Horror fllms and HVX worry not.

Nick-- you think those were disturbing? When I'm done you'll using those images as your "happy place" to rid your mind of the truely sick things that are going to go down.

SPZ-- I will see if I can get a clip online. Going to SXSW this weekend so time is a little tight.
 
Guys get a grip , get over it, move on ! How can anyone possibly call this camera mediocre ??? Go out and make pretty pictures or ugly pictures or what ever kind you like...with another camera if that is your preferance; enough already.
-A
 
Poi Boy said:
Guys get a grip , get over it, move on ! How can anyone possibly call this camera mediocre ??? Go out and make pretty pictures or ugly pictures or what ever kind you like...with another camera if that is your preferance; enough already.
-A
Click to expand...
MEDIOCRE- adj 1: moderate to inferior in quality----- Like I said in context of other very expensive high end cameras- Varicam, Genisis, Origin, D20 or Cinealta. Doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Just realistic expectations have to be used. I think it can and will get the job done.
 
Last edited:
Indeed it will get the job done quite well for the majority of the work being done by people on this forum and should not really be in the same thought bubble with varicam, genesis, cinealta, 35mm etc.
-A
 
Poi Boy said:
Indeed it will get the job done quite well for the majority of the work being done by people on this forum and should not really be in the same thought bubble with varicam, genesis, cinealta, 35mm etc.
-A
Click to expand...

Ah but we can dream...
 
Thanks for posting these stills. It looks like over lighting, then crushing the blacks helps big time. Also, avoid shooting white walls! The noise/banding on white or solid color walls drives me nuts!

Please explain your lighting procedure (contrast ratio between blacks and subject and if you bring up the overall light level in the room), your post process (how far you have to bring your blacks down) and your camera settings. Sorry if you posted this stuff already and I missed it.

The stills against the brick look very nice!

-

NOTE: You do discuss some info about each still, I'm just asking you to boil down what you've learned -- the best way(s) to get lower noise shooting dramatic lighting.

Your noise seems finer than mine and less blocky. How did you do that?
 
You cant really judge noise unless it is a moving clip - although I am sure that it will look great
 
thefilmaddict said:
Your noise seems finer than mine and less blocky. How did you do that?
Click to expand...

Cinegamma -V F5 settling. For lighting I set my exposure 3 to 4 stops up to light. I light to a 2.6 or so get the image looking the way I want it then I open the aperature back up to full open. Check the hightlights for blowing out too much. If all looks good I shoot the scene wide open then I can back it down in post. This give the tightest grain signature IMHO. If the scene is not too extreme such as the China ball shot I will only go 2 over just to see how the shadows fall to black. Again I record wide open. Even if I get a great look wide open with no real noticable noise I go ahead and expose 2 stops over just to be safe. It's very minimal so I get more detail in the blacks if I need them later on down the road.

The only danger I have found in doing this is it does over saturate the image a bit and can make some transitions a little harsh. So I adjust on a scene by scene basis. Some times I have to add another light to pull up a dark area that will crush too much when I get it into post. You really have to control spilll when doing that but you can get some nice details in the darks.

As you noticed this was a single person in the shot. Add more people and it really complicates your lighting as you try to avoid spill and shadows.

I only used 4 lights. Not counting the practical in the background. But it was dimmed really low to allow it to show up without blowing out in the shots.

I had the scoop light on the ceiling with a +3 green gel. Two 300w Fresnel lights w/ barn doors cutting the light. On the CU shots I move the lights closer and put a diffuser on the closest light to her face.

I also had a china ball for fill on the right side of her face (camera right)

This probably goes without saying but-- Light the faces first and work backward from that point. A good clean well lit face will hopefully hide any background noise issues that may crop up. Be sure to use enough fill light on the faces that you can control the fall off in post. If the face is well lit when you are in FCP CC and you bring down the blacks the face should remain almost unchanged. I don't have any stead fast numbers in the CC process I just monkey with it until it looks good. I noticed that adding Cyan and or Blue tends to hide the grain more. I guess I could white balance off an off white card and introduce the blue in camera I will test that soon. I want to be able to warm it up again if need be and I don't know how the CC adding red or yellow will hold up.

I have not messed with the coring or detail levels yet. I really wanted to get a firm grasp on the stock look and decide from that what I would like to change. My next test will push the coring up +4 and the detail down -3. I just don't want mushy pictures or blobby grain vs tight grain.

My take on the set was that it looked great except for the sharpness of the bricks in the background. I can't wait until my M2 arrives. I can't stand seeing such deep depth of field. Other than that I felt it had a nice cinema quality to the look. Oh and on the standing shots the china ball was too hot on her lower right side. I didn't have an assistant so I got lazy. Also that is why I didn't take any light level readings so I can't give you any numbers between light and dark.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
You should be able to find SideFx (shot on the DVX) at Blockbuster, Wal-mart or Netflix. Why buy when you can rent? It is for sale all over the internet if you like.

A music video for British DJ/artist Liam Sullivan and some trailers and stuff can be found at www.holditnow.com

Glad my tips can be of use.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top