GH-1 Action Test: Quick and Dirty

K

Kholi

Section Moderator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB-Kuz8buDg

I didn't post it cause I don't like my own efforts on it but those guys came out and did this so it deserves to at least be seen more. I helped to sort of choreograph, but there was no real director(ish). We just did what we could with the time and space.


1080/24 and 720/60 mixed together.
Glass Used: Zeiss 50/1.4, Vivitar 25/2.5, Kit Lens
Lights: 150w HMI, 85w 5500K CFL, available security lights. Just enough to actually get exposure, no real lighting or anything. Sorry.

That's all we used.

Sound was thrown in by Kerry, the muzzle flashes by Kerry. They took time out of their schedules do this test with me so it's all good.

I need to have more patience.
 
You're too tough on yourself, this looks good. Should throw this up on vimeo in better resolution.
 
Yo Kholi man....you've been holdng out on us. This is what I've been looking for in the last few months. This looked great. Put this bad boy up on Vimeo. What the heck are you so hard on yourself for... ?? This is the best action shot I've seen so far. Great job.
 
Soon as I get a chance to grab the hard drive that it's on I'll drop the sound into a 720 file and put it on vimeo. As far as me being hard on myself, there's obviously a lot lacking on my end and I wasn't up to snuff with the guys in front of the camera.

A) The out of focus gun wielding isn't played right because I forgot to let the actor know that he's supposed to have blood in his eye. That's why the gun is in focus but the far end isn't. Then it gradually focuses as soon as he goes to shoot.

It doesn't read like that, and it's because I didn't think hard enough and remember.

B) The angles bounce back between "okay" and "wtf are you thinking". Never once finding a "That's solid" point. For instance, when Morgan (Gun) takes off the opposite way after running out of ammo. It's flat and lacks any interesting depth until we flip to the other side to get J's (Sword) attack. Then we get depth, then it looks interesting.

C) There's no actual lighting going on here. It looks exactly like what it is: some kid threw up a few lights and got exposure, then left them alone.

D) I also missed SEVERAL bits of coverage that I would've needed to escape having to jump cut at the end. So now it looks like it's missing much more when you get to the end (as if it wasn't already missing enough) because of the jump cutting.

E) The shakey camera stuff is really making me want to remove my hands OR take muscle relaxers ritually. Granted, it was before I learned how to stabilize these things, I still can't excuse that though.

F) Do you see how many times I miss focus?

I could keep going on, but the gyst of it is I wasn't prepared like I should have been and ought to have ate my damned Wheaties. Those guys all performed well under my half-assedness and so it does need to be seen, and I know that I told you guys it would be up and it took forever.

Kerry plugged in the muzzles and sound, again. Rush job to get it done because I ended up taking WAY too long.

Bleh.

Anyway. I'll get the 720 up on Vimeo.
 
Mr. Hicks... you are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too modest. If this is quick and dirty, can't wait to see normal and clean stuff from this camera. I third the Vimeo request, please :)
 
Well, with action going at that speed one does not pick up on all of those things you mention Kholi. The one thing I can probably agree with is the lighting...but then what you had still added to the mood. I really like that slide by effect at 55 to 58 seconds in. The choreography was solid and was "action movie" believable. I thought you caught it well.
 
wow good job kholi, we probably know a lot of the same people. I was able to meet He Jing De a couple of times recently. He performed at my friend's martial arts gym. He is one amazing and ridiculously fast dude.

looks good though kholi. I dont know if you remember but we talked online before about working together a couple years back. keep up the good work.

now...if i can get my hands on a gh1...been calling everywhere like madness!
 
Ian-T said:
I really like that slide by effect at 55 to 58 seconds in. The choreography was solid and was "action movie" believable. I thought you caught it well.
Click to expand...

Agreed. That slide by thing was very slick.

I sometimes found the lens flares a bit distracting but my attention was held firmly until the very end. And I don't generally like action films/shorts.

Very nice.
 
just watched it again... this rocks.

if possible, can you give a timeline breakdown of what shots were in 1080/24P?
 
eL ProduceR said:
Mr. Hicks... you are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too modest. If this is quick and dirty, can't wait to see normal and clean stuff from this camera. I third the Vimeo request, please :)
Click to expand...

Modest and undermedicated, two different things. Lol. Will get the vimeo up asap.

Ian-T said:
Well, with action going at that speed one does not pick up on all of those things you mention Kholi. The one thing I can probably agree with is the lighting...but then what you had still added to the mood. I really like that slide by effect at 55 to 58 seconds in. The choreography was solid and was "action movie" believable. I thought you caught it well.
Click to expand...

Choreography was fun indeed. I guess I need to learn patience.

The slide was also something I didn't do right. It's an effect I've been trying to get working for a while but still can't figure out the proper morph, timing, and effect. Will get it down soon though.

I'll pass the positive reception on to the dudes though. Thanks Ian.

slinks said:
wow good job kholi, we probably know a lot of the same people. I was able to meet He Jing De a couple of times recently. He performed at my friend's martial arts gym. He is one amazing and ridiculously fast dude.

looks good though kholi. I dont know if you remember but we talked online before about working together a couple years back. keep up the good work.

now...if i can get my hands on a gh1...been calling everywhere like madness!
Click to expand...

Slinks. What were we gonna work on? I'm slow.

Jing De is insanely fast man. Like, I had to get him to slow down because he's like a bullet. I also love his serious presence. With a little more "camera" action training he's a shoe in for some awesome roles. Have you seen how high he can jump!?!?!

Morgan Benoit, Gun, was actually in the Jet Li vs Jackie Chan movie FORBIDDEN KINGDOM as the Bully. He can take his falls quite well and is very acrobatic. I'm really looking forward to using him more.

You know Kerry Wong then aye? The beast himself!

Fluke said:
Agreed. That slide by thing was very slick.

I sometimes found the lens flares a bit distracting but my attention was held firmly until the very end. And I don't generally like action films/shorts.

Very nice.
Click to expand...

Oh, yeah those lens flares! Tip: don't ever use the Vivitar 25/2.5 around direct light sources. I had to use a 25 or something wider than a 35 but the 25/2.5 is all I had at the moment. The thing flares like crazy and IMO not in a good way.

Oi.

danny dale said:
this is very cool... what kind of gun did you use?
Click to expand...

danny dale said:
just watched it again... this rocks.

if possible, can you give a timeline breakdown of what shots were in 1080/24P?
Click to expand...


The Gun's actually another friend's. I can't remember what it was but it was a cO2 can that we kept injecting it with. Made a nice loud noise that made me weary of using it. lol

Here's what I can remember so far:

:01 - :22 is 720/60p Dropped on an FCP 23.98 Timeline
:23 - :25 The High kick with the exaggerated tilt to follow Jing De is 1080/24 along with the aerial overhead wanna-be shot

the slide is on the 17mm end of the Kit Lens @ 720/60P

Will have to look at the original footage again to note all of the cuts. Will probably put that up with the better compressed vimeo file.
 
I saw this last week, I believe, and said to myself what a piece of crap! Just kidding dude. I think this is one of my favorite pieces so far with the GH1. When I first saw it I said to myself, see, the 1080p is very good and you mix it with the 720p for movement and you have a pretty good piece. Very well executed action sequence. Kudos to you and your actors and crew. Excellent.
 
I agree with the others on the thread, you're being a bit too hard on yourself. Yeah, it's not perfect, but given that you shot it in an evening it's still pretty dang cool. It really shows smart use of the GH1 can really get around the mud issues while still retaining a 'film like' feel to it. Of course, I put my vote in for the vimeo version as well. Nice work!
 
This was worth the wait!
Kholi was the primary evangelist for the GH-1 in this forum months ago when I first found it.
As one of the first owners, he was incredibly patient, informative and accommodating to the requests of others. This could not have been easy to keep up with for him. I am very grateful for it.

Thank you Kholi, for your over 11,232 posts, and for your inspiring work samples!
Cheers !
Steve
 
Hey, cool short, Kholi!

Do you remember what any of the settings were like film mode, ISO, etc? I know that's a tall order, but I'm curious.
 
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Bloody well done!

I'll join the choir that sings you are too hard on yourself. If I understand correctly this was just you and the two actors/acrobats? Not even one camera assistant? Of course it helps to have two such talented and trained guys in front of the lens but don't dismiss the good job you did here - you got eyes for movement and blocking. A couple of inserts more to smooth the flow of the edit and this combat sequence would work in any of the current actioneers in cinemas now. You show this camera's usability and versatility very convincingly - I can't even imagine to try pull off a action shot like this alone with a 35mm film camera - or 16mm for that matter - or a RED. So let me repeat:

Bloody well done!
 
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