House (DSLR Episode) on Bluray

KyleProhaska

KyleProhaska

Veteran
So I got House Season 6 on Blu-ray. My first purchase of the show, and while I love the show I gotta admit I really wanted to see that finale shot on the 5D. I ripped it open as soon as it arrived and threw it in my PS3.

I gotta say, it looks amazing. It looks far better than I thought on my 50in Plasma even having viewed it in 720p on my computer (from iTunes). Watching it on Broadcast HDTV threw all sorts of artifacts in it so viewing it on Blu-ray I knew would give me the greatest quality possible to see it outside of viewing the original footage.

It has really opened my eyes to what the DSLR's can REALLY look like. Yes I've seen hundreds of videos online and seen what others can do, and even downloaded 1080p files and even played RAW 5D footage given to me from friends in FCP and ported it to my Plasma to see. Even then none of that compares to seeing this episode on Blu-ray. I'm much more confident in using a DSLR for a feature now having seen this. I'm not sure I would use it for that with some of the new products coming (AF100 for one), but it certainly makes me feel better about maybe using one to shoot lots of other things that might not have the budget I would have on a feature.

I'm sure they figured out some sort of special way to deal with the footage as well in post to try and minimize some of the issues the codec can give. It would be funny to find out if they had used the 5DtoRGB program to help. Either way the square blockies were almost impossible to spot, and I could see some filmic grain added in some shorts, which overlaid onto blocky footage can help hide them.

Overall very pleased. Just wanted to share my thoughts. If you haven't picked up House Season Six on Blu-ray and you want to see almost an hour of what a Hollywood crew with a Hollywood budget can do with a DSLR, buy this.
 
My wife loves that show, and I have to admit that I watch once in a while as well, although I don't watch much TV.

I'm excited whenever I hear that the price point is dropping for high quality production. But I wonder two things.

1) As you pointed out, how much money in hardware/software/expertise went in to the process between shooting and delivery that massaged the footage (not saying it can't look great out of the camera, just wondering)

2) Why would you do that (shoot with a 5D), when you already have access to so much of the gear most of us are using the 5D (or whatever you prefer) to substiute for?
 
Yeah when I first saw it on 720 itunes I was amazed, best looking 5d footage I reckon.

I haven't had the chance to check out the 1080p bluray of this Season, would you be so kind to take screen grabs from the 5D episode as well as the normal episodes shot on 35mm please? :)

Cheers!
 
Jim Brennan said:
My wife loves that show, and I have to admit that I watch once in a while as well, although I don't watch much TV.

2) Why would you do that (shoot with a 5D), when you already have access to so much of the gear most of us are using the 5D (or whatever you prefer) to substiute for?
Click to expand...

You may or may not know this, since you don't follow House, but they used the 5DII in that episode because the main plot developed along the collapse of a crane onto a parking garage, so more than half of the episode is in a tight space tucked into rubble. This also has something to do with why they chose to use the 5DII and not the 7D, although, they may have used both, and I don't have the link to the director's interview transcript, where he discussed their choice of camera and why.
 
Nice review Kyle - I thought the ep looked great as well - part of why I bought a T2i. All camera tech seem to be getting better and the DSLRs are leading the way.

And Chris, thanks for posting the interview.
 
I've read that they are using the 5D on this new season 7 pretty regularly interspersed with film and it's looking good, too!
 
For what it's worth, these are the 2 pieces that convinced me to get on the 5DMKII bandwagon:

http://www.vimeo.com/7199178
http://www.vimeo.com/8100091

A buddy of mine shot this recently on 5D and 7D with a top commercials director at the helm and it got him an agent:

http://www.vimeo.com/13159991

There's something to be said for "less" and "smaller" and "lighter" and "easier" especially when the image quality is so comparatively great compared to camera systems that cost 10 to 40 times more.
 
Chris Santucci said:
A buddy of mine shot this recently on 5D and 7D with a top commercials director at the helm and it got him an agent:

http://www.vimeo.com/13159991

There's something to be said for "less" and "smaller" and "lighter" and "easier" especially when the image quality is so comparatively great compared to camera systems that cost 10 to 40 times more.
Click to expand...

Does your friend have a link to some BTS ? ... great work !
 
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