"A Verse Before Dying" - AF-100 Western Short

camera and crew props

camera and crew props

I am thrilled to see all the great posts from everyone about the af100 and the sweet footage we are getting. It is a very exciting time in the video camera world once again. I would venture to say that not since the release of the original dvx100 have we seen such a revolutionary change in video camera technology. I must give props to Panasonic for being a huge and successful company that absolutely listens and responds to it's customers.

I love technology in a way that some might deem inappropriate but tech toys are not the reason I became a filmmaker. I did that for the experiences, relationships, camaraderie, adventures and to participate in the making of movies and memories that will be here long after I am gone. To that end, this is the most talented crew I have ever had both the honor and privilege of working with. I feel truly blessed to have been asked to be a part of this project. This film crew is like the Harlem Globe Trotters of DVX User and man is it fun to play on their team!

Let me just say this, if this project were a dessert, it would be the most incredible cake you have ever tasted in your life. and the af100? it would be frosting so good we would need a firehouse to wash your brains from the walls and ceiling after your head exploded from consuming it.

sleep well all for tomorrow we put this bad boy in the can!


 
bboggs is the gentle giant who's been lovingly nicknamed "hagrid" because ... well, yeah, because he looks like Hagrid. He was also crew and cast on "Depth of Phil"; he played the convenience store clerk. We're delighted to have him on this crew along with all the other fantastic crewmembers.
 
I mean, today I got a shot that looks like complete absolute crap. Should I post it?
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Okay, I've relented. I've decided that in the interest of full disclosure, I should indeed post the shot that looks like "complete absolute crap".

For the pixel peepers, I'm posting this at full 1920x1080.


P1000442.jpg

:evil:
 
Uh.... don't mean to flame Barry but I throughly pixel peeped this image and there's like 35%, maybe 40% crap TOPS!

WTF???
 
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LOL, I can hear the "look at those blown highlights" out of that pile there Barry!

But for real. If you guys choose to release this footage, or some samples (outtakes or such), I know that I'm keeping in mind that this camera is $4,800!!!!!! I mean, FOR REAL guys (nay-sayers)! Thats the price of a 1dMK4! That is what gets me excited about the AF100. The price point and all the footage I've seen thus far. Even the P. Bloom stuff that got ripped apart looks GREAT to me!!! Poor Philip, got a lashing here and most of you should go pound sand that gave that lashing.

The reports of what you guys are getting us about this project and how you feel about the image just makes my mouth water! I am most certain that the AF100 is going to do well. Maybe not for everyone, but for a lot of us! And for a camera that costs what it does, with the options of so many lenses out there? Come on, I for one am counting the days until this puppy hits the shelves and we start seeing projects, both good and bad, just like there is with ANY camera out there...

Thanks guys for this exciting thread and I for one hope you give us a taste from the shoot very soon. If not, cool. If so, much cooler!!!
 
Great time watching dailies tonight. I've been trying to stay away from speculation about unreleased cameras recently, so I wasn't nearly as excited about the AF100 as everyone else, but I think I just fell into heavy gear lust while watching today's playback. Ugh.

I'd post more but I'm falling asleep.
 
omg what an incredible location !
Taylor Rudd said:
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Short post tonight as the AF100 here next to me on the table formats our cards for tomorrow. If all goes to plan, we should wrap by lunchtime; so there may be lots of "playing" in the afternoon.

3 major things today:
1) One of our cast members wears a jacket with the tightest little stripes you can imagine. While setting up for one shot today on the Steadicam; i looked at my monitor to see huge ugly rainbows all over the shoulder of the jacket. Moire up the wazoo. But. My Steadicam monitor is a SD monitor, fed by composite. And sure enough, a quick look at the camera's monitor confirmed that it was simply a result of the downconversion for my monitor. And watching the "dailies" tonight confirmed it. The tightest of lines in all shapes and sizes all day long. The only time you can't see the perfectly clear stripes is when the shot size & focal length is such that they blur together beautifully into a textured and then solid gray.

2) This camera is really light! As you can see from Taylor's photos (He's an amazing AC by the way! :thumbsup:), I did a fair amount of standing around with the rig on my shoulder today between shots. That's a standard rest position for the Steadicam if you aren't shooting. While standing there, I realized that while standing around with the rig on my shoulder between shots to speed things up isn't exactly new; it's very very rare on a shoot of this scale and quality. Normally shoots with this variety of lenses & accessories (like wireless follow focus) involve cameras that weigh much more, and have us walking back to the docking stand between every take.
It's like the compromises comment I made yesterday: We got to fly all we needed, get a fantastic picture that everyone is raving about; BUT also got to work with a light fast rig at a faster pace. There's a shot I did yesterday that involved me jumping over an actor with the Steadicam ... a stunt move that I last remember doing with the Flyer and a light camera - not something I'd feel so good doing with a big heavy digital cinema or film camera. The size really changed the pace of things, back down to the speed of fast, almost "run and gun" style shooting at times; but still delivering top notch results.

3) Little things like the built in ND filters really help with the multitude of lenses you can use with this camera. After we wrapped; we put a couple of crazy long lenses on the camera to play. The first was a Sigma (I think) 600mm f/8 mirror lens. With the crop factor, it was equivalent of a 1200mm lens. Slowly panning the horizon, we suddenly found a house in the distance, that we couldn't even see with our eyes. The ND wheel allowed us to quickly change ND as necessary to correct exposure. Then we put on my Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS lens on the camera. (Again see Taylor's photos.) Our mount adapter didn't allow for iris control; so the lens was wide open. Again the ND wheel let us switch quickly between grass in the sun, to trees against the sky, to bushes in the shadows. At f400mm full telephoto (800mm equivalent), it wasn't quite as long as the 600mm Sigma; but the Canon L -series glass was super sharp. Once we focused (with the help of the awesome focus-in-red feature) on part of a tree about a quarter mile away, we could just imagine the Leopard dozing on the branch in the sun. Nature Doc shooters are going to LOVE this camera.

Now it's 1:09am, and wake up is again at 6 for a 6:30 roll out, so I'm calling it a day too.

- Mikko
 
Derrick; in that shot we are shooting inside the building. The scrims cut down the sunlight passing directly in the window to soften the ambient light inside; then the lamp is bouncing off the reflector-board down through the window to provide our hard "key" light in place of the sun into out scene inside.

We could wait for the sun to line up exactly; but then if you take too long, you miss it. This type of common set-up uses the sunlight, but then gives us to ability to use more controlled artificial light in it's place where we need it.

- Mikko
 
mikkowilson said:
Derrick; in that shot we are shooting inside the building. The scrims cut down the sunlight passing directly in the window to soften the ambient light inside; then the lamp is bouncing off the reflector-board down through the window to provide our hard "key" light in place of the sun into out scene inside.

We could wait for the sun to line up exactly; but then if you take too long, you miss it. This type of common set-up uses the sunlight, but then gives us to ability to use more controlled artificial light in it's place where we need it.

- Mikko
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thanks Mikko, I appreciate the answer. Man, it must be a blaast working on this short!! Can't wait to see it!

- Derrick
 
mikkowilson said:
We got to fly all we needed, get a fantastic picture that everyone is raving about; BUT also got to work with a light fast rig at a faster pace. There's a shot I did yesterday that involved me jumping over an actor with the Steadicam ... a stunt move that I last remember doing with the Flyer and a light camera - not something I'd feel so good doing with a big heavy digital cinema or film camera. The size really changed the pace of things, back down to the speed of fast, almost "run and gun" style shooting at times; but still delivering top notch results.
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Poor Mikko. :)
We ran him ragged yesterday, I think.... and he's up first thing this morning as well.

One of my favorite moments yesterday was when I asked him "can you move to another location without having to breakdown your rig?"
We were trying to catch an extra series of shots before losing our light for the day, and it involved moving a handful of crew and the steadicam down the road a ways to another section of the set.
He told me, basically, "Yes - only because this camera is so small and light."

So we stuck him in Barry's car and moved down the road.... crew was set and ready to go before our actors were even out of makeup.
We got our shots as the sun got low in the sky (gorgeous, by the way, thanks to Timur's eye and Mikko's moves) and we were able to wrap an actress a day early.

So yeah, Mikko hit the nail on the head - the camera is small enough to give you that run and gun feel on set. But the image gives you the feel it came from something much larger.
That's both a blessing and a curse for him, I'm sure. It keeps his rig lighter... but it also gives us the feeling that we can just keep moving, keep shooting, and never slow down too much.

Alright - last day is starting in about 90 minutes - I'm hitting the road.


Oh, and yes... the 600mm mirror lens was a Sigma.
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences on the shoot and the shots of the camera. I am really looking forward to seeing the final product. Just to chime in, I agree with Barry and those who suggest not showing it until you decide it's finished. I'm happy to wait, and will be even happier to see it.
 
Barry_Green said:
No, both cameras are active. One is the tripod cam and the other is the steadicam cam. BTS is with an hpx170.
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Are there noticeable differences in the footage between the production camera and the pre-production model? Or can it be graded out in post?
 
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