AF 102 on....The Big Screen tonight...

Shooter

Shooter

Veteran
In a very anticipatory and slightly anxious state of mind today!

We shot a film for a NZ 48 Hour Film Competition in the weekend and tonight is the big screen cast and crew screening. (Heats) 800 entries.

We had a cast and crew of 21.

Be the first time we have viewed any AF102 footage up on the big screen so thats going to be interesting.

I decided to be the editor / colorist ( I wanted to do a narrative instead of my usual TVCs) and my usual AC, Greg, shot the short as the D.P / Operator. ( AF102 , Nikkors). He did a great job.

Interiors and exterior ( day and night scenes) ... so far we have not seen any single issue that may have come up in this forum at various times. ie noise , banding, skew, highlight chroma issues...

Greg nailed the exposures making my colorist role very simple.

Skin tones and color ...fabulous. Audio ...awesome.

I still hate SD cards and I would love a 4:2:2 Codec but...

Will post back what we see tonight.
 
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Screening of our entry shot entirely on the AF102 was last night. (First up in the first heat.!)

I sat next to the D.P so we could have a confab as soon as it had finished and we both decided it looked excellent.

We were well pleased with the resolution and color ( even though projection was maybe a little darker than we anticipated. Maybe 1/2 stop) ...but that suited our 'Horror Genre" and the way I colorised and graded it.

Detail remained in the shadows where I set them ...and highlights were within range and clean. No fringing, artifacts, noise or banding was evident.

Skin tones were very nicely represented in a range of looks at various scenes. Morning thru to midnight. I did minimal CC on the clips but I did de-saturate generally. THe AF102 in default is always "Panasonic colorful" (in a nice way.. but not for Horror ) Easy to CC but 4:2:2 would be better.

The delivery spec to the competition was H264 8mbs on a USB stick. This spec held up well. ( Be even better with a higher data rate I suspect)

THe Big Screen ( approx 20' horiz) viewing has certainly enhanced my regard for the AF102

Snippets from some of the reviews that came out this morning:

Very technically well shot and edited film. Great colour.

It was great to see the Auckland Heats open with a beautifully framed shot of Lion Rock, at Piha. More lovely cinematography followed, plus some recognisable faces

Definitely a great start and raised the bar pretty high.

When this film opened I realised the competition had kicked it up a notch this year with production values. It was so sharp and clear (presumably full HD) and looked amazing throughout.

The high-definition scenery was breathtakingly good, a really great way to start the first heat in the first year HD has been an option. If only all the shorts were this pleasing to look at.


BTW: We won audience favourite for our heat.
 
Well done! In our town, they've down-rezzed everything to letterboxed SD, which drives all the high-end folks crazy. August 5-7 can't get here fast enough for me! - Tim

P.S. 21 cast & crew... sounds like one of our 48HFP productions. I'm always criticized for having too many people, but I like that size team.
 
groveChuck said:
Congrats Editor... I mean Shooter! ;^)

Which Nikkors were used, and why edit rather than shoot?
Click to expand...

Greg decided to take just the "Dream Team Nikkors" 17-35mm f2.8 & the 28-70mm f2.8. plus the Nikkor 85mm f1.8.
Even though he had a focus puller..he decided to keep the moving parts to a minimum. The lenses looked great and resolved well on the big screen ...but the thing about zooms is... they are easy to flare (so many elements). Greg worked hard to eliminate any flare issues.

EDITING: I wanted to edit a narrative "long form" ( not my usual TVCs) and also....I did not fancy the long hour crazy shoot style that a 48 Hour shoot entails. Getting too old and curmudeonly for that stuff...

I was real happy in my editing room, near the heater and the fridge ( food, beer and wine) and by myself for long periods ( until the crazy post phase started). Actually I had it all pretty well cut by the time the Director fronted on the Sunday morning and I had it in the hands of the audio guys by 10:30 am.

It was a simple linear script and I cut it accordingly. You never get enough or excessive coverage in a 48 Hour shoot!
 
groveChuck said:
Great lens kit! Look forward to when you can upload!

Oh, and what Gamma/settings?
Click to expand...

I never asked Greg anything about what settings he used although I had suggested he used something where he could use a Knee Setting ( not auto Knee).

My guess is he was close to Default something. We never stray far from those.
 
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