 hour ago, mercer said:

Hey John, sorry I missed this. Excuse my ignorance, but I have no idea what a 3x3 pixel reduction is? 

ML, the binning patterns are described here: http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=16516

[webrunner5]

2 hours ago, bamigoreng said:

ML, the binning patterns are described here: http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=16516

Well that is clear as Mud LoL.  I Sort of get it. I guess it just means it samples smaller blocks? Well L's in essence.

[jhnkng]

22 hours ago, mercer said:

Hey John, sorry I missed this. Excuse my ignorance, but I have no idea what a 3x3 pixel reduction is? 

Oh right, basically it takes a grid of 3 x 3 pixels and combines all that data and displays it as a single pixel. That way they can capture the full frame and reduce it to 1080p without line skipping. 

[mercer]

3 hours ago, jhnkng said:

Oh right, basically it takes a grid of 3 x 3 pixels and combines all that data and displays it as a single pixel. That way they can capture the full frame and reduce it to 1080p without line skipping. 

Perfect explanation, thanks. I think eventually I'll be have a similar gear regimen as you, but instead of the Micro, I'll have the 5D3 and instead of the D500, I'll have the D7500... if only Nikon would include focus peaking or their PDAF in video LiveView and I may have preordered the D7500.

[jhnkng]

Haha, it's funny, when the Sony A9 was announced I spent the day tallying up how much I can sell everything for and how much a brand new Sony system will cost me (quick answer:  a lot). But then I told my wife what I was doing and she asked me why I wanted to switch -- and to be perfectly honest I couldn't come up with a solid answer. Sure there are features that I'd like, but nothing I have now gets in the way of shooting and I like the results I get. I'm currently working on a documentary project for a local non-profit and I'm shooting on my Micro in 3:1 RAW, and workflow issues aside, I'm finding it harder to nail a look with the Micro compared to how quickly I found the look with the D500. Having a semi-flat profile rather than a full on log profile makes a really big difference.

[mercer]

Yeah well Nikon has done something really special with that Flat Profile. I noticed a couple weeks ago that LUTS designed for Arri LogC work great with it... dialed back of course. So I wonder if it has a similar curve. Either way, like you said, Nikon was the first camera I owned where I felt the camera, even with all its quirks, just got out of the way... shooting and color wise.

I am loving my ML Raw, but a couple of my upcoming shorts just do not require that Raw image and workflow. Between my D5500 and a bunch of lenses, the D7500 will feel like a trade.

Btw, did you mean it is harder to nail a look with the Micro because you have more choices or due to color issues with the Micro Raw footage?

[webrunner5]

3 hours ago, jhnkng said:

Haha, it's funny, when the Sony A9 was announced I spent the day tallying up how much I can sell everything for and how much a brand new Sony system will cost me (quick answer:  a lot). But then I told my wife what I was doing and she asked me why I wanted to switch -- and to be perfectly honest I couldn't come up with a solid answer. Sure there are features that I'd like, but nothing I have now gets in the way of shooting and I like the results I get. I'm currently working on a documentary project for a local non-profit and I'm shooting on my Micro in 3:1 RAW, and workflow issues aside, I'm finding it harder to nail a look with the Micro compared to how quickly I found the look with the D500. Having a semi-flat profile rather than a full on log profile makes a really big difference.

What footage I have seen out of the A9 look the best I have Ever seen on a Sony to be honest. Might be the 6k down sampled to 4k. I don't know or new Color Science, or both.