Has anyone used a DSLR to make a movie?

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Foster Kane

Well-known member
I saw some shots of a production and they were using a Cannon DSLR. Is it possible to make a movie with a DSLR? I thought due to the limitations, making a movie with a DSLR is not a good idea.
 
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Using a DSLR like they did for the last episode of House did not save them any money over their normal setup so a DSLR might be great for a small Indy it is not going to replace the Panavision , Arri , Red or CineAlta anytime soon for the feature length film market IMHO.
 
Its kind of why this section of the forum exists. Tons of people are using DSLRs to shoot movies. And even some big name movies/TV shows. House, as was already mentioned, was a big deal in the DSLR world, as was a scene in Black Swan and according to a rumor that I've heard, a scene in Iron Man 2 (race car).
 
Indies like myself have been using them like crazy. Also, Lifetime's original movie "The Craigslist Killer" was shot on a DSLR.
 
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I'm going to go out on a Limb here and state that:

I was the world's first person to shoot a feature length film entirely on a DSLR camera.

Canon 5DII, January 2009-february 2009. The film "The Louisiana Conversation" still has not been released. Why? Maybe because we shot it on a DSLR? Maybe because the production team ran out of money? I don't know. I am going to say that it was an incredible experience being involved in such a pioneering effort - if I could do it all over again I would have done one of two things:

A. Blogged about it at the time and made a really big press release splash, and then turned that into some serious marketing like most of the "DSLR Crowd" does.
B. Shot it on the Red One camera.

Canon didn't respond to me at all when I told them I am shooting a feature film on their camera, they didn't even say "Hey That's cool" - took about 6 months to release a firmware that allowed direct manual exposure control (we would expose a grey card then lock the exposure), and even longer to offer the frame rates people wanted, after they started selling a camera with the elusive 24p framerate, and then they slapped all the people who bought a 7D by not putting manual audio control in again. They are either 1. Stupid, or ignorant. or 2. Devious marketing chaps.

Now I'm a Red guy. Yay!

I'll admit I'm intrigued by the Sony F3, and I really like Alexa a lot too.

and I have a Panasonic GH2 for all those small camera moments.
 
Dan_Kanes said:
I'm going to go out on a Limb here and state that:

I was the world's first person to shoot a feature length film entirely on a DSLR camera.

Canon 5DII, January 2009-february 2009. The film "The Louisiana Conversation" still has not been released. Why? Maybe because we shot it on a DSLR? Maybe because the production team ran out of money? I don't know. I am going to say that it was an incredible experience being involved in such a pioneering effort - if I could do it all over again I would have done one of two things:

A. Blogged about it at the time and made a really big press release splash, and then turned that into some serious marketing like most of the "DSLR Crowd" does.
B. Shot it on the Red One camera.

Canon didn't respond to me at all when I told them I am shooting a feature film on their camera, they didn't even say "Hey That's cool" - took about 6 months to release a firmware that allowed direct manual exposure control (we would expose a grey card then lock the exposure), and even longer to offer the frame rates people wanted, after they started selling a camera with the elusive 24p framerate, and then they slapped all the people who bought a 7D by not putting manual audio control in again. They are either 1. Stupid, or ignorant. or 2. Devious marketing chaps.

Now I'm a Red guy. Yay!

I'll admit I'm intrigued by the Sony F3, and I really like Alexa a lot too.

and I have a Panasonic GH2 for all those small camera moments.
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I think there was a feature that started right before yours, and it was on a D90. The user's here, I just can't remember who it was. It was also overseas.

There were at least two D90 feature films that went into production like two weeks after I got my camera two days early from Best Buy.

Canon, at the time, only cared about their Still Photographers transitioning since it represented most of their market share. Now, they still don't really care.

Panasonic, however, seems to be jumping into a Panavision type fair by acknowledging their shooters publicly.

On Topic:

You can shoot a feature with whatever you want... if you want a real success story go and google TINY FURNITURE... it's all 7D. Although the DP wasn't very fond of it in the ASC article I read, or may have misread.

I dunno why, but even the larger budget feature films that I've seen... DSLR footage has this stigma that you can spot, and it really shows up as soon as you start moving the camera in a handheld or loose action fashion. It's not there when you're dollying, sliding, or just static...but as soon as you move it any other way... can't explain it.

Regardless, it's good enough to cut in for major motion pictures and at least two or three Sundance features that were purchased employed DSLRs fully.
 
If you want a real success story, Google "Like Crazy", which Paramount recently picked up for $4million. Shot on a 7D.
 
Oddly enough that was my PL7D used on Like Crazy - HotRod Cameras PL7D prototype 001 Which was later stolen by means of fraudulent rental.

Regarding dslr production -I'll stand by claim of first dslr feature to complete production by February 2009.
 
Cool. So it can be done.
I heard that the DSLR can't be used for long periods of time since it shuts down. What is the work around for that issue?
 
Jawa Ex Machina said:
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride was shot on Canon 5DmkI back in 2004 though.
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And Mattsand (DVXuser) Mattias finished his D90 feature late 2008.

It's a good thing that it's not important as to who shot the first DSLR feature, but more so who shot a good one (visual and content) and who got it distributed.

if it were the former, we would all be in trouble.
 
Foster Kane said:
Cool. So it can be done.
I heard that the DSLR can't be used for long periods of time since it shuts down. What is the work around for that issue?
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There're ways to work around it. It's an issue for sure if you're rolling fifteen minute takes, can't find means to cool it etc. But, people have done it.
 
Foster Kane said:
Cool. So it can be done.
I heard that the DSLR can't be used for long periods of time since it shuts down. What is the work around for that issue?
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Well, 35mm motion picture cameras only have a maximum capacity of 10 minutes (with a 1000' mag) and that has not seemed to limited Hollywood production at all.
 
Man i must have a magic 7d...cuz i gotten the overheating signal once...one time....since i've had it which is almost a year. And that instance was some pretty brutal heat so that was expected. Actually it wasnt even expected cuz i've worked in hot conditions already and everything was fine. And i live in Jamaica...so yeh i know something about heat.
 
Foster Kane said:
Cool. So it can be done.
I heard that the DSLR can't be used for long periods of time since it shuts down. What is the work around for that issue?
Click to expand...

What's with all this theoretical talk? "It *CAN* be done"??
Not only CAN it be done, it HAS been done! Over and over, and on big Hollywood sets as well!

Get with the program, man! Its actually considered old news in the video production world! ;)

Meanwhile, yes, some of the cameras have time limitations on recording (some do not, like the Panasonic I believe). However, as someone else already mentioned, its actually longer than the limit of working with traditional film. In fact, working with DSLR versus a camcorder has forced many of us to start working more like the way they do with actual film in many ways (Prime lenses, more manual exposure control, external audio that is synced in post, etc).

When are you honestly going to film something longer than 15 min a time unless it is a live event that you're recording? For live events like a long speech, however, sometimes what I'll do is have a multi-camera shoot with cameras starting/stopping at different intervals. Sync the whole thing up with an externally recorded audio source (patched from the PA system or something), and you always have a camera to cut to when the other has a hole for a few seconds to restart recording.

So, yes, we landed on the moon. Email killed written letters. Internet exists on cell phones now. The US has a black president. And DSLRs are used for film making these days.
 
I'm just waiting for the first film shot entirely on DSLR (not just quick 3 second angles here and there) to be distributed in major theaters. A better question is to ask wether there have been any films shot at 720P that have been distributed in major theaters - these things are great for television, Youtube, and DVD releases, but I think the mainstream theater question is still one that has not been answered through experience. For example, there's 14 billion Red films that have been shown in major theaters, so we trust 4K.
 
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Snapper123 said:
I'm just waiting for the first film shot entirely on DSLR (not just quick 3 second angles here and there) to be distributed in major theaters. A better question is to ask wether there have been any films shot at 720P that have been distributed in major theaters - these things are great for television, Youtube, and DVD releases, but I think the mainstream theater question is still one that has not been answered through experience. For example, there's 14 billion Red films that have been shown in major theaters, so we trust 4K.
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Tiny Furniture got a theatrical release, I dunno if it was a really big one but it definitely hit theaters. And it was shot all on a 7D.

I think Crazy Love or whatever it was is going to be in theaters as well, world wide release.

DSLR footage in combination with very careful post processing can see plenty good enough image for a large screen release. It's not even the camera that matters in this case, anyway, it's the content. The medium's getting used more for straight drama more-so than anything else I've seen, and that stuff just doesn't get distributed (most of the time) without names attached.
 
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