Stills for Feature Western -- HVX & M2

mrWr0ng said:
I shoot with 2 cards in my camera all the time and to show that you'd rather have the camera cut off your clip and not record it at all versus transferring to another card pretty much says you've got a problem either in camera operation, workflow, or post production.

My workflow is retardedly simple, but I've never lost footage: When a card fills up, I put it into my powerbook and save it to the desktop, P2 cards, then P2 1, P2 2, P2 3, etc. I go in order.

Then when I get to FCP, I create matching bins for each card. P2 1, P2 2, etc. Then I import the P2 card into the bin (or into the main folder than immediately drag it into the bin). If P2 3 runs over onto P2 4, I know that the first clip in the P2 4 bin is the other half of the last clip in the P2 3 bin.

Never had a problem.

To me, it looks like whoever was offloading your cards wasn't paying attention as to whether or not they actually offloaded them. They probably opened up a folder, went to copy the card, figured it was doing it, then brought the card back. I've seen this happen before (not on my shoots, but on shoots I've been on) and this can and does happen. I'm going to call this PEBCAL - problem exists between camera and laptop.
Click to expand...

You can't get in to much of a rush - even if you feel rushed......
Always right protect the card after taking it out of the camera.
What we do is after copying a card - take the card out and
double-check that the footage is on the drive before
inserting a new card. Then have the DIT slide the protect
tab to record mode and set it aside in the copied pile......
I have seen shoots with multiple cards and cameras lose
track of whats what.
 
It looks like you got some amazing footage based on your stills. Hopefully you'll share a clip here and there to show off the good use of the HVX colorspace.

On P2 workflow, I regularly get panicked calls from producers and operators who simply go into production without having established one.

Ours is simple:

We always use a PCMCIA-enabled PC or P2Store to capture and verify the cards. Using P2Genie with two external drives and automatic reel numeration has been completely foolproof to date. No lost or corrupted clips - not one.

Now that MXF files are supported in Vegas and Avid, we're free to effectively fill our drives instead of leaving space for the "AVI DI".

Pull the full, pre-labeled (e.g., CAM-A8GB-003) card from the camera as soon as writing to the other card begins (usually between takes).

WRITE PROTECT the card.

As the card is being captured, the paper camera report should already indicate first scene and take and last scene and take recorded to that card. The 2ND AC / Loader should add the corresponding P2Genie REEL NUMBER (e.g., REEL 5) to the report as well in addition to her initials for the download AND verify.

Now, others might differ, but we typically do not playback files once they're captured. We do verify that: 1) Contents Folder and LastClip file are indicated; 2) MXF files and / or thumbnails appear within their respective folders and the collective file size corresponds accordingly to the size of the card downloaded.

UN-WRITE PROTECT THE CARD and erase using only P2Genie or P2Store. I've had, on undermanned shoots, very confused moments following the loading a full card into the camera and then forgetting which needed to be cleared. Literally ten minutes down as we try to sort what has been batched and what has not. Therefore, as a rule, we always purge them prior to re-mounting them to the camera.

1179786803.jpg
 
So some updates. 1st off, we are doing all our post with Adobe Premiere, I know...I know - this is primarily a Final Cut type forum. Anyway, we were editing using the Cineform Intermediate - which is not bad - but apparently didn't convert all the files properly. I used the RayLight codec from DV Film and viewed the MXF files and it is all there.

Problem solved. Premiere needs to implement MXF support if it wants to continue to compete.

Yay - panasonic. Now I got to go edit.
 
There's plenty of room in the Wild West for every kind of cowboy. I think I'm personally ready for another Bad Girls style epic. I can't find a nice picture to post, so I willn't (see additional thread).

e
 
well, out of the hundred something westerns that I watched before we shot this movie I haven't yet made it to Bad Girls but there is the chance that Bounty could have some similarities. There is a pretty kick ass female character.

I'll try to post some video soon. We have a promo trailer but our licensing for the music doesn't allow us to publicly post it quite yet.
 
I put together some color correction tests. Below are both the original frame and a color timed version.

We shot everything with a chocolate filter so the trick is to adjust the image without making the filter disappear.

original:
smokinggun.jpg

color corrected:
smokinggunCC.jpg


original:
jarretend.jpg

color corrected:
JarretEndCC.jpg


original:
jarretsaloondark.jpg

color corrected: (still not sure if this is what I want to go with)
jarretsaloondarkCC.jpg


original:
michellecry.jpg

color corrected:
michellecryCC.jpg
 
I like the originals better. The CC versions get too grainy and the 8 bit banding
really starts showing up. What does it look like on a TV monitor?
 
i initially liked the saturated originals, but i'm starting to really dig the desat CC. good work either way.
 
these were more of tests then anything. I used photo shop to adjust everything. The grain was not as noticible when I first adjusted the images - I don't mind a little grain due to the type of western it is but too much grain does nullify the reason for using the HVX to some extent.

We aren't going for too saturated of an image because we are trying to make things feel a lot more unfriendly. When I play with things more I'll post an update.

Here is a question/challenge for all you pros. I'd love to get some suggestions on the way we might time this thing. If you feel artistcly inspired have a crack at the originals. or at least feel free to tell me a better way - it's a collaborative art so I am open to suggestions.
 
The origionals were alot better. though honestly, im liking the softness more on a second viewing.
 
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