GH2 In Production For a Feature Film Shooting on GH2

N

noam

Well-known member
Hi Everyone,

I am currently shooting my second feature film, Split. While originally I intended to shoot on the BlackMagic camera, due to the delays I ended up choosing the GH2, even with full access to a RED MX and RED Scarlet.

After 2 years of shooting with this camera, it still blows me away. I couldn't be happier with my choice in camera as it has freed up other areas of the production that would have suffered if I had poured more resources into a larger camera/support package.

If you're interested, please feel free to check out my blog about using the camera with some new gear on my feature: http://www.noamkroll.com/gear-list-for-my-feature-film-split/

My blog is mainly focused on MFT and small-mid budget independent film making.
 
Curious what factors kept you from shooting on a Scarlet over the GH2? I'm pretty sure given the 2 options I'd side with the Scarlet for better DR and IQ, and the form factors really aren't that dramatically different. Editing is no slower on a Scarlet, just final render at the end of the pipe.

Hope you share.
 
Chris Adler said:
Curious what factors kept you from shooting on a Scarlet over the GH2? I'm pretty sure given the 2 options I'd side with the Scarlet for better DR and IQ, and the form factors really aren't that dramatically different. Editing is no slower on a Scarlet, just final render at the end of the pipe.

Hope you share.
Click to expand...


Strongly disagree.....
For many users still using FCP you must convert all of that footage and more than likely you want to grade in Red Cine first which takes time. Also if you don;t have a Red Rocket card you're looking at days of conversion time. Furthermore a kitted out Red Scarlet will weigh more + factoring in hard drives will also cost more, a lot more.

If he could have saved a couple of thousand dollars and used that somewhere else in the production then yes, it makes sense... perfect sense.

No question Red Scarlet has a better image and dynamic range, but the GH2 is no slouch and with the Hack is able to produced some very very nice images. GH2 is cheaper, able to move around faster and cuts very well actually with Red (we do it with Music Videos).


-----
Now to the thread starter, footage looks nice. Keep us updated.
 
Last edited:
Cool blog. I look forward to the equipment reviews as I look to broaden out my inventory to support my GH2 (and soon GH3).
 
I'd just wait for the BMCC - the footage I've seen out of that camera is nothing short of jaw-dropping. Is there really a rush to start filming this movie?

The GH2 is nice and all for what it is, but it's no RED.
 
I've a pair of Gh2's.... and actually contemplating getting a third one, even though the Gh3 is around the corner!

Some of the used Gh2's coming into Craigslist are crazy cheap.... saw one with the 14-140 zoom for under 700 bucks!

With the flowmotion hack, the gh2's have been supremely stable and reliable... and will be in my production bag for the next couple of years at least.
 
Thanks for all the responses and feedback!

We are about halfway done our shoot and I will continue to update my blog with new screen grabs as the weeks go on. In fact if you check back now, I have just added a shot from today - one of my favorites so far.

In regards to why I didn't choose to shoot on the RED, J.F.R. pretty much hit the nail on the head. Ultimately based on the requirements of my production, the added cost in renting/buying gear for the scarlet would not have made sense. I have been able to spend more money on locations, talent and other elements that in this particular case are more important to me than the added DR and resolution. Dealing with R3D's in post isn't a big issue for me as I run a small post facility where I process/edit/grade RED footage regularly and have strong workflows established - but I have to say I am looking forward to not dealing with a lot of the R3D headaches that I am used to.

In terms of lenses, I am shooting on a mix of quite a few different lenses but I find myself most often using: Lumix Leica 25mm 1.4, Canon 50mm 1.4 and SLR Magic 12mm 1.2.

ras815 - I agree that the BMCC quality is superb. I would have loved to have shot on it. But unfortunately mine has not arrived and likely won't arrive for some time. I could have waited, but the rest of my production was ready to go and I wanted to strike while the iron is hot. I have no regrets about moving forward with the GH2 and if anything am much more confident in using the camera on larger shoots than I was before. I have witnessed plenty of my friends/colleagues films that were shot on the RED not being able to get into a single film festival because the storytelling aspect of the production was lacking. And conversely. I have worked on and seen many great films go places that were shot on prosumer level cameras. A recent example is "Sound of my voice", shot on 7D and distributed theatrically.

There is no question the RED and BMCC are amazing cameras. There are many many scenarios where I choose to use the RED over the GH2 for good reason, but in this case it simply wasn't the best choice. If this was a higher budget project and I could have the best of both worlds, I would absolutely shoot on the RED. Well, actually I would shoot Alexa, or better yet 35mm film. But with limited budget and resources I had to decide where to put the money and thankfully the GH2 exists and was a viable option.
 
Hey Noam,

Thank you for this. I'm really looking forward to following this project. I'd be interested also, in your sound gear. What are you using and how are you incorporating it into your shoot with the GH2?

Best of luck.
 
naom good luck with the film.Regarding 35mm film i personaly prefer the look of films shot on the very best video cameras nowadays,The GH2 is a superb camera for the price though.
 
Thanks again.

Audio-wise, our sound recordist has Lavs on all of the actors and booms almost every shot as well unless of course the shot is too wide. He has a mix of quite a few great shotgun/lav mics and runs them through his mixer to his zoom. Not sure specific model names for his mixer or mics but the sound has been fantastic so far.

The DMT/assistant editor has been syncing dailies on set in fcpx which has been great since we get to watch the rushes with clean audio by the time the day has wrapped. In some cases I have even started cutting rough scenes on our breaks.

On another note - we shot some 720p slow motion shots yesterday and when intercut with the 1080 footage there is not a huge quality difference to my eye. I haven't shot a lot of 720/60p on this camera in the past and was really impressed with how well is held up to the 1080/24p.

I am using flowmotion v2 which has been rock solid so far.
 
Frames are lookin' good! I just wrapped a GH2 feature (second one with the little lumix this year) and love working with this camera. I also turned down a RED MX to go with the Panny, for many of the same reasons you listed. It's really nice to get a great image on set and walk away from a full day with less than 100gb of footage. With that RED I'd be sitting on a stack of 20+ hard drives at this point!

What's your grip/electric package like? Genny, or are you sticking to mains power? Crew size? Budget (If you don't mind)? I don't know much about the project, but I think it's safe to say that your frame grabs are punching in a way higher league than they have any right to given the assumed low budget. Nice work! (I especially like the wide of the guy walking away through the trees, great color)
 
The trailer for Noam's first feature's pretty solid. It made it to SlashFilm, which actually says a bit. Really hard to get your no-name no-budget feature trailer recognized by major blogs like that. I was dreadin' not being able to get to at least one, myself.

I think it's a good option if you're going out to just get it done. Of course Scarlet's going to be a better base image, and you don't necessarily have to store the RAW, but it's also a larger camera and requires just a tiny more space and paranoia in general.

I've always thought that if I did another feature with RED, low budget and likely 5K (Epic), I would not dupe the 5K at all, just one master copy of that and from there, go to 2.5~3K ProRes4444 masters of each reel, which would get duplicated. Use that to take the picture to finish, I think that would be a fair trade off if you were going to shoot with a GH2/DSLR in the first place.
 
stefancolson - I'd love to check out some footage from your feature. Is any online now? Our lighting package is tiny. I am mainly using a lowell pro kit, some china balls and practicals - using natural light when possible. No generator. Crew size is also very small. On our largest days it's about 12 - 13 and on b-roll days it's down to 4 or 5 which includes myself. Budget is equally small... Appreciate the feedback!

JFR - Please feel free to check out my first trailer here: http://vimeo.com/35599613

Kholi - Good to hear from you. I like your workflow idea described above. If I had shot with RED I likely would have used a similar workflow. I was considering transcoding to prores4444 at 2k and for the odd shot that may need to be reframed, go back to the r3d's and export at a higher res. I mastered my last feature to 4K and have never been asked for anything above 2K from any festival or potential distributor, so I'm not too worried about having this mastered at 2K (I will upres using Nuke).

My next feature which I plan to shoot next year will require a much larger camera/support system as well as a bigger crew and budget. I am enjoying the ease of production/post while I can on this one!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top