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

^^^^^^

what he said.

very exciting times guys. Cannot wait to see some sneak peaks! Thank you, all of you for your hard work.
 
ZazaCast said:
The vast knowledge and experience you guys share is priceless. I still say DVXUser is THE best film school...and it's FREE.
To have access to the professionals on this forum, well, again, you can't put a value on that....

I for one would like to thank you all once again...and please know how much we appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge & skill with us!
Happy Holidaze.

Cheers!
-Zaza
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Never have truer words been spoken. I spent part of one day, ONE DAY, on that set and it changed everything for me. It changed how I think about my productions, and it changed how I teach my students. I don't usually gush, and I don't teeny bop, but it was awesome watching them work with new technology like it was nothing, like they had been working with the camera for years. It was a master class, man; it was school.

Alright, I'm done gushin'
Black Flag out!
 
Stephen Mick said:
The schedule is always in flux, but the plan is to have a "teaser/trailer" shortly, and to have the film ready as early as December 22nd. (Think of it as an appetizer to "True Grit.") This may change, depending on how things come together, and I'll keep the thread updated with info.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who's dropped into this thread and offered their encouragement and support. It hasn't gone unnoticed, and it is, most certainly, appreciated.
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Wow, that's fast! I can't wait to see what this amazing team has created.

As I said earlier, this is all very inspirational and it has me very excited to tackle my next project later this winter with my new AF100.
 
Did you guys test if using the Lumix lenses on the AF100 gives you distance readouts for focus? I think this is something Barry had mentioned he thought might be a feature.
 
Good job, guys. It would be very helpful if you could list the lenses you used, together with the time code, so I can see exactly which lens was used on which clip. Plus, if you could do the same (synched to time code) for all the settings used on the camera. Looking forward to seeing this!
 
Stephen Mick said:
So, the shoot is wrapped, the crew is getting packed and ready to leave this morning, and I've got a few minutes to compose my thoughts and share them with all of you.

First, I have to thank Barry, Timur, Mikko, Caffesse, STL, McGee, Wildman, Drew Ott, Mrs. Caffesse, Taylor Rudd, Brandon Boggs, and every other person who gave so much of their time and effort to make "A Verse Before Dying" such a wonderful experience. When Barry and I first cooked up this idea of putting an AF-100 film together, I don't think either one of us could have imagined it would go this well. I hoped it would, and the planets definitely aligned for us, with a perfect cast, the best crew I've ever worked with, a location that felt like another character, and the help of quite a few "friends" who supplied us with key gear to get the job done.

As far as the camera goes… well, let's just say there's not likely anything I could say that Mikko, Timur, Barry and Matt haven't said already, and more eloquently than I could. What I will say is this… I hardly ever thought about the camera. We weren't there to "test" the camera, we were out to shoot a film. And the camera just plain delivered. When you're on set, if you're thinking and talking about the camera, there's likely something wrong with it, and that never happened here. Timur was able to focus on the images, and I was able to focus on the actors, their surroundings and the impact of each scene.

So…where do we go from here?

To the edit.

People have asked to see footage, and that wish will be granted. While our "A" editor, the amazing Stephen Bohls, works on the film, I'll be working on the trailer. Hopefully, we'll have something quickly, but you'll only see it when it's ready. With the help of McGee, I'll also be posting a few select clips for people to check out.

During pre-production, we also thought about some "technical details" that we wanted to investigate while we had the cameras around. Things like rolling shutter performance, on-board codec vs. outboard recording device, functionality of certain lenses, low-light performance, etc. In time, we'll get to the results, but my focus now is to get the edit rolling and start working on music and finishing details.

And one of those finishing details will be color work. Again, we've always said (to each other) we wanted to see how the footage would hold up in the best of conditions, and part of that means working with a kick-ass professional colorist. My good friend Oscar Oboza at Pixel Farm (in Minneapolis), has graciously offered to color-correct the film in their telecine suite. So we'll be using their Spirit Datacine to transfer our Ultra16 16mm film to digital files, and their Baselight system to do all the final color work.

The schedule is always in flux, but the plan is to have a "teaser/trailer" shortly, and to have the film ready as early as December 22nd. (Think of it as an appetizer to "True Grit.") This may change, depending on how things come together, and I'll keep the thread updated with info.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who's dropped into this thread and offered their encouragement and support. It hasn't gone unnoticed, and it is, most certainly, appreciated.
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way to go AF100 team!
good job on putting this all together Stephan and Barry
 
Thanks for sharing the process guys.

And a huge thanks for creating the first film shot on the AF100, and the last film shot on that truly awesome set (may it Rest In Pieces)!!!

Can't wait to see the fruits of your labors! :thumbsup:
 
I can confirm to those interested that the Olympus 14-35mm f2 and the 35-100mm f2 both work flawlessly on the AF-100 with the Panasonic Four-Thirds to Micro-Four-Thirds adapter. Oh, and they're bad-ass lenses to boot. We didn't get to shoot any footage with them on the set, due to time and technical issues, but we just tested them in a controlled setting, and…disco!
 
Stephen Mick said:
I can confirm to those interested that the Olympus 14-35mm f2 and the 35-100mm f2 both work flawlessly on the AF-100 with the Panasonic Four-Thirds to Micro-Four-Thirds adapter. Oh, and they're bad-ass lenses to boot. We didn't get to shoot any footage with them on the set, due to time and technical issues, but we just tested them in a controlled setting, and…disco!
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Meaning auto-focus, auto exposure, and lens focal length and aperture readout?
 
JesterJJZ said:
Reading all this makes me wish I was there...great job guys! Can't wait to see it!
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Ditto. I think there's a large market for well shot, multi-angle BTS documentaries. Since I couldn't be there, I'd love to see a well made, annotated BTS video, and pay for the privilege.
 
I can confirm to those interested that the Olympus 14-35mm f2 and the 35-100mm f2 both work flawlessly on the AF-100 with the Panasonic Four-Thirds to Micro-Four-Thirds adapter. Oh, and they're bad-ass lenses to boot. We didn't get to shoot any footage with them on the set, due to time and technical issues, but we just tested them in a controlled setting, and…disco!
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Thanks for this. I'm interested in this duo on the AF 100 and the GH1/2. Would love to hear more thoughts on how they work out when you've got time.
 
I helped produce "A Verse Before Dying" - I very rarely post here, but I do lurk a bit. I'm coming out of my hidey-hole to give my 2 cents on the AF-100.

My perspective on cameras is probably a lot different than most folks here. First, I'm not a shooter really. I produce/direct so I'm a believer in using the best tools you have available to you, and that making compromises on gear is OK if you're doing a good job making compelling content (AND GET CLEAN AUDIO!)

When we started this short, I thought it would be cool to see a new camera, but I didn't care about anything other than enabling Stephen to create the story he had come up with.

At one point I was asked what I thought. This was about 1/2 way through the shoot and I had honestly only seen 2-3 clips on Stephen's laptop. My opinion at that point was flat. I thought the image looked nice, but that in most circumstances a DSLR would really get you most of the visual quality the AF100 was offering.

Move two days later and I got to see a lot more footage on a laptop and projected. Note the projector was pretty crappy and was taking an SVGA input. Half way through watching those projected and degraded clips convinced me my first impression was wrong.

This is an amazing camera and for the price it's going to do a lot to shake up the market.

All in all, like Stephen said, we forgot about the camera and we just executed on our game plan and were able to work just as quickly with the AF-100 than anything else I've seen on a set before.

I'm not usually impressed by cameras. This was the first time I have been since the HVX came out.

Beyond that I was absolutely humbled by the talent we had on set. I dare say it was magical.
 
Today feels so ordinary after spending the last four days on this journey with you guys. Hope you all have a safe return home for the travelers!
 
Home!

Time to get writing.....

I will be updating my blog, with tons of stuff.. and chiming in here. The info is in my signnature.
 
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