1080/24pA that looks video-ish (Please help diagnose)

M

Matt Dunn

Active member
I am a new HVX shooter, am new to shooting generally, and am new to FCP. Everyone has to start somewhere. :D

Basically, I am concerned that something is wrong with my settings - footage that is shot in 24p is looking a little too video-ish (or it would seem to me).

I have taken the following steps:

1) Shoot in 1080/24pA.
2) Open a new FCP 6 project - run "Easy Setup" and make sure that settings are set to "DVCPRO-HD"
3) "Log and transfer" to get the footage in (with pulldown frames removed)

Using this basic set of steps, I get what you see in the sample (which is shaky, probably blown out, poorly focused, etc. - again, this was just a test).

I fully realize that there is not a "film look" button on the camera and that a lot of the elusive film look is about lighting, DOF, etc. Having said that, this just looks like something is wrong in the settings and as if I'm getting something that looks more like 60i.

Am I off base here? Any thoughts? Sorry for the sample...learning Compressor along with everything else.

Sample - approx. 35 mb

Thanks in advance,
Matt
 
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there are many many things that go into making what you think of as a "film look." Simply pointing a video camera at some random thing out of the box, will not do it.

My advice is not to buy an adapter under any circumstances until you spend some time on things like lighting, composition, art direction, etc. Only then will an adapter really do you any good.

Good luck!
 
Mark Harris said:
there are many many things that go into making what you think of as a "film look." Simply pointing a video camera at some random thing out of the box, will not do it.
Click to expand...

Totally understood and I have a deep appreciation for that. I understand this is an art and that there is a learning curve involved. I have no intention of buying an adapter until I have a *much* better idea of what I am doing with the camera.

Hopefully, I addressed that in my first post. My concern with this clip is that I am doing something technically wrong (as opposed to artistically) that is making this look more like 60i video. That said, maybe it is fine and I am just not experienced enough to tell the difference.

Thanks for all the replies. Keep 'em coming!
 
I think the pa should look fine when the software is handling the pulldown correctly. It's essentially no different than your DVX going the 24pa in 480 with a pulldown in a 60i stream. I don't know if there is any technical reason why a PA would look different than a P pulldown, but I don't think there should be anything on that level. If I could find my Barry Green book, I would look that up real quick...have to wait till later.
 
hmmm...something does look funny with that clip i think i see what you mean. it kinda drags a little when you were moving it up. that does seem like something minor that you may have done technically. one of the more technical guys should be able to spot that right off the bat. i dont have my camera here with me at work but it's probably something simple. i can't tell if that's something that needs to be done in post or in the camera. i always shoot 720pn/24.
 
M street the reason I suggested an adapter is because the focus, iris, color, shutter all look fine in the sample you posted. The hvx is a video camera...you could do some CC in post to help out a little but I wouldnt get my hopes up about the stock 13x
 
Eric Papa said:
M street the reason I suggested an adapter is because the focus, iris, color, shutter all look fine in the sample you posted. The hvx is a video camera...you could do some CC in post to help out a little but I wouldnt get my hopes up about the stock 13x
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I hope I didn't give offense as I sincerely appreciated your comments. And I do hope to get an adapter one of these days (/drools over Brevis), but at this stage in my learning curve, I would like to minimize the number of "moving pieces" so that I can get a better idea of "what effects what" in the final look of the footage, so to speak.

Again, maybe the footage is perfectly fine and what I think of as the "film look" has way more to do with lighting and DOF and other "external settings and circumstances" than I was considering. Again, without more knowledge on my part, it is hard to know exactly contributes to that look, and with only the camera and no other gear, I am a bit limited at this point.

Nevertheless, I endeavor on and will continue to learn as best I can! Again, thanks for your help. Any and all assistance is appreciated!

Thanks,
Matt
 
Beyond shallow depth of field, field of view is a needed component to achieve framing for film, the shot you posted looked like video because the lens restrictions, if you had a 20mm lens on that shot, the composition of the shot would have looked more film like, more pleasing to the eye and framed more like a film maker, instead of looking cramped. The 35mm optics also render color better. As far as learning curve, I personally see no reason to wait, because its FAR better to learn film techniques with film lenses, and then bring those techniques over to simple venues like the hvx200, good luck with everything - you'll get it down
 
The trick is artdirection, lighting, and composition. 35 adapter has nothing to do with it really. Films like John fords Searchers, Sergio Leone's Good Bad and The Ugly, Citizen KAne all were shot with deep focus, and very much look like film.
 
TimurCivan said it. I'm only seconding it.

Rent Inland Empire and you'll see a stunning, haunting movie shot with a PD150. You don't get much more video-camera than that...except it looks like a movie, and it is a movie. It's all about what you choose to shoot and how.

Your shot looked like video because you chose something entirely un-cinematic to film and post on here. Shooting a balcony and vinyl sided housing like that ignores all the rules of composition and art that make movies look like movies (not to mention the incredibly flat, low lighting). Hey, I've even found much of the recently posted Red footage to look like video. Not because it isn't a great camera. But because shaky-cam footage of a garden patio set just won't look like a movie if there isn't some art behind it.

I'll say it again: watch Inland Empire and you'll get a lesson in cinema.

And try something more controlled. A black backdrop. A strong light casting shadows on an interesting face, like an old man smoking or something. Not everyone looks like they belong in front of the camera, unfortunately. The subject doesn't have to be attractive, but does have to look "right."
 
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First. Shoot 16x9. Then crush the hell out of the blacks. Then shoot something other than stationary plants. Problem solved.
 
Crushing blaks doesnt make somehting film like. it makes it "breaking bonaduce" like. ;)
 
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