720p stills from a feature I'm currently shooting with HVX/Brevis/M42 Lenses

[marco0782]

I'm currently shooting a feature with the Brevis35 and a set of M42 primes as follows:

Zeiss 20mm f2.8
Pentacon 29mm f2.8
Zeiss 35mm f2.4
Pentax 50mm f1.4
Pentax 85mm f1.8
Pentax 135mm f2.5


Some of these images are a little softer than they should be. I have since improved my backfocus on the Brevis and I am now shooting with Detail set to 0 instead of -6 as before. I am in disagreement with people on this board who claim that lowering detail reduces noise. It makes sense but I haven't observed it to be true. The easiest way to reduce noise is to know when to use B. Press or Cinelike V gamma instead of Cinelike D which can be very noisy. What I do is zoom in with Focus Assist to look at the noise in noisy areas such as dark areas. Then O can test out the different gamma modes to see which is the cleanest. If there's no difference in noise between B. Press and Cinelike D, for example, I might use Cinelike D. If not I am better off shooting in B. Press and adding a filmlike gamma in post. I wouldn't go as far as saying that you should shoot B. Press all the time because sometimes Cinelike D is just as clean and if you're looking for more subtle contrast it would be the better choice.

In summary:

B. Press - Contrasty and clean but not very film-like
Cinelike D - Medium contrast and filmlike but noisy in dark spots
Cinelike V - Contrasty, clean and filmlike but not as clean as B. Press


I also recommend setting the Chroma Level to a negative value. The more saturated your image, the noisier. A saturated blue wall is going to be noisy no matter which gamma setting you use or how much light you have. The best way to handle this would be to reduce the Chroma Level. Most of the images you see below were shot with a Chroma Level of -3 or below, all the way down to -7.

Also, I set my Master Pedestal between -3 and -8. Crushing the blacks is a good way to reduce noise in dark areas, but keep in mind that once you crush the blacks there's no turning back. Bringing up the gamma in post will reveal nasty artifacts in the crushed zones where some of the information has been lost.

Lastly, if you need a scene to be dark it would be best to accomplish that in post. The day for night still illustrates this. If it had been lit that way it would have been incredibly noisy.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them.


http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/01.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/02.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/03.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/04.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/05.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/06.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/07.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/08.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/09.jpg

[marco0782]

http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/10.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/11.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/12.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/13.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/14.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/15.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/16.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/17.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/18.jpg

[marco0782]

http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/19.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/20.jpg
http://www.marcocordero.com/jul07/21.jpg

[kstewart]

Marco,

These stills are really nice... thanks ! I particulary like the one whith the woman standing next to the table, during evening. What was your lighting setup for this one ?
I've been watching a lot of Brevis samples, and noticed one thing : it seems very hard to achieve sharp pictures with it. Do you think it's possible to get very sharp pictures with it ? Is it possible to shoot at min T4 if the light allows ? Is it possible to go down to T16 without seeing the grain ? Is it possible to intercut stock lens and brevis ?

Thanks !

Kristin

[Mike McNeese]

Very nice stuff! I'd love to hear about your lighting on some of the INT scenes. The color on the EXT stuff is interesting...was there any CC done, or did you do something in camera? Good prop work adds some genuine nostalgic feel.

[smashedburrito]

Those were cool. Would you mind sharing what the feature is about?

[marco0782]

I've never used the M2 on the HVX so I can't say if it would be sharper than the Brevis, but keep in mind that I shot everything wide open and that my backfocus was off due to error.

The lighting for the dining room scene was a 4-foot 4-bank Kino up above the chandelier with only two banks lit. With the barndoors closed and some duvatine to cap the ends we were able to keep the light from spilling onto the walls.

The Brevis loses very little light so it's possible to have setups like this where you only use one Kino to light the scene. The windows in the dining room were blacked out with duvatine so the only light was that of the chandelier and the 4-foot 4-bank.

With the Brevis you don't want to stop down past f5.6 or you will start to see a static grain pattern. This is a little frustrating to me because it makes pulling focus a challenge when you want to shoot handheld.

To answer your question about CC, I used Magic Bullet on all of these as a finishing touch.

To summarize the story, it's about a grandmother and granddaughter that both lost their loved ones (husband and mother) and are left alone. They live in a big victorian house by themselves and their isolation and inability to deal with loss drives them towards insanity.

[cine emphasis]

Marco,

Very impressive pictures. What frame rate are you shooting the feature in. I just purchased an HVX and plan on using 720/24pn for my upcoming feature. Also, if you don't mind saying, what setting was the very last pic of the girl sitting on the shore. That caught my eye.

Thanks

[TimurCivan]

The fifth doen in the second batch is AWESOME. the old woman standing next to the table. it has a nice MAtthew BArney feel to it.

[Isaac_Brody]

I love that last still on the beach. It's tip top. And the old woman table shot is great. Good compositions and eye.

[kenn michael]

beautiful stuff

[marco0782]

For the still of the girl on the beach I used an ND grad to darken the already dark sky (it was about to rain). I recall setting the Chroma Level to -7 and using Cinelike D. Then in post I desaturated everything except for the girl. I used the 20mm on that shot.

[electricpig]

I love the shot of the stern girl facing camera over the white shoulder, veranda on the RHS.
The quality is beautifull, and the way you've rolled your highlights off while still getting good blacks is stunning.

How did you shoot this?

[marco0782]

Thanks, that was shot with natural light and I believe we didn't have to use a bounce either. It was overcast that day and stormclouds were approaching so the ambient light was extremely diffused. I set the Master Pedestal around -6, left the 50mm at f1.4 and stopped down the HVX as much as necessary on top of my ND6 to eliminate zebras on the veranda. After doing this I recall there still being slight overexposure on the veranda but I let that pass because I planned on diffusing slightly in post and I wanted the girl's face to be properly exposed.

Also I recall the Chroma Level being at -7 and Color Temp at -2 with Cinelike D Gamma.