Crank 2 - in HD Video Pro Magazine

[Barry_Green]

If you haven't seen it yet, pick up a copy of HD Video Pro magazine and check out Neil Matsumoto's article on Crank 2: High Voltage.

As many folks know, Crank 2 is a modestly high-budget film ($20 million) that was shot pretty much entirely on prosumer Canon camcorders, primarily five HDV XHA1's and fifteen AVC-HD Vixia HF10's.

A lot of us have been scratching our heads, wondering "why?" Especially when the first film was shot on F900 and F950 cameras, why would they choose to go with a $4,000 HDV camera and a $1,000 AVCHD camera? (They also occasionally used an EX1 for some 60p slow-mo stuff.)

The article answers it brilliantly. They weren't trying to emulate the look of a bigger camera, they embraced the tiny cameras specifically for their tini-ness. There was no 35mm adapter going on here, instead they were strapping tiny cameras onto the end of 10-foot poles to get unique looks that haven't been seen before.

Brandon Trost, the cinematographer, talks about what they were trying to accomplish, and it's really kind of cool. A couple of sample quotes:

We wanted to shoot with the highest-quality cameras that would allow us to do fast hand-held camera moves with superwide lenses -- basically running with the action. If the action was happening, we, as camera operators, were just feet from what was going on.

We never had a steadicam or dolly on this movie. The XH A1 isn't a very big camera but was too big for some of the applications that we wanted to do, which is why we used the HF10s.

The movie has a big, spontaneous, free-for-all look... it sort of feels like you're watching a video game - like you're watching Grand Theft Auto, but for real.

The interviewer asked why they didn't go for the XH G1, which has HD-SDI output, etc. Trost said:

We didn't need to sync the cameras, nor did we need HD-SDI out. We didn't even have video tap on this movie or a video village... We had to shoot almost 360 degrees for every shot, so there wasn't enough room for everybody and we had to move really fast.

As for settings, he says that they shot flat except for detail. The directors wanted every pixel of every frame to be so incredibly sharp that... well, this is how he phrased it:

Something that we did differently on this film was crank up the sharpening, or detail setting. The directors wanted a look for the movie that was so sharp that it would kind of hurt your eyes just to watch. The detail is super crispy. We shot the whole movie at either 1/1000 or 1/2000 shutter speed, giving the image a very staccato look. With the wide lenses and deep stop, it's a deep focus movie, and with the sharpening, it's a look that has never been seen on the big screen.

That's what I love about this article. They weren't trying to replicate a "hollywood look" on the cheap, instead they were embracing these new technologies to create a totally new look that nobody's done before.

There's a picture on the bottom of page 49 which exemplifies this perfectly. They built a rig that was sort of like a surround-image rig like what was used for "bullet-time" in The Matrix. But instead of dozens of still cameras all synchronized, they bolted eight HF10 camcorders onto a curved 8-foot piece of speed rail. This is a rig that was so light that [director] Mark Neveldine could actually hold it in his hands and surround the actors with it, roller-blading or running with them during the action. Brilliant!

They've got another photo in there of Statham riding passenger on a moped, and Neveldine is shooting the action, and he's holding an XHA1 in his right hand, and holding on to the back of the moped with his left, and he's on roller blades getting dragged along for the shot.

In another section they were going to do a shootout at a strip club with 10 guys with guns, and after the AD called "Rolling", star Jason Statham looked around and said, "Wait a minute, where are all the cameras?" Trost had to yell out that there were a dozen cameras out there, so just "go!" They were able to capture so many angles because the cameras were so tiny that they could be hidden in plain sight!

Anyway, a fascinating article.

On a side note, I think it's just comical that back in the 1990's, when we were doing video games and the in-game "cut scenes" (movie clips) everyone seemed to want to make a video game that would be "like being in a movie." That was always the big goal (Wing Commander, etc). Now, here's some guys who are making a movie that they want to have look like a video game. Totally turned the paradigm around, in just 10 years...

[Kholi]

Yeah, whoever's tapping that video game aesthetic in DVXuserland has the right idea...

HMMMMMMMM.

I remember when I asked about Rollerblading + Shooting at the same time. =D

I'm gonna go grab the magazine, though.

[awelgraven]

I thought they shot the first one on canon xl2's. Am i wrong?

[Barry_Green]

The article said F900 and F950 for Crank 1.

[Ian-T]

Lol...I can see a new trend starting in Hollywood. I like this idea a lot and think all action movies should be shot this way. It will most likely give you the feeling like your pupils are dilated (like after visitiing an eye doctor). Think of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Gladiator" when all the shooting and fighting was going on. It basically brought you into the scene to such a degree that you started to become anxious and on your toes. i think that's the way action movies should make you feel (like enjoying a rollacoaster). At that point...it doesn't matter if the story sucked or not...just as long as it took you for a good ride.

[Manuel]

The canon xl2 was used in crank but only for short seqences and with huge color correction. The scene where Jason was running through a park I think.

[cyclone]

Barry,
I have to hand it to you. I know you favor the Panasonic line (I bought my first DVX because of your research and your sharing of it), but kudos and thanks for sharing positive advances throughout all of the lines of new technology.

[DM_rider]

Another article. Can't wait to see this film!

http://www.collider.com/entertainmen...id/7771/tcid/1

[timbook2]

Originally Posted by Ian-T

...it doesn't matter if the story sucked or not...just as long as it took you for a good ride.

I understand your point but when I saw crank1 by chance on tv here I had to switch channel because the character and story were so gruesomely weak and dumb, I just couldnt stand it....but I understand your point anyway

I really like to read stories about how small cams are used for their positive features in big Hollywood style films!!! It makes all this pixel/DOF talk so relative.....

[Nathyn]

Thank you for posting Barry. I will piggyback on this topic if you don't mind. A while ago I posted a thread about how none us are too far from Hollywood movies. Everyone thought I was crazy but the gap is indeed closing no matter what and there doesn't seem to be any stopping it and the fans don't seem to care as long as you don't throw it in their faces.

I saw the trailer for Crank2 and the image looked awesome. Some of the people here are doing even better work so I was confused why people were acting like a Hollywood film couldn't be made on lowend HD cameras when one was indeed in the process of being made. People are trained to believe they aren't as good as (insert famous director here), but I don't know if that's the point of making films. Are we telling are stories our way or trying to copy someone else. (I'll admit to a bit of both).

I'm in a discussion thread now in the user films section about film and HD. Film may be around for awhile as a delivery format but HD appears to be coming on stronger than ever. The question is what does that mean for us. More than ever I'm inspired to shoot my upcoming film on the A1. As a Mac fan I think my next camera will probably be the JVC HM100. I'm confident that more than ever that people on this very forum could make a film worthy of "Hollywood" (as if that's a lofty goal). I think it can be done and now you see it can be done.

Originally Posted by Kholi

Yeah, whoever's tapping that video game aesthetic in DVXuserland has the right idea...

HMMMMMMMM.

I remember when I asked about Rollerblading + Shooting at the same time. =D

I'm gonna go grab the magazine, though.

I made of point of mentioning "Wages of Sin" had the feel of a video game as far as the movement of the fights. There's even a nod to Motal Kombat in there.

-Nate