HVX+M2 film wrapped

that is some great footage man! awesome work!

can i offer a piece of advice when grading shots? it's a simple thing that most people on here can take heed of when searching for that film look.

i work in film visual effects and one of the things that is CRITICAL in maintaining continuity and the filmic look is adding FILM GRAIN. it's used especially when CGI needs to be compositied into live action footage. without grain it just won't marry into a film shot. video is much like CGI footage in that it's very smooth and digital looking. so ... add film grain! it helps loads believe me!

i've added a very simple example of this to one of the shots. check it out. i did this in literally 10 secs so it's not done too well but hopefully it'll give you an idea of what i'm talking about. if that's what your after of course. just my 2 cents.
 

Attachments

  • no_grain0001.jpg
    no_grain0001.jpg
    51.1 KB · Views: 0
  • add_grain0001.jpg
    add_grain0001.jpg
    116 KB · Views: 0
akj said:
i work in film visual effects and one of the things that is CRITICAL in maintaining continuity and the filmic look is adding FILM GRAIN. it's used especially when CGI needs to be compositied into live action footage. without grain it just won't marry into a film shot. video is much like CGI footage in that it's very smooth and digital looking. so ... add film grain! it helps loads believe me!
Click to expand...

With all respect, the lighting, dof, selective focus, latitude maintanence, and composition you have achieved are the key components I see in your work so far that's getting a filmic look. Although the film grain addition has a cool look to it, I'd seriously consider whether it's going to add enough vibe to justify the increase in visual noise in the image. Adding film grain can spell disaster for encoding to a digital distribution format like Mpeg-2. I'd say the HVX already has enough graininess as is.

Also, if you're going film out, adding film grain at the DI stage, doesn't sound like what you're going to want to do. You'll get plenty of grain in the film out process, no? If you were matching digital to film footage, that's another story.

Anyone know what Rodriguez, Lucas, etc. have done? I'd love to know if they want grain in DI or happy not having it.
 
Here's another vote for NOT adding grain (unless its the look you're going for.) For me, that amount of grain can be distracting and pull attention away from the story.
 
I'm in for not adding grain, as well.

I like the cleaner image. And besides, as stated, when you throw it onto a DVD, you'll have ENOUGH compression fuzzing to compensate.

Love the stills, dude. Just checked them out again, still awesome.
 
Loki said:
Is it a flare gun fight>?

quite they unrealistic muzzle flashes you got going on there.. but nice imagery nonetheless.
Click to expand...

I knew that was a real flash from the minute i saw the still. very nice. I love it how Koki thinks he knew everything about guns and then got owned.
 
Forrest Schultz said:
I knew that was a real flash from the minute i saw the still. very nice. I love it how Koki thinks he knew everything about guns and then got owned.
Click to expand...

Yeah, he tends to kick himself in the mouth constantly.
 
Here's another vote for NOT adding grain (unless its the look you're going for.) For me, that amount of grain can be distracting and pull attention away from the story.
Click to expand...

he he I had a feeling that film grain would get some resistance on here!

the example i gave was pretty rough. done properly it's very subtle and takes a while to adjust the correct grain size and colours. in my opinion it just gives that slick smooth video look a more gritty filmic feel. which i love.

all i'm saying is it's an option.
 
Stay away from Grain effects.. Do a film out, WHICH you better, because this looks like a winner of a film, and you will get plenty of grain..

Also, you ROCK, I'm so happy that you shot with the M2, liked it, and made it look amazing! I am seriously considering purchasing one, and when I see your footage I'm sure I will be sold.. When I read that the guys that shoot 24 (the TV show) said that the M2 was better than the Mini 35, I was amazed!!

If you have a second to answer some questions, PLEASE, and THANK YOU!

- Did you use a WAVEFORM monitor?

- You need to buy your 1st AC a TRUCK FULL OF BEER!! No follow focus!!! AHHH!! WIDE OPEN!! AHHH!!!

- Did you shoot 720pN?

- P2's? How many/size/did it work into your schedule?

- Camera settings/Scene File #?

- T1.2 lenses? Zeiss?

HAVE FUN IN THE EDIT!!
 
i used shake

it's kind of ironic that people are saying stay away from grain but then saying 'you can get it from a film out'. so do you like grain or not? I'm saying one way or another film has grain and it's an important part of the look of film. that's a physical reality.

for us that are not filming out it's achievable using software such as shake or what ever you choose.

when i get some time i'll post some examples on here that are done well. hopefully it'll illustrate my point better.

back to this thread though i love these shots and am also looking forward to some footage.
 
akj said:
i used shake

it's kind of ironic that people are saying stay away from grain but then saying 'you can get it from a film out'. so do you like grain or not? I'm saying one way or another film has grain and it's an important part of the look of film. that's a physical reality.

for us that are not filming out it's achievable using software such as shake or what ever you choose.

when i get some time i'll post some examples on here that are done well. hopefully it'll illustrate my point better.

back to this thread though i love these shots and am also looking forward to some footage.
Click to expand...

Post some examples of moving footage that looks good with all that grain in it.

I guess if you want that grain for aesthetic, but I would never slap a grain filter on any of my footage. That's just trying too hard, to me.

I also want to see a trailer for this. When's a rough trailer going to be up? =DDD
 
They are Them said:
when do we get to see some footage?....moving tasty footage! ;)
Click to expand...

It just started post so the sound is getting sync right now. It could be a month before someting is ready to be posted. :( I would rather not most anything to soon or it will look or sound like crap. Plus post sound adds a whole other demention.
 
Justin Marx said:
Stay away from Grain effects.. Do a film out, WHICH you better, because this looks like a winner of a film, and you will get plenty of grain..

Also, you ROCK, I'm so happy that you shot with the M2, liked it, and made it look amazing! I am seriously considering purchasing one, and when I see your footage I'm sure I will be sold.. When I read that the guys that shoot 24 (the TV show) said that the M2 was better than the Mini 35, I was amazed!!

If you have a second to answer some questions, PLEASE, and THANK YOU!

- Did you use a WAVEFORM monitor?

- You need to buy your 1st AC a TRUCK FULL OF BEER!! No follow focus!!! AHHH!! WIDE OPEN!! AHHH!!!

- Did you shoot 720pN?

- P2's? How many/size/did it work into your schedule?

- Camera settings/Scene File #?

- T1.2 lenses? Zeiss?

HAVE FUN IN THE EDIT!!
Click to expand...

Hey! Thanks for the kind words. It only serves to make me try harder. I look at the stuff and see everything I could have done. Thanks again!

Waveform: I had one built into the monitor. Seriously, I only checked it 3 or 4 times. My light meter was the work horse. You cant take a waveform as you walk the space the actors will walk. The light meter goes everywhere. Once you know the characteristic curve of the camera/emulsion, your meter never lies. I have seen posts that say a meter is useless with video. Let me tell you it's not. If you have done the proper tests and know how the camera reacts at a certain amount of incoming footcandles then the meter is very accurate and faster. It forces you to make the decision with out having a stand in and the constant running back and forth to the monitor. Incidently, the one time I trusted the monitor, the shot was under exposed by 1 stop....it was a calibrated HD monitor too! My light meter is my best friend!!

The poor 1st AC: I'm scoping out beer truck routes as we speak. One's goin' down! :)

720p/24pn: Is there any other way to shoot? I really like the 720p look over the 1080i look from the HVX. Maybe it's more psychological but thats what I like.

P2: I had 5 4GB cards that were treated as individual reels. Each camera (we had 2) had 2 cards in the slots but only one fully inserted at a time. Once card A was close to full, it was handed off to the 2ndAC and card B was pushed in. That way there are no files written over 2 cards. The "loader" would then copy the P2 to a mirrored RAID, delete the card, and put it back into rotation. We used a film workflow and it's fit perfectly.

Camera Settings: All custom settings that I saved during testing. I'm used to working with the SDX900 and Varicam so the small amount of image control the HVX200 has compared to those cameras was frustrating. What I am attempting to do is set the HVX200 up to collect the desired luminance/exposure while keeping the colors pretty normalized. Then in post deal with the color where I have more control...plus the 4:2:2 ability of the HVX200 will give me lots of nice color to work with later.

Lenses: I wish Zeiss!!! :) These were your typical Nikon lenses. I shot mainly with 3 primes ( 35mm, 50mm, 85mm....there was one shot with a 300mm) that were 1.8 and 1.4. The 1.2's were out of the budget as this was made with very little cash.

Thanks again! I'll have some moving footage up as soon as I can. It will be a couple of weeks though.
 
Nice looking stills. Will be great to check out the footage. I too say stay away from that grain bizness.

I also shot an action flick and the muzzle blast is part of the blanks. A couple of frames cut her and there and it gets smoothed out. I also would never do anythign without a licensed professional gun wrangler and pyro guy. I used Bowland Production supply who does most of the big films here in FL. Great dudes and really into their work... Just looking for another excuse to get out there with a blanked out Gold plated Desert Eagle.

Also another vote for that redrock adapter. Man that adds something to it. Additional MOJO.. perhaps....

Finally... could you elaborate a bit on your exposure process and findings for the HVX without the adapter and then with it? I'm used to film lighting just haven't used one for much video stuff, but I see the major advantage on setting up ratios and establishing a desired number of foot candles...


Thanks and looks sweet. That hispanic guy looks very familiar as well. What else has he done?
 
Curious, maybe this has been done already, but could you post any behind the scenes shots of the lighting setup? I'd like to see what kind of lighting I'd have to deal with if I used the M2/HVX combo.
 
M2

M2

Hey Todd,

Good looking stuff! I just got my M2 and I'm just now setting it up. How did you shim the base? I shimmed the rod support but my rods are now hitting the base plate!

thanks,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top