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

Billygoat said:
If you're working with most festivals, and not one you have really direct access to the projection process, I wish you luck. The experience of talking tech with some festivals is much like explaining to the kid at Best Buy why I don't need $100 HDMI video cables. It can be a very trying experience in some cases.
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Ain't that the truth. I shot a 24 hour film in the summer and after we were done we were told everyone had to downsize to 640x480.
 
This is a question to anybody involved here - perhaps especially Mikko... has anybody tried any handheld work w/ the af100? How is that working out ergonomically and weightwise? How feasible/workable is this? Can you sustain that for awhile? Thx! Again, great work, guys.
 
We didn't shoot any "handheld" stuff on "Verse," but based on what I saw of the camera, I'd say it's certainly possible. (I guess that's why they put a handgrip on it. :D)

Seriously, though, I'd think handheld would really require a lens designed to communicate with the camera, like the 14-140mm or the Olympus 14-35mm with the Panasonic 4/3 to M4/3 adapter.
 
Stephen Mick said:
Seriously, though, I'd think handheld would really require a lens designed to communicate with the camera, like the 14-140mm or the Olympus 14-35mm with the Panasonic 4/3 to M4/3 adapter.
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How so? Do you mean just for improved image stabilization? I shoot HH with my HVX/Bevis35 all the time. It's a beast to hold and it sucks, but it works and looks just fine. Or is there something about the camera/codec that you feel wouldn't lend itself well for handheld? Just curious as most PL lenses aren't stabilized and people have been shooting HH like that since the dawn of film.
 
Long thread. The trailer looks great. Thanks to everyone involved for sharing it with us! Especially looking forward to the comparison between the AF100 and the film stock that barry shot.
 
What I mean is that for any kind of prolonged handheld shooting, I'd want a lens that's relatively light, has OIS (if possible), and can communicate with and be controlled by the camera. The Iris wheel on the AF-100 is perfectly placed for handheld work, and will control M4/3 and most 4/3 lenses (with adapter).

It's not about the codec, it's about comfort, ergonomics and control. If you're filming narrative stuff, using fully manual lenses, even PL mount on a rails rig, would be fine. But if you're talking about events, documentary shooting and the like, I'd go as light and as "connected" (in terms of camera/lens communication) as possible.
 
>But if you're talking about events, documentary shooting and the like, I'd go as light and as "connected" (in terms of camera/lens communication) as possible.

That is my interest in this camera.
 
This has been my favorite thread of all time

This has been my favorite thread of all time

You guys really took this one to the cleaners. Talk about the All Star Team. Unbelievable what you have done and the time frame you have done it in....I hope you don't hate me, I just wanted to see what a possible scene might look like. (maybe a little to dramatic)

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Thanks, Stephen. That's what I'm talking about - basically, it's about ergonomics for handheld which is different from ergonomics of shoulder mounted run-n-gun. I ask, because obviously, a lot of films (especially low budg) rely on fair amounts of handheld. Now this is not a "heavy" camera, per se, though yes, lenses are the issue, so I'm not so much concerned about weight, as the ergonomics of it... if it's just awkward to hold for longer periods of time, or if it's really hard to balance handheld (and yeah, obviously, your choice of lens is going to come into this, but then again, you're not likely to be using anything especially long on handheld, so the really heavy long lenses don't count). Just looking at the camera, I'm worried - a bit - about if it's gonna be awkward to hold for any length of time, or unbalanced.
 
It just occured to me that one benefit of the removable hand grip is that it can be upgraded with one that has a built-in zoom rocker to control a zoom lens. So if Panasonic, Leica, or some other manufacturer wanted to, they could design a zoom lens that couples to the camera to get a) focus control, b) iris control, and c) power for a zoom motor. Then a cable would connect the lens to the handgrip wherein there is a zoom controller.

It would work... Jan?

(this assumes of course that the AF100's lens contacts can supply power --- do they?)
 
Bueller said:
You guys really took this one to the cleaners. Talk about the All Star Team. Unbelievable what you have done and the time frame you have done it in....I hope you don't hate me, I just wanted to see what a possible scene might look like. (maybe a little to dramatic)

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I love what Timur has done here, reminds me of Eastwood directed movies like "Unforgiven" or "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", DP'd by Roger Deakins, who does most of the Coen Brothers movies. You watch Deakins movies and wonder if he actually lit anything, it's all so naturalistic.
 
"A Verse Before Dying" - Lighting Setup #2 - "The Town"


Every western has to have a showdown in the center of town. Here, DP Timur Civan talks about just what it took to the the look we wanted using exclusively natural light, bounced and reflected.

From Timur Civan…

Direct sunlight is one of the most difficult situations to shoot in. The trick is to reduce the contrast of the scene so that the imaging system can record it faithfully. We did this in a "Verse Before Dying" by using a double, and a single 4x4 open frame nets to pull effectively three stops of illumination from the back light of the talent. This reduces the contrast ratio significantly, but not enough. We needed a fill light to help sculp the features on his face. Now while we had a 600 amp generator, and a 4k HMI, against direct sunlight the 4k seems like a 150w trying to fight the illumination of a 2kw. Its a drop in the bucket. The real way to fight the sun is the oft overlooked Mirror Board. Its 1/2 the illumination of the sun @ ~20 feet, and when you double or triple them up, suddenly the power catches up with the sun. I took two mirror boards, @ approximately 15 feet from talent, and pushed the directly reflected sunlight through a 6x6 frame with a full silk. This cut the illumination by about a stop and a half while softening it significantly, and keeping the ratio within a natural looking range. The 10:1 contrast ratio suddenly becomes a 5:1. Still having lots of contrast, but controlled and well within the Dynamic Range of the AF100.

Diagram
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Town - Wide Shot
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Town - Character Lighting
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Town - Reverse of Above
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And by the way everyone, the town wide shot....

That's with a 18mm. Yes you can get wides with normal lenses. It wasn't a 7mm, or a 11mm, just a normal cp1 18mm like comes with every set of primes.
 
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