First feature film, shot on the FS100

Phew, 4 days of location scouting and endless hours of going over the script and how to make it all smooth and workable in 25 days of shooting.
Looking pretty good so far.
I´m on my flight back home - gonna post some of the locations we found later.

Frank
 
Okay here are some of the locations we secured.




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Spooky kindergarten

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forensic institute
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more forensic

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bone yard

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church


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strange house
 
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That looks amazing, Frank. Congrats on your new gig. I'll be filming a short horror/thriller film in March with my FS100. I'm excited to use it but just hope I can capture some nice, natural looking motion. Are you having any reservations about the FS100s 'look' on the big screen?
 
No, I´m sure it holds up pretty well.

Just ordered a Ninja and a Samurai with Connect and do some tests when they arrive, to see there is a way to squeeze out more quality.
Also I will slightly modify my K-Tone profile for that job.

Frank
 
Great looking locations Frank. How big of a lighting/grip/electric package are you going to have to work with?

EDIT: ...and what glass are you planning to use?
 
This is great, congrats on the gig!

I may be shooting a feature on this camera- fascinated to see the results of this! Any thoughts yet about the benefits (?) of the external recorders? I was considering the Ninja too, but so many have said it's not worth the money, which I'm not entirely convinced by, but would appreciate some feedback once you've done some tests, or work with these.
 
I'm also in the process of shooting a short film with my FS100. It takes place during the Civil war. So far the footage looks great, before grading and coloring. I'm using Crooked Path Films' CPF-LOG.
 
Would love to see the short film or any thoughts about the camera as you're in production. Agreed, the forensic location looks amazingly evocative!
 
What a shame- sorry to hear that, what happened?

Did you get a chance to do any testing with the external recorders, regardless?

James
 
vanvideo said:
Who are you referring to?
Click to expand...

You said you were doing a short, so I was curious about your experience with the camera on that, but also Frank, as the post was generally about his use of it on a feature, although it appears sadly that's not happening now.
 
3dit0r said:

You said you were doing a short, so I was curious about your experience with the camera on that, but also Frank, as the post was generally about his use of it on a feature, although it appears sadly that's not happening now.
Click to expand...

OK, sorry, I wasn't sure if you were talking to me or Frank.

My experience with the FS100:

I actually bought the FS with the intention of shooting short films, specifically the one I am involved in now (I came up with the story idea). This film takes place during the Civil War. I knew I'd need a camera that had very good low light performance. I had a Canon XF305, and as great a camera as the XF is, I knew the low light performance wouldn't be good enough. Plus, the FS is cool as heck. So, I sold my XF and used the funds to purchase the FS.
We are also using a Canon 5D, although the a-cam is the FS.

I used the kit kens, and with an A-mount adapter, a Sony 35mm f1.8, a Sony 50mm f1.8, a Tamron 17-50 constant f2.8 zoom and also rented the e-mount Zeiss 24mm f1.8. A lot of the movie takes place in a dimly lit cabin and at night in the woods. Here the Zeiss really shined - it's an excellent lens, fast and sharp. For daylight scenes, I used the kit lens and the Tamron zoom, because i have a Light Craft variable ND filter that happens to fit both lenses. In daylight, ND filters are a must with the FS.

The FS performed flawlessly. The batteries held up really well. I could go for over a half a day on one battery. We used the audio from the camera, although we occasionally used an external audio recorder as back-up.
I used Crooked Path Films' CPF-LOG and LUT as my picture profiles. I had to set the shot using the LUT, then remember to switch to the LOG when i actually shot video. I forgot once, but only during a night scene. The video looks flat in the LOG (as the AD kept saying, annoyingly), but my colorist requested this. It's not 4:2:2 color, but it'll have to do.

The FS100 is great for all the low light scenes we have, better than the 5D. I wanted minimal lighting, to set the mood for an 1860s-era cabin at night. With my fast primes, I've only used 150W lights indoors, and even used real kerosene lanterns for lighting. So far, looking at the footage, everyone is really happy with the results.
The FS is comfortable to shoot hand held. Much of that is because of the camera's light weight.

Negatives? For this film, none, really. The FS does exactly what I want it to do. i would prefer a better codec, but I was tapped for funds and couldn't swing a Ninja.
I might also mention the 5D takes great looking video, very filmic looking. I might actually prefer its look to the FS100 (except when i could see the annoying moire), but we'll see after post production. I hope the two cameras can cut together nicely.

We still have about a third of principal shooting to finish. It has been an adventure. I will post some footage when I can, but that may not be for awhile.

I might also add: I brought my NEX-5n along to act as a director's viewfinder. I can slap one of my lenses on it, and the director can use it to set up his shots. Pretty handy to have.
 
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