GH4 Anyone film corporate work/commercials/talking heads?

On this talking head shot we were using a different camera - but I set up my GH4 as close as possible to the A-Cam and ended up with this...
4K footage edited on 1280 timeline. Wide is 35%? mid is 55% tight is 95% - really just a proof of concept.

I have shot some other stuff only with GH4 - will share it when I am allowed.
password: test
http://vimeo.com/105074538
 
mcbob said:
The Woodward shot stands out because it's lit very well. Shots like that are very possible with large-sensor-anything Canon, Nikon, Sony, Blackmagic, Red, and yes, Panasonic as well. All you have to do is position your subject and light and lens it properly to get the look you want. The camera hasn't been the issue for a long time now.
Click to expand...

dang. The whole point of this post was to see if anybody has actually shot an interview with that look on the GH4 and the one example i get I'm told oh wait that shot wasn't a gh4, the shots you didn't like were. So does anybody have proof that the gh4 can shoot an interview that matches the shots i posted? or will you all just keep repeating you CAN get the shot, you just can't find examples online.
 
gutterball321 said:
dang. The whole point of this post was to see if anybody has actually shot an interview with that look on the GH4 and the one example i get I'm told oh wait that shot wasn't a gh4, the shots you didn't like were. So does anybody have proof that the gh4 can shoot an interview that matches the shots i posted? or will you all just keep repeating you CAN get the shot, you just can't find examples online.
Click to expand...

What is it about that shot that you like? What don't you like about the other shots? Being able to articulate why you like something is key. The camera is such a small portion that makes up that shot. The lighting, Location, filtration, colour grade etc add more to creating that shot than the camera. How about learning how to create that shot by breaking down what you like. Many cameras are capable of that shot but unless you know how NO camera will help you.

I don't have a lot of talking head stuff on my GH4 yet (was renting C300 over past year with GH3 B-cam) but I should in the upcoming 6 months. When I do I'll post something if clients allow.
 
I agree that much of a successful look has to do with lighting and creatively placing your subject in a room to get a good background. Often, the subject is placed in a room location that would look bizarre to a casual bystander. But by doing so, there is plenty of depth behind the subject to go nicely out of focus. Attention is paid to hot spots, etc.

My guess is that you would get the look you want from an 85mm at f2 with a Speedbooster. A 25mm is an awkward lens for close-ups on the Gh4. At least for interviews. You would have to be very close to them and it would distort their head in an unflattering way. A 50mm or an 85mm with a Speedbooster (or a 35mm and a 50mm without it) are good interview lenses.

Here's a short video I shot on the GH4 (but did not edit) using a 35mm and a 50mm WITHOUT a Speedbooster. The 35mm (two-shot) was at f2.8 and the 50mm (close-up) was at f2. If I had used the Speedbooster, the bokeh would have been even more pronounced. BTW, I had to light this very quickly and I don't like having to light two person interviews. I'm not too proud of the lighting or framing but it's acceptable.

 
Last edited:
awesome job DVBrother! loved the movement sound and interview shots, def some of the best I've seen with the gh4. So what lenses were those? and what did you use for audio? i need to buy a 2nd lav and those sounded great. I love watching work like this with the GH4, i just can't find a lot of it
 
I'd say your difficulty finding the kind of samples you want from the GH4 is simply from the camera being relatively new. There's probably not much good corporate-type Sony A7S footage floating around either, but I'm darned sure it's capable of it.

...and yeah, it's always composition and the lighting. Don't sell yourself short DVBrother, you did good on a short setup.
 
gutterball321 said:
dang. The whole point of this post was to see if anybody has actually shot an interview with that look on the GH4 and the one example i get I'm told oh wait that shot wasn't a gh4, the shots you didn't like were. So does anybody have proof that the gh4 can shoot an interview that matches the shots i posted? or will you all just keep repeating you CAN get the shot, you just can't find examples online.
Click to expand...
Why don't you rent or borrow a Gh4 and see if you can shoot an interview that suits YOUR lighting, YOUR locations, YOUR coloring, YOUR expectations. Or, find out what THAT LOOK was shot on and buy THAT camera.
 
Did you look at the vimeo link I posted? Is that not the type of shot you are talking about?

dang. The whole point of this post was to see if anybody has actually shot an interview with that look on the GH4 and the one example i get I'm told oh wait that shot wasn't a gh4, the shots you didn't like were. So does anybody have proof that the gh4 can shoot an interview that matches the shots i posted? or will you all just keep repeating you CAN get the shot, you just can't find examples online.
 
Thanks all.
To answer Gutterball, those are Nikon primes circa 1980. A 35mm and a 50mm. The wide b-roll shots were on a Tokina 11-16mm.
I'm my own worst critic. The weather was really cloudy outside and I'm always uneasy about mixing tungsten with daylight, so some of that footage makes me cringe. It is, however, some of my first footage using a slider and I think it looks pretty great. And there's a Glidecam 2000 shot in there, too.
The lav mics were Sennheiser wireless mics I borrowed. And I recorded into a Zoom H4n.
 
Last edited:
OK here's a sample frame from an quickie interview series that I shot for a client this morning. This was shot with my GH3 ( still waiting for the new factory fixed GH4 cameras to show up in Toronto, hopefully this Monday ) using a $135 Mitacon SpeedBooster + Nikon AI-S 50mm f/1.4 lens using a couple of F&V K4000 1x1 LED lights. I shot at 200 ISO with the lens set to f/2.0 ( equivalent to f/1.4 with the SpeedBooster ) and my camera was set to the "Natural" profile with contrast turned down and color-temp set to 5600 Kelvin...

InterviewSample.jpg

...And in case anyone is interested, this is how I often mic someone when I'm working by myself and the room is quiet. ( Tascam DR-40 recorder attached to a mini-ballhead that is sitting on a Manfroto background stand ) It's maybe not the best way to record audio, but it's still pretty good, and I can cycle through a bunch of interviews one after the other very quickly. If there's more budget and time to set-up I will bring a proper boom stand and position a hyper-cardioid mic just out of the frame. The only drawback to this set-up is people making noise with their hands, because their hands are so close to the recorder.

AudioSetUp.jpg
 
dvbrother said:
BTW, I had to light this very quickly and I don't like having to light two person interviews. I'm not too proud of the lighting or framing but it's acceptable.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's more than acceptable. Nice job.

But oh my, the lady needs to rethink her makeup, especially when sitting next to her shiny husband...:happy:
 
Here are two examples with several interviews. Both were shot entirely with the GH4. Interviews were shot with the Sigma 18-35mm w/ Metabones Speedbooster. This first one has mostly indoor interviews with controlled lighting.



This one has mostly outdoor interviews with natural light.

 
Nice work Benjamin. What were your camera settings for the interviews in video #1? Also, your interviews have a look of a strong vignette. Did you achieve that in post or did you tweak the lighting and exposure to put your interview subjects about a stop brighter than your BGs?
 
puredrifting said:
What were your camera settings for the interviews in video #1? Also, your interviews have a look of a strong vignette. Did you achieve that in post or did you tweak the lighting and exposure to put your interview subjects about a stop brighter than your BGs?
Click to expand...

The camera settings were Natural -4, -4, -5, -2, 0 with Highlight/Shadow flat, iDynamic Off, iResolution Off, Luminance 0-255, and Master Pedestal 0.

I had a soft key on the subjects' front and a soft rim on their back. I white balanced for the key. This produced an awful green cast to the background due to the overhead fluorescent lighting. I removed the green cast and darkened the background in post. I also corrected the subjects to give them better color and contrast.

Here's a before & after comparison:

Michael Original.jpg
Michael Filtered.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top