Production 7D movie 'Another night in Beijing' [Archive] - DVXuser.com -- The online community for filmmaking

bwwd

09-25-2009, 05:41 PM

Probably because of the same reason why i think it doesnt look that cinematic/filmic...
Some shots are shot just too close to infinity so there is not enough blur in the background ,i think you need to really plan your shots to expect cinematic results and not just go out with random handheld action.
When it hits infinity then its like regular hd cam on most shots.

mhood

09-25-2009, 05:45 PM

...so cinematic = blurred background? I thought it looked gr8! Very clean low light.

Huy Vu

09-25-2009, 05:46 PM

mcgeedigital

09-25-2009, 05:49 PM

What a crock.

Just because it doesn't have razor-thin short DOF doesn't make it any less of a nice piece of work.

Some of you are absolutely unbelievable.

Rakesh Jacob

09-25-2009, 06:02 PM

OMG SOOO GOOD!
The low light is awesome! Thnx for posting dude.

dadoboy

09-25-2009, 06:05 PM

Weird comment. I would say it doesn't look cinematic because there's no nice dolly shots, no crane shots, no steadicam, dramatic blocking, and uh, there's NO LIGHTING! It's just ambient street available lighting mud. But it's basically just a camera off the shelf shooting whatever happens to be available - what are you expecting?

And please don't say it didn't look cinematic because it was handheld and shooting people on the street because like 80% of mainstream movies nowadays are shot handheld style and those shots could be in any movie.

Rakesh Jacob

09-25-2009, 06:20 PM

I'm sorry if I burst the bubble, but even with shallow DOF and real 25p like a 90% didn't look very cinematic. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the lights. Also what shutter speed did you use?

Interesting... I don't see anywhere in his post or blog about him saying anything about looking cinematic, or trying. I'm not really sure who you are having issues with or why you enjoy bursting imaginery bubbles...:huh:

slimchrisp

09-25-2009, 06:29 PM

I'm sorry if I burst the bubble, but even with shallow DOF and real 25p like a 90% didn't look very cinematic. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the lights. Also what shutter speed did you use?

And please don't say it didn't look cinematic because it was handheld and shooting people on the street because like 80% of mainstream movies nowadays are shot handheld style and those shots could be in any movie.

Exhibit A and B of why I come to this site less and less.

Thanks to the OP for the clips. I already have (and am happy with) the 5dmkii so I'm holding off on a 7D for now, but thanks for posting. Some nice shots in there.

cl516

09-25-2009, 06:41 PM

interesting points. i thought it looked really good too. maybe it seems less cinematic to some because there's not really much story / editing going on. from what i saw i'm sure it'd be very reasonable to tell a good story with the 7D and some editing software.

speculator

09-25-2009, 06:45 PM

Thanks, looks great and the low light capability is amazing (don't mind the complainers or buggers). Love the content, its been awhile since I've been to China and seeing this brings back joyful memories. Hope to see more content from you soon

John Caballero

09-25-2009, 06:54 PM

Some shots are shot just too close to infinity so there is not enough blur in the background

Well, real movies and TV series done with film or in digital cinema do not have the background "blured" all the time. That is totally inaccurate. I suggest you go to hulu.com and take a look at some of them. You'll be surprised. It is amazing how much misinformation is flying around out there. Unbelievable. The piece on this thread looks plenty "cinematic", with or without the "blur background".

PaPa

09-25-2009, 07:08 PM

great vid, thanks for posting! Makes me even more excited to get the 7D

Whats with the non-cinematic opinions? Where did that even come from? This thread had nothing to do with that. Cinema and blurred background have nothing in common..

Kegan

09-25-2009, 07:21 PM

Sigh...I thought it was excellent work. I agree with slimchrisp - posts like that, are EXACTLY the reason that I come to this site less and less. It seems every time a new camera is released, there's 1000 new members bashing something about it.

Jesus...

bwwd

09-25-2009, 07:25 PM

s
Well, real movies and TV series done with film or in digital cinema do not have the background "blured" all the time. That is totally inaccurate. I suggest you go to hulu.com and take a look at some of them. You'll be surprised. It is amazing how much misinformation is flying around out there. Unbelievable. The piece on this thread looks plenty "cinematic", with or without the "blur background".
Id say background blurred 70% of the time in shots from what i see on my TV watching films/tv series.
If DOF dont have anything to do with "filmic/cinematic" then forget 7d and lets all shoot with our cellphones,put them on dolly or crane - instant film.
It doesnt look cinematic and theres nothing wrong with that, im sure some guys will pull amazing footage from this cam.Ive seen many bad RED footage and some amazing work.Handheld random footage very rarely looks good.
BUT first of all this vid is not suppose to look cinematic/filmic.
First RED videos werent great too.
Its not bashing,its stating opinion,we can do that on forums.When peoples are overexcited over new product they "protect" it as much as they can,i understand that.

Sumfun

09-25-2009, 07:37 PM

Looks great. Thanks for posting.

slimchrisp

09-25-2009, 07:46 PM

When peoples are overexcited over new product they "protect" it as much as they can,i understand that.

Sorry dude, but it has nothing to do with protecting a product. When someone takes the time to post some clips out of a new camera, there's nothing really constructive about bashing the aesthetics.

:angry:

Zim

09-25-2009, 07:56 PM

Looks very good. I watched the first one you made with the 5D. There is a big difference. The 7D looks better to me. Can you post some day time video?

FatDaddy

09-25-2009, 08:21 PM

Looks nice Dan. Fast glass makes a difference.

SpenserS

09-25-2009, 08:38 PM

Thanks for the footage! Some of us really appreciate it.

Stephen Mick

09-25-2009, 08:44 PM

Exhibit A and B of why I come to this site less and less.

I'm right behind you, Slim, heading out the User door.

Luis Caffesse

09-25-2009, 09:17 PM

Plenty of you would be better off if you took a break from bashing work and instead got out there and shot something.

Why is it lately that anytime someone goes out of their way to share footage with the community we seem unable to do anything but attack the original poster in some way?

This isn't a feature film, this isn't a short, it's not a commercial, this was nothing that was planned, written, or otherwise produced - this was test footage of the 7D that so many have been saying they wanted to see.

You should treat it and critique it in the context in which it is presented.

When I see long time members making reference to the fact that this sort of thing makes them visit the site less and less... it makes me realize it's an issue that needs to be dealt with.

But in the end - it's up to you guys.
You make up the community - and you make the climate.

EDITED TO ADD:
Oh, and for the record - thanks to the original poster for posting that footage.
Personally, I think it looks absolutely killer.

ustein

09-25-2009, 09:18 PM

I liked both videos (as a naive viewer). Beijing nightlife was fun to watch.

Jason Ramsey

09-25-2009, 09:30 PM

I'm getting real sick of the agendas... Might be time to start dropping the hammer.

There are some usual suspects who need to chill. I'm tired of this constant back and forth and these bad vibes...

Same thing, different camera... and it's making people look like hypocrites.

Sorry for the harshness... but consider this the warning.

ydgmdlu

09-25-2009, 09:32 PM

Looks very good. I watched the first one you made with the 5D. There is a big difference. The 7D looks better to me. Can you post some day time video?
I agree with you... For some reason, the 7D DOES look better to me. I can't wrap my head around it... And it's not just the 30p vs. 25p. Now I'm finally understanding what those people were saying about how the 7D looked "more organic" than the 5D in Philip's "Dublin's People."

Another impressive video from this new camera...

Ian-T

09-25-2009, 09:49 PM

I hear what you're saying ydgmdlu...it might have something to do with the slightly noisier image than the 5dll and 25p combined ( but still very sharp and detailed). I don't know...but it does have a kind of organic feel to its image. I like that a lot.

Thanks for posting this video.

f64manray

09-25-2009, 10:01 PM

Thanks for posting. Yet another great example of what this cam is capable of. I've got the 5DII, but might just throw this in my bag as well.

Jean Dantes

09-25-2009, 10:49 PM

Awesome video mate!! Great work!! And a great example of a real-world test!! Thanks for this!! :)

sblfilms

09-26-2009, 12:04 AM

Thanks for the post, but you guys are making the wait even more difficult :grin:

el presidente

09-26-2009, 02:02 AM

I like the shot of the guy on his mobile..his illuminated face from the phone is great...This camera is (hopefully) gonna help a lot with constructing lovely footage...what turned me on to 5d/7d was the bloom footage lit by candles, as a letus elite/ex1 user I thought that ruled the low light arty shot battle.

As for the footage...thanks for posting...You only just got the camera, so well done for "putting your head above the parapet" these sort of clips offer the best opportunity to make informed decisions about the products we are looking to buy.

I am picking mine up today...the positive remarks in reply to the negative make it more likely that I (and others) will post test footage requested by other forum members.

sea

09-26-2009, 03:08 AM

i think it looks great, thanks for sharing this so soon after picking up the camera.

you can see a lot of shear at 2:15. i wonder if it'll be better at 60p purely because it'll have to dump from the sensor faster, minimising the delay from the top of frame to bottom.

my thinking here is largely with respect to 3d tracking; any shots involving 3d elements might require shooting at 50 or 60p, track, then drop/mix frames down to match surrounding shots at 24/25/30. Not ideal, but I'm sure any tracking software would look at that footage and faint.

SimonPatrick

09-26-2009, 04:03 AM

I love it! Quite a bit of camera movement which complemented the energy of Beijing nightlife. Great focus pull at around 1.53 to 1.56 where the guys are playing mahjong. This camera is great in low light. For all the limitations the DSLRs have (skew being probably the most distracting and most commented about - yeah noticed it during the pan at 2.15) they certainly have some advantages. This is a great example (along with Philip Blooms work) of what can be done with these cameras. I really can't see why you couldn't shoot a feature with one of these things.

el presidente

09-26-2009, 04:08 AM

Just looked at footage again to see above posts shear at 2.15(i can live with that)...

is it just me or is the potential of this camera freakin stunning?

SimonPatrick

09-26-2009, 04:31 AM

Just looked at footage again to see above posts shear at 2.15(i can live with that)...

is it just me or is the potential of this camera freakin stunning?
Yeah agree! In some ways I think it goes beyond the standard cinema look... in the way that Michael Mann did with Collateral. The low light capture is incredible. I think someone is going to make something incredible with this thing.

SimonPatrick

09-26-2009, 04:36 AM

By the way, is this the 1st substantial footage from a "production" 7D?

Nicolas Christakis

09-26-2009, 04:52 AM

Looks awesome!
I love the dude at 1:35 who's trying to make a funny face for a photograph, then realizes he's beeing filmed. I guess if you go just out there and film people with a DSLR, most of them won't even notice you're actually filming them.

Postmaster

09-26-2009, 05:01 AM

No offense here, but as much as I admire what Phillip Bloom is doing, I´m a bid fed up with tis kind of "people of... (fill in your favorite place) stuff.

It was great the first few times to get an idea of what the 5/7D is capable of, especialy in low light, but it gets a bit of boring - thou 'Another night in Beijing' is a nice work.

Okay, now everyone knows what those cameras can do in low light city streets, how about some real world work?

I prefer something like that: http://vimeo.com/6577890

The first 5D footage I see that hasn't got that strong "5D signature" to it.
Gives me hope that one can work with that camera without anyone and his kid brother saying "yeah, shot on a 5D"

just my ct2

Frank

And yeah, I confess it. I don´t give a sh....t about hand held camera work. No mater how often it is used in feature films today. If you want to see some real sophisticated and elegant camera moves, look at "Memoirs of a Geisha" .

dadoboy

09-26-2009, 05:28 AM

Well by bashing hand-held work without discernment, you're really ignoring the whole purpose of why we choose different styles for different stories. One of my favorite operating films is "Snow Falling from Cedars", but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate District 9, or Bourne Identity for its appropriate use of hand held.

The problem with "Real Work" is that it's often expensive, needs pre-production, a crew, i.e. a real movie means real planning and often real money, usually not something that is done with early pre production cameras.

These snippets by Dan and Phillip Bloom are just meant to be what they are - limited in scope to have fun with a new camera and at the same time provide us with a window on what the new cam is capable of.

Postmaster

09-26-2009, 05:31 AM

Yeah, exactly what I said.

And I´m not "bashing " hand held work - to each his own.
I just don't like it.

Frank

el presidente

09-26-2009, 06:15 AM

Oh god ... i have it here!!!...battery v low...only 1 battery. its on charge...time to read manual:grin:

USLatin

09-26-2009, 06:16 AM

Awesome, thanks!

I would love to know more. Like what was the aperture range used.

And how many ISO6400 shots are there, and which!

BTW, shouldn't this be in the footage section? Just saying. I bet we'll see a lot more in the coming days but I wouldn't want to have missed it.

DvxHerb

09-26-2009, 06:30 AM

Postmaster,

To paraphrase Jon Stewart... Just because you say "No disrespect...." does not excuse you from being an ass.

No offense here but I'm tired of people critiquing work for what it is not, rather than for what it is. The 7D just became available. The work will start to appear. I´m a bid fed up with people saying "I just don't like" that particular style. What's the point? I once bought a McDonald's hamburger for a guy that was holding a sign that said "Hungry. Please help" When I tried to give it to him, he told me he'd rather have Burger King.

You ask for a certain level of quality examples, dismissing what people, who owe you nothing, are posting. Instead of linking to footage you'd "prefer" to see that someone else shot, why not post your own? What footage are you putting out there for the informational benefit of this community?

Do you see the arrogance?

And yeah, I confess it. I don´t give a sh....t about soccer. No mater how popular it is today. If you want to a real sophisticated and elegant moves, watch pro bowling.

Everts

09-26-2009, 06:42 AM

Weird comment. I would say it doesn't look cinematic because there's no nice dolly shots, no crane shots, no steadicam, dramatic blocking, and uh, there's NO LIGHTING! It's just ambient street available lighting mud. But it's basically just a camera off the shelf shooting whatever happens to be available - what are you expecting?

The definiton of cinematic folks.:thumbup:

I thought he meant filmlike though and not cinematic .

Michael Olsen

09-26-2009, 07:30 AM

I picked up my production Eos 7D from my local store in Beijing and immediately made this movie

http://www.dslrnewsshooter.com/2009/09/25/another-night-in-beijing-production-canon-eos7d-movie/

My initial thoughts are posted there too on my new blog.

Dan

Thank you for staying up really late at night the first night of 7D ownership for a quick shoot around town. And extra thanks for taking all the extra time and staying up even later to edit, convert, and upload the short for us to see the first real footage from a production 7D. There is a lot of dedication, excitement, and general goodness in that sentiment. I look forward to reading your blog and ongoing experiences and definitely look forward to future work.

All the cinematic stuff...honestly...

cjwolff

09-26-2009, 07:39 AM

The guy at 1:23 looks like the type of guy I'd get into a bar fight with. Where did you buy this 7d in beijing?

SimonPatrick

09-26-2009, 08:06 AM

Oh god ... i have it here!!!...battery v low...only 1 battery. its on charge...time to read manual:grin:
Envy!

Postmaster

09-26-2009, 08:49 AM

Postmaster,

. Just because you say "No disrespect...." does not excuse you from being an ass.

Thanks for your warm words :beer:

Frank

Zim

09-26-2009, 08:56 AM

Well this video as pretty much sold me on the Canon. I'm on a wait list. Nikon now is the time to announce a D700x!!!

Ted Ramasola

09-26-2009, 09:08 AM

I'm sold too. I graded the beijing and Dunlin footages and I found relative flexibility in post.

I'm waiting for the waters to clear from our flooded capital so I can get my camera. Hopefully they'd have cleared the debris by next week. Zoom H4n also by next week.

Geez this global weather changes are crazy.

Zim

09-26-2009, 09:10 AM

Yes and a H4n for me also.

I'm sold too. I graded the beijing and Dunlin footages and I found relative flexibility in post.

I'm waiting for the waters to clear from our flooded capital so I can get my camera. Hopefully they'd have cleared the debris by next week. Zoom H4n also by next week.

Geez this global weather changes are crazy.

PaPa

09-26-2009, 09:36 AM

anyone feel like hosting the file? Vimeo only allows a certain number of downloads per day. Frustrating :P

Lucian

09-26-2009, 09:59 AM

Sorry to rain on the parade, but the images don't look very "Camera like".

Joking.

Did notice some wierdness on the guy with the striped shirt with the bbq.

Peter J. DeCrescenzo

09-26-2009, 10:32 AM

Oh god ... i have it here!!!...battery v low...only 1 battery. its on charge...time to read manual:grin:

Congrats, E.P.!

If possible, if you are able to answer the questions I posted here, I'd much appreciate it:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=1756438&postcount=9

But if not, no worries. And again, enjoy your new cam!

Zak Forsman

09-26-2009, 10:57 AM

To reiterate what Luis and Jason already said (twice) in this thread.... if you want to discuss the merits of how the 7D performed in the OP's test, that's wonderful, do it, go for it. If you want to criticize the OP's test for what it inherently ISN'T, then please, contribute a test of your own under the conditions you'd prefer. Or, if you are sans camera or haven't got the chops, maybe "ASK" a 7D owner to consider doing one, rather than berating them for not. I'd hate to see them discouraged from ever contributing a video of this sort again.

Get it together. No disrespect. :)

Zim

09-26-2009, 11:09 AM

I think people should express their opinions. What they like or dislike but they can be nice about it.
I'm really glad there are all these people out there who get these new cameras and test them before i buy! We should all be pretty thankful for what can be done with forums like this.

Kegan

09-26-2009, 11:13 AM

Of course people should express their opinions. There was a time I even posted a thread about people sugar coating how they really felt about a bad piece. It still happens, but now these same people become overly critical about other people's work that isn't considered a "test".

Just because it doesn't have flowers and cats/dogs, doesn't mean that it was supposed to be a blockbuster film. If you have an opinion about something, like Zim said...be dipolmatic about it. Diplomatic = constructive criticism

Kegan

Rakesh Jacob

09-26-2009, 12:02 PM

It's like a bunch of drunk Kanye West videographers have decided to start critiquing DVXUser clips LOL

Barry_Green

09-26-2009, 12:09 PM

They may have started, but we want it to stop.

What did your all's mommas teach you? "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"?

Seriously, if someone asks "let me have it", then let them have it. Otherwise, if what you have to say is "bashing", just don't. If it's constructive criticism, intended to help the o.p. improve their craft, then that's fine.

PaPa

09-26-2009, 12:53 PM

Refreshing to hear these anti negative comments, i have felt an increase in this bashing on the boards over the last few months. Miss the old days, was a much more giving place before. Let's bring those days back! Positivity and support!

Barry_Green

09-26-2009, 12:59 PM

Those days will come back. Bannings will continue until morale improves. :evil:

Michael Olsen

09-26-2009, 01:04 PM

Those days will come back. Bannings will continue until morale improves. :evil:

Heh heh heh! That made me chuckle! :grin:

Isaac_Brody

09-26-2009, 01:14 PM

Nice footage Dan, makes me miss Beijing. It's got such a distinctive gray color palette that I haven't seen in any other city.

And to throw my 1.5 cents in here, over the past six months I've seen threads immediately go to the dead horse does this look like film discussion. It's made coming here less fun for us as well. I lack the patience of some of the better moderators here, so let me apologize now for the bannings that will come out. I've been on this site since the beginning and it's one of the best film sites because a lot of people are actually making stuff. If you get a temporary (or permanent) ban from one of us, think of it like a reminder that you should be making more stuff instead of burning up time posting nonsense here. Tough love is on the way until things settle back into a groove.

:costumed-smiley-047

J.R. Hudson

09-26-2009, 01:42 PM

Bizarre thread

I think the footy is wonderful.

Jim Klatt

09-26-2009, 02:03 PM

thanx dan...good stuff.

Rakesh Jacob

09-26-2009, 03:39 PM

And to throw my 1.5 cents in here, over the past six months I've seen threads immediately go to the dead horse does this look like film discussion. I've been on this site since the beginning and it's one of the best film sites because a lot of people are actually making stuff.
:costumed-smiley-047
AMEN!

In the summer of 2005 when I joined, my mother had just been diagnosed with cancer and I shut down my recording studio and moved back home to take care of her. I was working on a business plan for a multimedia company and didn't know anything about filmmaking. So I hit the net and started studying. This was the site I found and this is the site that literaly tought me about filmmaking. After my mother passed away I quit being a music producer/ sound engineer and decided I REALLY wanted to make films. DVXUser is one of the biggest parts of how and why I have became a filmmaker.
I would really like to see this site remain a source and catalyst for creativity and inspiration. We are at a turning point in the industry, this new technology is bringing many peering eyes in the DVXUser direction. So many more creative souls looking for guidence and inspiration that can truely be helped by our community. This site has always maintained the highest standards when it comes to being a source for filmmaking. I wish it continued success and know that the moderators and core membership will do it's best to maintain the integrity of this site.

Zim

09-26-2009, 03:49 PM

Good post Johnny. DVXuser is one of the best.

mico

09-26-2009, 03:50 PM

AMEN!

In the summer of 2005 when I joined, my mother had just been diagnosed with cancer and I shut down my recording studio and moved back home to take care of her. I was working on a business plan for a multimedia company and didn't know anything about filmmaking. So I hit the net and started studying. This was the site I found and this is the site that literaly tought me about filmmaking. After my mother passed away I quit being a music producer/ sound engineer and decided I REALLY wanted to make films. DVXUser is one of the biggest parts of how and why I have became a filmmaker.
I would really like to see this site remain a source and catalyst for creativity and inspiration. We are at a turning point in the industry, this new technology is bringing many peering eyes in the DVXUser direction. So many more creative souls looking for guidence and inspiration that can truely be helped by our community. This site has always maintained the highest standards when it comes to being a source for filmmaking. I wish it continued success and know that the moderators and core membership will do it's best to maintain the integrity of this site.

And to you Johnny Cola I say in the spring/summer of 2009 I went through a very similar thing with my mother and when I was brought to my knees because of the situation your posts always made laugh and think when I needed it and I truly hope you get what you need.

Everts

09-26-2009, 04:13 PM

Good post Johnny. DVXuser is one of the best.

give me a break Zim ,

DVXuser is the best ! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

ChosenPredator

09-26-2009, 04:34 PM

Well this is a interesting thread it had a beginning a middle and a climatic happy ending

dadoboy

09-26-2009, 04:46 PM

Ha ha. Yes, an instigating incident at the end of the 1st Act, some bizarre twists in the second act, but a happy resolution in the third (I hope).

mhood

09-26-2009, 04:49 PM

Did you see my cameo?

Zim

09-26-2009, 05:02 PM

Yes best filmmaking website.

give me a break Zim ,

DVXuser is the best ! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

PaPa

09-26-2009, 05:19 PM

anyone feel like hosting the file? Vimeo only allows a certain number of downloads per day. Frustrating :P

anyone?

Zim

09-26-2009, 05:40 PM

which file?

PaPa

09-26-2009, 06:07 PM

the one uploaded to vimeo :) its always at maximum downloads allowed.

Nicolas Christakis

09-26-2009, 06:10 PM

the one uploaded to vimeo :) its always at maximum downloads allowed.

I'm uploading it to Rapidshare right now. I'll send you the link when it's up.

USLatin

09-26-2009, 06:11 PM

Those days will come back. Bannings will continue until morale improves. :evil:

HAHAHA!!! I should sig that.

The guy at 1:23 looks like the type of guy I'd get into a bar fight with.

http://www.reduser.net/forum/images/smilies/confused1.gif

Coupled with your avatar... dude... eat some chocolate or something. :)

PaPa

09-26-2009, 06:17 PM

I'm uploading it to Rapidshare right now. I'll send you the link when it's up.

fantastic, thank you!

Nicolas Christakis

09-26-2009, 06:56 PM

PaPa, here's the link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/285462538/10227153.rar.html

Can be downloaded 10 times.
Nick

cjwolff

09-26-2009, 07:28 PM

HAHAHA!!! I should sig that.

http://www.reduser.net/forum/images/smilies/confused1.gif

Coupled with your avatar... dude... eat some chocolate or something. :)

I have to get off the chocolate before I end up like cartman. :)

Rakesh Jacob

09-27-2009, 03:41 AM

And to you Johnny Cola I say in the spring/summer of 2009 I went through a very similar thing with my mother and when I was brought to my knees because of the situation your posts always made laugh and think when I needed it and I truly hope you get what you need.
Wow man I am so sorry.
And I am deeply humbled by your kind words.

Also I forgot to mention Barry Green and The DVX Book, a HUGE resource for a wide eyed artist looking to learn a new craft. Thank you.

squig

09-27-2009, 04:26 AM

Sorry to hear about ur mum Johnny, my mum is gonna live forever just to shit me!

I've been at film school 4 weeks now and I haven't learnt anything that I didn't already learn here in the last 9 months, and dvxuser hasn't cost me 40 grand.

Rakesh Jacob

09-27-2009, 04:30 AM

squig

09-27-2009, 04:37 AM

Well here's hoping your mom will give you s**t forever!:beer:

And sorry about the film school thing. 40 grand wow. BUT... depending on your luck, the contacts/relationships you make can end up being worth millions!

you can count on it

yeah the dude that runs the school used to be the dude that handed out all the funding $$$ so it should be 40 grand well spent and they have a RED should I feel the need which I don't at present. I didn't expect to learn much for the first 6 months given my dvxschooling.

dadoboy

09-27-2009, 05:04 AM

dvxuser is a good place to keep up with fast changing and newly introduced camera technology and gear. Back in the old days when I went to film school (oh no grandpa!) all you had to edit on were steenbecks, moviolas, and the only options were kodak or fuji, so it wasn't so much about technology - you just concentrated on writing and making good movies.

So I hope that's what you get for your 40K, a workshop environment to practice the craft of moviemaking. I don't think you can learn that so well on this board, at least not unless you hook up with other filmmakers and do learn from each other in the real world.

I hope it's not 40K a year!

you can count on it

yeah the dude that runs the school used to be the dude that handed out all the funding $$$ so it should be 40 grand well spent and they have a RED should I feel the need which I don't at present. I didn't expect to learn much for the first 6 months given my dvxschooling.

ChosenPredator

09-27-2009, 05:38 AM

omg 40 grand... I've learned my lesson when it comes to film schools - their really only good for the paper work side you can learn everything for free online and through books

mattsand

09-27-2009, 05:56 AM

squig

09-27-2009, 06:08 AM

sorry to bring this up again, but it may have more impact when a sane and respected member says it: the image doesn't look very cinematic. like the gh1 and unlike the 5d and d90, this camera seems to produce more "video like" images. in this case it could very well be due to overexposure though, in low light the "correct" exposure is usually one stop under or so to get good looking skin tones.

who's the sane and respected member you speak of?

it's 40 grand for 2 years but we have a system here where the govt pays upfront and you pay the govt back a bit every year.

mattsand

09-27-2009, 06:10 AM

also, who said that critisism has to be constructive? we're judging the image quality of a new camera here, not helping the person behind it boost their ego and/or learn, right? and when did a nice friendly atmosphere become more important than the free flow of opinions and real honest debate? do we want to learn and become smarter, more creative, or do we want to stay where we are as long as we don't feel any resistance. i do realize that i'm pretty extreme on one side of that spectrum and that not everyone is the same, but come on.

mattsand

09-27-2009, 06:11 AM

who's the sane and respected member you speak of?
i don't know, but if he reads this i've already told him what to say. :-)

Kegan

09-27-2009, 10:02 AM

I don't think anyone means it has to be a "nice, friendly atmosphere", without any room for honest debate. I think opinions should be stated, but there is a tactful way of doing so. And why shouldn't critiscm be constructive? You think that we move on and get better because some tool on a forum tells us that our work sucks? That doesn't make me want to get better, it just makes me want to punch said member in the face.

However, if the member said "your work sucks BECAUSE..." and gives me a reason and shows me where I can improve, then I have absolutely no problem with that.

You can judge the image quality of a camera, but why don't you wait to call it video-like when it actually is trying to be used in a cinematic way? I don't think this was meant to be a movie, like others have stated. Maybe OP's mistake was calling it a 'movie' and everyone assuming it had to be cinematic.

Kegan

Jim Klatt

09-27-2009, 11:13 AM

I agree with Matt. Especially using Dan's other street and Guardian videos he did with the 5d and D90 as comparison.

SimonPatrick

09-28-2009, 06:33 AM

I thought some of the shots looked very cinematic. But surely this is subjective. I think the typical cinematic look has more to do with lighting, composition and continuity than anything else. Maybe overall it doesn't look typically hollywood cinematic. Some great footage though and definately evidence of the 7Ds potential.

Ian-T

09-28-2009, 07:21 AM

I can never understand comments like “it does not look cinematic” etc. Like I’ve mentioned before, I’ve seen many things shot on film that did not look…cinematic. This is FILM I’m talking about. If by “cinematic” one is referring to the aesthetic look then that’s one thing. That can more likely be tweaked in post. But this piece was not meant to be cinematic…just some random shots. Personally the look of this cam and the 5Dll are “almost” exactly the same. If I remember correctly when the 5Dll first came out…all we saw was very high contrast mediocre looking footage.

daveswan

09-28-2009, 07:28 AM

Yeah. Dan says he pulled it out of the box and started shooting. Wait till we get the custom profilee etc. Then critisise the quality.
Dave

SimonPatrick

09-28-2009, 07:41 AM

Eddy Robinson

09-29-2009, 05:49 PM

Well, I thought it looked pretty cinematic - the only thing I disliked was that sometimes the focus was soft, but that comes from the fact it's a test. The highlights looked pretty smooth, I was expecting the cigarette lighter and motorcycle headlight to show ugly colors but they were not bad at all, more importantly there was no ugly streaking.

The biggest difference from production footage is of course no control over the lighting, sometimes this is fighting with the composition...but I think it's a lot better that the camera has great low-light performance and you can seriously consider shooting things without needing to bring your own lights. >50% of lighting is (IMHO) not for creative purposes but just go get good exposure that seems natural and believable.

If you can get good exposure in existing lighting conditions then maybe you can get better composition with framing or blocking the scene differently. At the very least you can start making extra lighting decisions on purely creative grounds rather than necessity = less time & money. Personally, I think the biggest losers from this HDSLR revolution are going to be manufacturers and retail/rental outlets of lighting equipment. A few years ago I would not have dreamed about doing any serious project without a good lighting package, I would have just said it was a waste of time. Now it is looking possible to get great results with much less equipment than before.

patssle

09-29-2009, 08:12 PM

The opening night shots with the people in blackness are not very impressive, lots of compression artifacts in the black.

But most of it looks incredible!

MattinSTL

09-30-2009, 06:48 AM

To quote myself from some years ago... a garden only exists so long as people take the time to weed and maintain the garden. Any time I go to a beautiful place I see soda cans or cigarette butts... because while everybody wants to say how much they appreciate freedom... there are always people that sh*t on the flowers.

I'm glad this site isn't moderated any LESS then it is... and I echo the sentiments regarding the anonymous dicky postings.

The 7D looks nice... and even as of the 5DmkII I realize that video cameras as we've known them... are dead. I figured DSLR is/was the future... and I've personally witnessed too much to think otherwise. There will be a DSLR with XLR jacks on a battery pack before you know it... and then it will be complete (for me).

Nice footy... beautiful in my opinion... and I can see the easy potential of cinematic shots... (in fact I think they were already, but I see how easy it would be to take it the rest of the way there...)