The Blackout: Just Wrapped Feature with XLH1

[Robert Sanders]

We just wrapped our feature film "The Blackout" last week. It was an intense 27 day shoot (6 day weeks) in and around downtown Los Angeles. We shot in loft apartments, dank and dirty basements, rooftops with cranes and finished with stage work in Hollywood.

Wow, what an experience.

We shot with a fully outfitted XLH1. We bypassed HDV tape altogether and tapped into the camera's HD-SDI output and ran the feed directly to a Kona LHe card in a quad-core MacPro running Final Cut Studio 2. We captured everything using ProRes 422 HQ. The capture station was setup and configured by Promax in Irvine and performed flawlessly throughout the entire shoot. We never dropped one frame or crashed once.

From the Kona card we ran a loop-through feed to a Blackmagic HDLink converter which fed the 1080P picture to a 23" Cinema Display with a Vesa mount attached to a c-stand. We setup the HDLink with a custom LUT. Plus we used a modified version of the Disjecta custom camera preset.

We did not use any DoF adapters. We used primarily the Canon 6x HD lens and the 20x lens. Because of the nature of our film (taking place primarily during a power blackout at night) we knew we'd always be pushing the exposure envelope. So keeping the iris fully open and using longer focal lengths when applicable kept our depth of field relatively shallow. Additionally we couldn't really afford to lose an additional 1-1.5 stops with an adapter. Also our shooting schedule was so aggressive we couldn't afford any additional time futzing with back-focus and spinning ground glass.

We did have one critical camera failure half-way through the shoot. The mounting sleeve was accidentally ripped out of the base of the camera. Thanks to our friends at the Canon repair center we had a replacement camera within two hours and were shooting the same morning. Thank you Canon!

All of our behind-the-scenes video was shot with a Canon XH-A1 camera in 60i, HDV, and a custom preset applied. We also used Canon's wide-angle lens adapter, which surprised us to it's picture quality. We shot 30-hours of BTS! All photography was shot with a 5D, 30D and RebelXT (nearly 2000 photos).

So this was a pretty big Canon show. That was not our intention, but it ended up that way. Both XLH1 cameras performed very well. Both exhibited the same strange Viewfinder issues. Canon's replacement camera displayed slightly better low-noise performance than our camera, but both cameras inter-cut flawlessly.

Also, the A1 is a remarkable little gem of a camera. I often found myself using the A1 as a director's finder. It's so small and so light weight that it was very easy to use the flip out LCD, find my shot, show it to the DP and AC and they'd setup the H1 accordingly. And now I'm thinking about picking up an HV20 for this exact purpose.

Frame grabs and BTS photos to follow.

[stinkpot]

Looking forward to some photos.

[ecking]

That's awesome, I've seen your site before and you guys have done some great work, looking forward to seeing this progress.
What did you guys use and do for audio?

[Robert Sanders]

ME-66 and 416 Senheisers and an assortment of wireless lavs into a Mackie mixer and then straight into the AJA Kona breakout box. The camera's HD-SDI output has a 4 frame delay so the unfortunate side-effect is that all audio has to be adjusted in post. Easy fix. But still a bit of a pain in the ass.

[ecking]

Thanks so much for that info, those are now the things I will buy/rent. Having seen your work there's no need to question it or look elsewhere!

Also I read your blog, I need more BTS pics! I'm a big fan of looking at them and seeing people's setups and stuff.

[Elton]

Fantastic news, Robert. I hope you can post some nice grabs at some point. It's so cool that you were able to maximize the potential of the XL-H1.

Did you shoot HDV as a backup?

B

[Robert Sanders]

Thanks so much for that info, those are now the things I will buy/rent. Having seen your work there's no need to question it or look elsewhere!

Also I read your blog, I need more BTS pics! I'm a big fan of looking at them and seeing people's setups and stuff.

Get a good boom pole. Don't cheap out on it either. Trust me. Our boom pole ultimately didn't work out. We used the one from the grip truck (don't know the make or model) that runs the cable through the center of the tube and has a XLR connector on the bottom of the pole.

[Robert Sanders]

Fantastic news, Robert. I hope you can post some nice grabs at some point. It's so cool that you were able to maximize the potential of the XL-H1.

Did you shoot HDV as a backup?

B

This will probably be the last major project we do with the H1. We were hoping to shoot with RED. But then the engineering delays forced us into contingency. And there were an embarrassment of riches as far as camera and workflow choices are concerned. We looked at the SI camera, but it's not rentable anywhere. We briefly considered the F900 again so we could use higher end glass (DigiPrimes). But at the end of the day the budget was so tight we opted for the H1 and capture station combo (which doubles for the edit workstation as well).

[Robert Sanders]

Here are some downrez'd JPEG's from the movie.

[Robert Sanders]

Some more.

[Elton]

Fantastic looking! Hope to see a trailer in the near future. It looks like you used the 6x a lot. I friggin' LOVE that lens.

How's the CC in Color with native 4:2:2 ProResHQ material? I'm sure there's lots to play with. :)

Good stuff, Robert!

[Kholi]

Lookin' good as usual, Sanders.

[Robert Sanders]

A couple more.

[Robert Sanders]

Fantastic looking! Hope to see a trailer in the near future. It looks like you used the 6x a lot. I friggin' LOVE that lens.

How's the CC in Color with native 4:2:2 ProResHQ material? I'm sure there's lots to play with. :)

Good stuff, Robert!

Yup, we used the 6x at least 70% of the time. But the longer focal lengths of the 20x came in handy too. And the two lenses intercut so well together. Of course rack focusing either lens is an absolute bitch. But they're extremely sharp and they both exhibit a really nice characteristic to the image.

Definitely the nicest looking 1/3" camera of the lot, IMHO.

The ProRes workflow between FCP and Color kicks ass. I've heard of some issues with other workflows that have problems and issues. But not mine. Phew!

And yes, I can push the footage a lot further than I could before when I was shooting to tape (HDV). No macro blocking. The blacks and lower end of the signal benefit the most. And when you're making a movie that takes primarily in the dark during a power blackout that's VERY important.

[Robert Sanders]

Lookin' good as usual, Sanders.

Thanks bro, much appreciated.

[marketmd]

Is it correct that the main significant difference between the A1 and H1 is the SDI output? Does the A1 have HDMI, or merely component? In a word, could what you filmed have been done with an A1?

[Robert Sanders]

Is it correct that the main significant difference between the A1 and H1 is the SDI output? Does the A1 have HDMI, or merely component? In a word, could what you filmed have been done with an A1?

The H1's biggest advantages are the HD-SDI ouput and interchangeable lenses. Being able to swap out 3 or 4 different lenses, depending on the shot required, was my biggest asset. However, I would have to say that the wide-angle lens adapter by Canon for the A1 is a remarkable piece of glass. The BTS videographer was very impressed with the AQ package.

This was the first project I was able to take advantage of the HD-SDI output. And I would have to say that the picture quality improved quite a bit. But that's really a subjective thing. One of my good friends who is a respected photographer was convinced that we used a newer, better camera. He was surprised when I told him it was the same camera. So he definitely picked up on the quality improvement by recording straight to disk.

And that's where the H1 and the A1 truly separate themselves into different cameras/beasts. Uncompressed or ProRes (or Cineform) capture is what really takes the cake. But don't forget we hauled around a capture station cart through the entire shoot. Which was a pain in the ass from time to time. Otherwise the AJA IO mated with a MacBook Pro and a fast Firewire drive would also do the job.

That being said, I have to say that I fell in love with the A1 during the shoot. I think it's form factor is ideal. The weight was surprisingly light. If you were comparing HDV to HDV then I would say the A1 is hot on the heels of the H1.

Could the A1 shoot the same movie with similar results? Mostly. My biggest concern would've been the HDV compression on a such a low-light, dimly lit movie. HDV's macro-blocking loves to live in the shadows, so to speak.

[marketmd]

Robert- Thank you for your superb and thorough response.

[Elton]

So did you pretty much do a rough cut on the set? It must've been pretty damn cool to just start putting shots together to see if they worked right there on the set.

[Robert Sanders]

So did you pretty much do a rough cut on the set? It must've been pretty damn cool to just start putting shots together to see if they worked right there on the set.

You know I really thought I would. Backup was the biggest concern by everyone and that took precedence. And backing up 100GB takes about an hour on a Firewire 400 external drive.

Because I wore that many hats of director, editor, DIT, production sound mixer, script supervisor (and A.D. the last two weeks of the shoot)...there really wasn't any time left over for cutting. And I was bummed about that.

I did do a little editing on my Sunday's off as well as test the ProRes FCP > Color > FCP workflow.

So now I sit in front of monsterous mountain of footage piled high in front of me. Where to begin. Where to begin.

LOL!

[agwah]

did you ever capture any footage from the a1 through the analog output and compare it to the hdsdi from the H1

[Robert Sanders]

Here are some shots of the camera in various setups.

1. Flying on Cedric Martin's Steadicam, 6X lens.
2. On location, 20X lens, long focal length for close ups.
3. On location on Steadicam, 6X lens.
4. On sticks, 20X lens.
5. On JimmyJib, 6X lens.

[Robert Sanders]

Here are some shots of the capture station we carted around everywhere.

1. The capture station shoved into a bathroom.
2. Down in that Godforsaken basement filled with dust, dirt and a hazer blowing smoke into the basement around the clock. I was convinced the system would fail down there. If you look closely there's a box of Sony Pro DV tapes standing by just in case.
3. Another shot in the basement.
4. Shoved into the hallway on location in downtown Los Angeles.
5. Camera on the Jib with myself and the capture station on the bottom, on kneeling on the roof.

[Robert Sanders]

Some more random photos from the shoot.

1. Camera on Steadicam, 6X lens, Christmas in August.
2. Close up of the camera.
3. Fully rigged, 6X lens.
4. On the stage, Jib, 6X lens.
5. Steadicam through the electrical room in the basement.

[Robert Sanders]

did you ever capture any footage from the a1 through the analog output and compare it to the hdsdi from the H1

Unfortunately, no. The A1 package was a loaner and we'd just received it a couple days before the shoot. But it would be interesting to see a comparison.

My guess is that the analog capture would be softer than the HD-SDI, but comparable to the HDV version (noise would sharper on HDV but duller/softer analog).

[maccruzer]

Any clips posted anywere?

[William_Robinette]

Fantastic. I vote for some footage too!

How long did it take you all to set up/break down that capture station?

[hbrod]

Beautiful pictures, RS, but I don't understand something about your description of the capture configuration for the XL-H1 on this shoot. The XL-H1 does not have embedded audio or timecode in the SDI line. So what method was used to capture audio and timecode? Also, the SDI is streaming 1080/60i uncompressed. This requires a very fast storage/writing system. You didn't describe how you achieved this.

Can you tell us how you achieved those night shots? Did you use special lighting filtration, lens filters, or was this done in post?

Thanks for sharing!

[ShannonRawls]

hi hbrod, how's it going buddy.
hey, did you read the entire thread? he said he captured using the "ProRes 422 HQ" codec which doesn't need a fast system like uncompressed. therefore he most likely generated new timecode on the computer, especially since there was no need to sync with tape since he never used any. he also mentions he recorded audio directly into his AJA Kona breakout box. he even mentions the sound gear he used.

your question about his night shots are still unanswered however.

[Carl]

Really nice report and nice work.

Shannon - thanks for that you and Nick convincing me about the Canon XLH1 2 years
ago on DVinfo.net when it was new and hot.
I have had the best time with it, love my custom presets etc etc...so much that I also pickup
a Canon XHA1 yesterday as a b-cam and for easy 2 camera situations.
A happy story.

All the best

Carl Ny

[hbrod]

Right, ShannonR, my bad. I followed the thread and read about the audio issue. That's a really interesting approach. He still had to sync it up in post. I'm wondering if he shot in non-drop frame: wouldn't the audio continue to drift, otherwise? Couldn't he have looped into the monitor out of the KL box instead of going through Blackmagic HDLink converter?

I have most of the same equipment, I'd love to test this out! I'm wondering if I could set it up the same way, except get the audio out of the camera by firewire through a Convergent Design HD-Connect LE? Must tinker.

[HBlack]

It's great to see BTS pictures of this quality. What was the budget, and how did you finance it?

[Robert Sanders]

Fantastic. I vote for some footage too!

How long did it take you all to set up/break down that capture station?

Hey William. It's funny you ask that question. At first we were very meticulous about setting everything up, making sure cables were laid cleanly, strapping everything down. Towards the end of the shoot it became "f*ck it" and ended up hodge podged together.

[Robert Sanders]

Right, ShannonR, my bad. I followed the thread and read about the audio issue. That's a really interesting approach. He still had to sync it up in post. I'm wondering if he shot in non-drop frame: wouldn't the audio continue to drift, otherwise? Couldn't he have looped into the monitor out of the KL box instead of going through Blackmagic HDLink converter?

I have most of the same equipment, I'd love to test this out! I'm wondering if I could set it up the same way, except get the audio out of the camera by firewire through a Convergent Design HD-Connect LE? Must tinker.

It wasn't a full and complete re-sync. Everything was just offset by two frames. The easiest fix seemed to be to just offset everything will editing rather than just re-syncing all the raw footage and creating yet another huge library of assets.

We captured everything 29.97 with no audio drift problems. Probably because audio was coming straight out of our Mackie mixer straight into the Kona breakout box where it was mixed with the picture feed from the camera.

Cinema Displays do not have an HD-SDI input. So they require an HD-SDI to DVI adapter. Some of the new LCDs out there from Panasonic and JVC do accept HD-SDI, which is nice.

[Robert Sanders]

It's great to see BTS pictures of this quality. What was the budget, and how did you finance it?

The budget was around $250K give or take. It was financed through a private placement funded through a handful of investors.

[Robert Sanders]

The rough cut is officially finished. We're now headlong into the second cut of the movie as well as starting to figure out all of our visual effects processes.

I should have a trailer in a few weeks along with a couple select scenes.

We expect to premiere the movie at The Landmark theater in April.

[Elton]

I'm excited to see the trailer and anything else you care to share, Robert. Glad to hear you'll be done this spring.

[Andii]

How do you capture audio from people at a medium shot? where boom and lapel are no good visually?

[ShannonRawls]

A.d.r.

[Spartacus]

Yeah Robert, when can we expect some moving images...?

[HBlack]

What made you decide to shoot 29.97 instead of 24?

[Robert Sanders]

A.d.r.

LOL! So true. So true. Most of our locations were so noisy everything was a scratch track anyway. We're ADR'ing 75% of the movie.

[Robert Sanders]

What made you decide to shoot 29.97 instead of 24?

The camera was set to 23.976. But what comes out of the HD-SDI is 3:2 at 29.97 (basically, the HD-SDI spec for all cameras, decks and devices is 29.97 but the Canon does not provide embedded timecode so the capture device doesn't know how to remove the pulldown on the fly). We capture the 29.97 stream at 29.97 and then reverse telecine'd it back to 23.976 using Cinema Tools.

[Robert Sanders]

Yeah Robert, when can we expect some moving images...?

I'm working on it. Things change once you have investors and you're responsible for the I.P. of a decently funded picture. You can't just throw stuff on the 'net.

Just ask the "The Signal" guys.

[Kholi]

Starway Pictures rocks.

[James in HD]

Wow... Thats all I can say... Wow!

[indydude80]

why come i can't view the pictures?

[Robert Sanders]

I've got the first of a couple Teaser Trailers posted on our website. You can watch the embedded Flash version or you can download Quicktime HD versions.

I'm in the middle of a more in-depth Feature Trailer, but it was taking too much time away from editing the feature. Again, this is only a small sampling of the movie itself. Because we're in the middle of finishing a ton of FX shots, some of the more bad-ass stuff can't be cut into any of the trailers yet.

WATCH THE TEASER TRAILER HERE (http:/www.starwaypictures.com/theblackout/trailers.html)

Enjoy!

Rob

[Simon Höfer]

Holy crap! That looks amazing Robert!

You should correct your links by the way (also in your signature).

This is the correct link:
http://www.starwaypictures.com/

Somehow you posted this:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/www.starwaypictures.com

[rawfa]

Man, that looks freaking incredible. You must've had a massive budget. Everything very very pro looking.
Any idea when will it be out. I'd really love to see it.

[Robert Sanders]

Holy crap! That looks amazing Robert!

You should correct your links by the way (also in your signature).

This is the correct link:
http://www.starwaypictures.com/

Somehow you posted this:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/www.starwaypictures.com

Thank you for the kudos. And thanks for the heads up and the bad link.

[Robert Sanders]

Man, that looks freaking incredible. You must've had a massive budget. Everything very very pro looking.
Any idea when will it be out. I'd really love to see it.

Thanks Rawfa. We tried really hard to get the production quality as high as possible. Believe it or not, we didn't really have a lot of money on this project (about half of what "The Signal" had).

[Elton]

Truly bad-ass teaser. Looks incredibly promising. Congrats Rob...can't wait to see more!

[Robert Sanders]

Truly bad-ass teaser. Looks incredibly promising. Congrats Rob...can't wait to see more!

Did you watch the 1080P version? The ProRes HQ master looks great. I'm happy with how well h264 encodes from ProRes. I always felt that DVCProHD > h264 produced a lot of banding and quantization errors. But the ProRes > h264 looks pretty great. I usually have to export an uncompressed version and then encode from there.

[pawpaw]

Sickkkkkkkkkkkkk! That was badasss. And all with 6x and a 20x lenses. No Adapters. Proof that there is no substitute for vision.

[Robert Sanders]

Thanks pawpaw. Much appreciated.

[Elton]

Did you watch the 1080P version? The ProRes HQ master looks great. I'm happy with how well h264 encodes from ProRes. I always felt that DVCProHD > h264 produced a lot of banding and quantization errors. But the ProRes > h264 looks pretty great. I usually have to export an uncompressed version and then encode from there.

Yeah, watched both the 720 and 1080--I think the 720 looked better. A little too much compression on the 1080, but I know bandwidth is always an issue.

I've had better luck encoding from ProRes too. It's a superior post codec.

[ecking]

I've said it before about Robert's stuff and I'll say it again amazing. Simply poo pooing amazing.

[tmnt]

Wow that trailer is impressive. You guys are going to do well with this one! For 250K it just looks great and come on, it's got a monster - it's sellable! Have you got a deal already? Only fault I think may be some of the acting but overall it looks brilliant. I think digital looks a thousand times more filmic at night so shooting in the dark is going to add so much to the production value.

Congrats.

[Elton]

For 250K it just looks great and come on, it's got a monster - it's sellable!

Exactly! My first thought after seeing the creature at the end was "this thing's gonna sell".

Go Starway!

[rawfa]

I've said it before about Robert's stuff and I'll say it again amazing. Simply poo pooing amazing.

It doesn't get much better than poo pooing amazing :thumbsup:
I'll keep my eyes open for the release. i hope the movie gets picked up by a cool company.
Any thoughts of another brief teaser?

[Robert Sanders]

I wanted to let everyone know that I will be a guest speaker at Birns & Sawyer in downtown Hollywood on Wednesday, April 30th from 6:00pm - 9:00pm. I will be showing some footage from the movie as well as discussing our workflow.

RSVP at Canon - Post NAB Event (http://www.birnsandsawyer.com/cgibin/BIRstore.cgi?user_action=detail&catalogno=sem01)

I look forward to meeting some of you there.

[musicprogirl]

The trailer for the movie is absolutely gorgeous.
Major kudos!

[Michael T]

Just discovered your trailer and it's great. I will go and read your posts and just wanted to say congrats on a good job!

[JAPWOLF]

Hello Robert,
I justed watched your trailer for Blackout. I was amazed at the footage you got without using an 35MM adapter. I will be bumping up my gear a little and getting the 6 X HD Wide Lens. I would like to invest in the Lens instead of an 35MM adapter. I also like the standard 20X lens, could you tell me a little about the 6 X HD wide Lens. Thank you and keep up the good work.

[Robert Sanders]

musicprogirl, Michael T, and JAPWOLF...thank you very much for the kind words. The film is nearing completion. Justin Durban is writing the score. Parts of the film have been graded and look superb.

Regarding the 6x HD Wide Angle lens from Canon...I love it. I think it's a miracle they produced a WA lens that is HD capable and can ZOOM without distortion, breathing or vignetting for less than $3 grand!! And it's sharp corner to corner at full wide. This lens was probably our workhorse lens through a lot of the movie. Plus I love the look of the 20x at the telephoto end of the range. Beautiful stuff (requires a rock solid tri-pod though).

[Elton]

Glad to hear the film is nearing completion. How did the ProRes codec hold up in post? Were you able to lift shadows without artifacting? Can't wait to hear more about the film down the road.

About the 6x: I have to echo Robert's opinion. It's a fantastic lens, even if it's servo based. It's so sharp and perfectly curvilinear, (24mm equivalent) with nicer contrast and makes color pop a bit more than the stock lens. It's an underappreciated piece of glass that can really elevate the H1's potential.

[JAPWOLF]

Hello Robert,
Thanks for the information on the 6 X WA lens. I just received it the other day from B & H. I slapped that baby on and fooled around with it a little and I can tell you it is everything you said it was. Again thanks.

[Andii]

Trailer looks fantastic mate. It gives me an my good ol xlh1 some inspiration.

Can I ask what settings you used for the xl regards night shooting and low light?
And do you have any presets you could share with us fellow xlh1 users?

And what software are you using to create these images? fcp?

I think I bill buy this film to see whats truly achievable! great work.:dankk2:

[Robert Sanders]

You guys are making me anxious to release the new trailer we've been cutting. The only thing holding it up is we still need to shoot our television news anchor scenes (which is pivotal to encapsulating the story in the trailer).

Elton: I couldn't be happier with ProRes (at least ProRes HQ -- I haven't tried the regular variant). I do find that I can push the image more because we avoided HDV compression. The blacks looks really good. The grain structure throughout the entire contrast range is what impresses me. Yes the camera is a little noisy throughout (all 1/3" camera are), but capturing the HD-SDI to ProRes really preserved all that shadow information. Fortunately, though, we're printing the movie down instead of pushing it. So I haven't run into any shots that need to be lifted.

I know this goes against common wisdom in HD cinematography, but I'll go ahead and say it: I would rather have a handful of shots with blown highlights than an entire film that's noisy. Therefore, I have found that I would rather shoot for mid-range and blacks rather than protecting the highlights. With this camera in particular, shooting for the blacks and then dialing them down in post created a much smoother and filmic image that has great low-noise characteristics.

I spoke with a colorist at Fotokem who said that the "expose for the highlights" wisdom is correct when shooting with robust camera systems like the F23, Genesis, RED. These cameras have very low noise floors and lifting the image doesn't introduce artifacts or too much noise. He did say, however, that this ideology should NOT have ever been applied to small chip cameras like the HVX or the H1 BECAUSE they have unpleasant noise floors.

JAPWOLF: I'm glad you invested in that lens. Now that you have a wide range of focal lengths covered by these two lenses I'm sure you'll now fully appreciate the H1's fullest potential. There's something comforting about knowing deep down inside that you are using true native glass of high quality (mechanics not withstanding).

Andii: Thank you for the kind words. I know this camera has gotten a little lost in the shuffle of new announcements from Sony and, of course, RED. But everyone should never forget that this little sucker is like owning a Mini-F900. The image quality, I swear, is the same (save for some DOF differences).

As far as setting are concerned, I basically used the one's I found around here. Particularly disjecta's panalook preset (I may have added a little more blue to the matrix). Just make sure you're using film gamma #2.

As far as software everything's being done in Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects, Soundtrack Pro and the rest of the Adobe creative suite.

[Elton]

I know this goes against common wisdom in HD cinematography, but I'll go ahead and say it: I would rather have a handful of shots with blown highlights than an entire film that's noisy. Therefore, I have found that I would rather shoot for mid-range and blacks rather than protecting the highlights. With this camera in particular, shooting for the blacks and then dialing them down in post created a much smoother and filmic image that has great low-noise characteristics.

I spoke with a colorist at Fotokem who said that the "expose for the highlights" wisdom is correct when shooting with robust camera systems like the F23, Genesis, RED. These cameras have very low noise floors and lifting the image doesn't introduce artifacts or too much noise. He did say, however, that this ideology should NOT have ever been applied to small chip cameras like the HVX or the H1 BECAUSE they have unpleasant noise floors.

Wow, great insight. That makes a ton of sense and I think you're right on the money. As much as I don't like blown highlights here and there, they are the lesser of the two 1/3" HD evils, IMO. (heavy noise being the other)

[D_Odell]

Very interesting info here and a wonderful trailer! The professional look will get you a long way, although the monster made me laugh :)

Great hard work!

[mlevy76]

Robert, great trailer. I'm amazed that you shot it on 1/3" chips! Well done!!

So, would you be kind enough to list your color/gamma/bpress?/matirx/etc. settings?

Cheers,

Marc Levy
Cinematographer
www.marclevycine.com

[Robert Sanders]

We primarily used Stephen Dempsey's (disjecta) presets. We tweaked them to look a little bluer.

I believe you can download them somewhere here. I'm pretty sure they're available at DVInfo too.

But keep in mind that a lot of the "look" of the film has gone through Apple's Color grading app. We overlit and over-exposed slightly and then dialed in the blacks to our lacking. So only part of the look was done in-camera. The most important camera setting would have to be the Cine Gamma.

[mlevy76]

Thanks Robert. Good to know.

[spooky138]

Don't know why a couple people are knockin it... the monster in the trailer looks freakin' cool! I just shot my first short on this camera with a buddy of mine and have to say that I was extremely pleased and a bit surprised with how much I liked working with it and the image quality we got out of it. I come from a Panny background but I thoroughly enjoyed shooting with this camera! The movie looks rad Robert! Good job.

[Robert Sanders]

Thanks spooky. I haven't come up for air in a while (being completely entrenched in getting all the visual effects done by the Sundance deadline - yeowza!).

Regarding our creature, yeah, one man's Picasso is another man's finger painting. LOL

It's all coming together very fast. We're almost done. Done done done!!!!

Thank god. It's been 10 full months of a one-man post-production team. Phew!

I'm exhausted, feeling abandoned, under appreciated, and unloved for the time, money, and sacrifices needed to get this f*cker done. In other words ... completely effing normal!

I crack myself up.

Did I say I was delirious too?

[Robert Sanders]

-----

[DJ Lewis]

Sounds like you got burned bad. The problem is learning who you can trust.... I hate that part.

Wish there was a quicker way to weed out the fluff.

[Spartacus]

I really believe in constructive critizism. One can´t see all, another opinion can save the day.
But there are times to just shut the F up.
There isn´t one single 100 Million dollar movie out there, that wouldn´t have room for improvements.
The Blackout obviously didn´t have that budget, but at least the trailer doesn´t show this.
I have the greatest respect for what Robert has accomplished.
Until I create sth similar, I shut the F up myself ;o)

[Robert Sanders]

I have posted a brand new trailer for THE BLACKOUT. This is a more traditional theatrical trailer. I hope everyone enjoys it.

VIEW THE TRAILER HERE (http://www.starwaypictures.com/theblackout/theatrical.html)

You can also download 480p and 720p versions.

[Spartacus]

Great trailer! I´m so looking foward to this!

[Kholi]

Man, I love when Starway gets to work.

[Robert Sanders]

The movie is DONE. Thank god. It took a year to get this sucker through post-production. Been working on it evenings and weekends. But it's finally finished and we're negotiating with distributors currently. So, with a little luck, everyone will get to see it soon.

We will be holding a private screening at Cinespace in downtown Hollywood in early December. Depending on space I'm sure there will be room for a few L.A. based DVX'ers.

[Kholi]

Please invite me, Robert. I'd like to see this

[PaPa]

wow, i am speechless. Absolutely speechless....

[reem12]

Hi robert, can you comment on your color grading, and what you used.

[PaPa]

Ditto. Would be nice to see some before and afters, if you will please.

[Robert Sanders]

The trailer was graded in FCP using the standard 3-way color filter. The movie itself is currently being graded in Apple's Color. The finished movie will look a little different than the trailer (not dramatically, but tonally).

When I watch the trailer I notice the "look" shifts from shot to shot a little too much for my taste. But we wanted to get a trailer out there sooner rather than later since buyers are currently checking it out.

Let me see which frames might best underscore the before and after. In some cases it's subtle. In other's it's quite dramatic. I hate grain and the H1 is pretty noisy. So we definitely over-exposed a stop or two to get a denser 'neg' and then dialed in the blacks in post. Definitely the best way to go if you're shooting a dark movie. Get as much light in there as possible and then crush it later.

That's the biggest lesson I learned.

[tmnt]

Love your Starway logo, kind of Smashing Pumpkins Tonight, Tonightish.

[ecking]

As usual robert, I love your work. Great looking images. One thing I'm constantly amazed about with this project is how I never realized you didn't use an adapter until I thought about it. It doesn't seem to be lacking dof, the images are fine as they are. Makes you think.

[Robert Sanders]

That's an interesting observation. Not using an adapter was a bit of a controversy amongst my colleagues at the time. And it really came down to the fact that I didn't want an extra layer of equipment/technology that needed attention, noodling and futzing with. We were on such a TIGHT schedule that we had to setup and shoot as fast as possible. And it turned out to be a very grueling shoot. I couldn't imagine it with yet another layer of front-end preening. From what I understand today's adapters are much easier to use and require a lot less attention.

At the end of the day our 6X, 20X and 16X Manual got the job done (just don't ask our focus puller what he thought of the 6x and 20x ;) ).

But don't get me wrong, there are times where I see shots and I scream, "Everything is in focus! Argh!" But to be bluntly honest, most of the time you don't really notice. And because we were using lighting and ND to control exposure our DOF characteristics mostly resemble an F900.

[Robert Sanders]

Some before-and-after of the grading. The "before" images are right out of the camera.

http://www.starwaypictures.com/public_images/39c_03_before_grade.jpg
http://www.starwaypictures.com/public_images/39c_03_graded.jpg

http://www.starwaypictures.com/public_images/99a_100f_07_before_grade.jpg
http://www.starwaypictures.com/public_images/99a_100f_07_graded.jpg

http://www.starwaypictures.com/public_images/119F_03_before_grade.jpg
http://www.starwaypictures.com/public_images/119F_03_graded.jpg

[ecking]

Awesome grabs, I'm pretty surprised with how much colour you guys were able to bring back from such blue images.

[Robert Sanders]

I was surprised too. It was the cinematographer's original intention to go with an "uncorrected HMI" look. A kind of "James Cameron" look. But, like all filmmakers, we changed our minds. It should be noted that we can't push the image much more than this.

We put a lot of Red back into the blacks (which oddly brought the flesh-tones back), pushed the midrange into the green a little, and left the whites relatively untouched. We crushed the black about 8 points, dropped the gamma about 10 points to .90, and pushed the whites up about 15 points (270). Crushing the blacks and dropping the gamma pushed up saturation considerably, so we brought the whole saturation level down about 20 points. Plus a ton of vignettes.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Is there a cast listing?
Looks fantastic, BTW.

Mike

[Robert Sanders]

Is there a cast listing?
Looks fantastic, BTW.

Mike

Thanks. Cast is listed on our website:

http://www.starwaypictures.com/theblackout

[Robert Sanders]

I have tickets available for the premiere of "The Blackout" at The Landmark Theater. PM if you're interested.