GH2 dance and fast lenses (GH2 + 20mm 1.7, voigtländer 0.95, 1.4, 1.1, kern-switar 1.1)

[seb33]

dance & fast lenses @ le miroir d'eau, bordeaux

This is a total improvisation : yesterday I came to a.d.a.g.e studio danse studio to propose to the students to make in the end of the day a short movie on le miroir d'eau, bordeaux. Today I've just finished the editing, I hope you will enjoy it

GH2 24P
tripod shots : lumix 20mm 1.7, voigtlander 25mm 0.95, 35mm 1.4, 50mm 1.1
handled shots : lumix 20mm 1.7 and voigtländer 25mm 0.95
tramway sequence : voigtländer 25mm 0.95

GH1 hacked firmware (b cam)
tripod @ handled shots : c-mount kern-switar 26mm 1.1

edit and cc on premiere CS5
some shots with 1:1 crop GH2 function
most of the shots @ 160 asa, tramway 1000 asa

dancers from a.d.a.g.e danse studio : laurie sautede, amélie musquin, alexia frouin, hélène perret, perrine ferot, mandy cavaroc, carole mlynarz, clémence datcharry, violete rodriguez, roxane perin, florence hoohs, fatou diallo, marie baudry and charlotte balguerie

D.O.P : seb farges (GH2)
b cam : cyril martin (GH1)
assistant, behind the scene : christophe milet

music : rafael bernabeu

a film by seb farges

thanks to brigitte petit adage33.fr
long for his lumix 20mm 1.7
michel ponomarenko panasonic.fr
marc rabuteau technicinephot.fr

bordeaux, le miroir d'eau, january 2011

 

[Gerson]

That's spectacular! Wow.

You said it was all improvisation: did the dancers have a specific set of ideas in mind, or did they completely improvise? The dance has what feels like an emotional arc, and I was wondering if that was planned, or if you did that in editing. Also, when you were in the tramway, were there any challenges with getting other passengers out of the way, not to look at the camera, etc.?

Finally, one more question: were the shots with vignetting an intentional choice? I liked them, but I wasn't sure if you chose to make them vignetted, or if that was just a limitation of one of your lenses and/or filters.

 

[seb33]

That's spectacular! Wow.

You said it was all improvisation: did the dancers have a specific set of ideas in mind, or did they completely improvise? The dance has what feels like an emotional arc, and I was wondering if that was planned, or if you did that in editing. Also, when you were in the tramway, were there any challenges with getting other passengers out of the way, not to look at the camera, etc.?

Finally, one more question: were the shots with vignetting an intentional choice? I liked them, but I wasn't sure if you chose to make them vignetted, or if that was just a limitation of one of your lenses and/or filters.

Thanks for your comment Gerson !
Yes it was complete improvisation. The girls just listened the music on the set, then they dance. On the first part I found this meaning between the girls and try to tell it with the editing. In the tramway we went there quickly, and the short DOF helped me not to shoot the other passengers. There was a lot of people it was not so easy. The vignetting is due to the C-mount kern,-switar 26mm 1.1, I decided to keep it, I was afraid of loosing quality with post production digital zoom. And this lens was not on the GH2, but on the GH1, so there was not the possibility of using the crop 1:1 function.

 

[PJF]

Blimey, the things we have to endure to advance the field of video cinematography. Here we are being forced,
f-o-r-c-e-d,
to watch healthy young women writhing about all over the place (and each other). Of course, in order to make a proper assessment of the various fast lenses, compare the GH2/GH13 output and see how successful the high ISO footage is; we are forced to watch the dancers several times. This is tough work, but someone's got to do it.

Seriously, Seb, this is a great result. You must really know your stuff to be able to produce movies of this standard so quickly. I thought the "video motion" look (24p?) suited the dance movements and swift cutting well; not sure it would have been as successful with super-smooth frames.

And top marks for just turning up and saying, "hey girls, let's go outside and film you all wriggling around on the ground" - and getting away with it. If I tried that around here I'd be thrown down the stairs and arrested.

 

[seb33]

Blimey, the things we have to endure to advance the field of video cinematography. Here we are being forced,
f-o-r-c-e-d,
to watch healthy young women writhing about all over the place (and each other). Of course, in order to make a proper assessment of the various fast lenses, compare the GH2/GH13 output and see how successful the high ISO footage is; we are forced to watch the dancers several times. This is tough work, but someone's got to do it.

Seriously, Seb, this is a great result. You must really know your stuff to be able to produce movies of this standard so quickly. I thought the "video motion" look (24p?) suited the dance movements and swift cutting well; not sure it would have been as successful with super-smooth frames.

And top marks for just turning up and saying, "hey girls, let's go outside and film you all wriggling around on the ground" - and getting away with it. If I tried that around here I'd be thrown down the stairs and arrested.

You're funny PJF, this is the morning here and I'm laughing . Yes indeed I'm a lucky man . On my work I use to do it fast, maybe too fast sometimes. Because of my enthusiasm of the shoot, I do the editing immediatly, because I want to see and share the result.