FEATURE: Leap: Revelation

First completed shot on the film and we haven't even begun shooting yet ;)

Name change on building, added Vatican flags, set extension, slight LUT

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Still working on trying to get this made. I've been really tempted to get a new camera since my T2i is on the fritz, but it's difficult doing that when I really need to pay actors this go around. The solution? My coworker is selling me his basically brand new T2i for $275. I know there are better cameras out there today, but I think this is the smartest move right now for what I'm doing.

The movie opens with a huge explosion (CGI) that kills off anyone from the last film that won't be back this time. I need the surviving characters to then run out of the smoke. I was thinking I'd have to do it with some Z-depth mattes, but I found a better solution :) Homemade smoke bombs. I'm in the middle of testing some different recipes at the moment, and have a video uploading to youtube right now showing some results. I'm happy :)
 
El Director said:
Still working on trying to get this made. I've been really tempted to get a new camera since my T2i is on the fritz, but it's difficult doing that when I really need to pay actors this go around. The solution? My coworker is selling me his basically brand new T2i for $275. I know there are better cameras out there today, but I think this is the smartest move right now for what I'm doing.
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I've been impressed with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. I bought it during the summer 1/2 sale, and eventually actually got it... the Wife has been constantly reminding me of my cavalier disregard for informing her of my excessive purchase... so, discount or no, there was still a price to pay...

Keep it in mind if you get more of a budget for a 'new' camera.

It has a M 4/3 lens mount so some sort of EF adapter would be needed to use your Canon lenses. For me, I have Nikon and I bought a cheap/simple adapter for my Gh-1, which also works with the BMPCC.
 
How is the quality? I wanted to pick one up during the sale, but had just hit a deer and had to pay my deductible. Does it have crop marks?
 
El Director said:
How is the quality? I wanted to pick one up during the sale, but had just hit a deer and had to pay my deductible. Does it have crop marks?
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I think the quality is pretty good for the price, and since it does do 10 bit ProRes, or 12 'raw', I think it is superior to most of the 'stock' DSLRs in the 'under 2K' price. I've tended to stay away from the various 'hacks', despite some of the 'improved features'. I also shoot in the 'log' representation mode, so grading is required. I've been learning a few features of Resolve due to this.

It does 'lack' some features like grid lines on the camera display, but I believe they can be displayed on an HDMI monitor (I don't have one, so I can test that assertion...).

Here's a test clip from yesterday after I did a firmware update:

 
Thanks for the test video, I like your pup! I think I need to check out some more reviews. I'm a bit scared leaving my Super 35 sized sensor for super 16. However, it would be nice to not have to deal with aliasing and morie (that's really the only thing I don't like about my T2i). I've ran Magic Lantern since it came out and have been pretty spoiled by what it gives me. I always use the 2.40 crops, expanded ISOs, WB (way easier with ML) and have different profiles for both standby and record so I can light for the final look, but record a bit flatter so I have some flexibility later.
 
Did a bit of accounting today and realized that I've spent $1450 on this movie so far. It's all gear and some stuff for me to do some stunt double work, but it's crazy to consider given that I spent $2000 to make the last movie. $800 went to the camera, $200 for camera accessories, and the other thousand was food, gas, and location rental. I'm trying a new tactic this time around, and that's funding the movie in pieces. Over the past four years, I've slowly been acquiring gear. Softboxes, a proper greenscreen, shoulder rig, H4N, reflectors, a slider, and now a new T2i. I'm going to be starting what is essentially an ongoing kickstarter. People will be able to contribute to the film, and there will be different "perks" depending on how much they contribute. But rather than have a set amount of time to raise the funds, I'll continue this through out the production. What I've come to realize is that I never needed the entire budget at once. So why try to do it that way? As a no budget filmmaker, we should prioritize what we need, and just acquire that gear as funds allow. Case in point: For Leap 2, I needed a DSLR. So any money I could save went toward the camera. Although it would cost me $80 per day to rent a conference room for the bad guys, I didn't need that at the start. I was able to save and beg, and in turn came up with those funds when they were needed, six months after I started shooting the movie. That extra $160 (I needed it two days) was earlier spent on food and gas for actors. I'm sure this logic won't make sense to a lot of people, but it's worked for me. This time around I'll have some much nicer gear to work with, and it's never been a strain. In fact, my youtube channel has paid for most of it. Each month, I pick something new I'd like gear-wise and put my YouTube check toward that. This way, my normal salary at work (also in film) goes toward my living expenses and YouTube can fund this movie. Not a bad position to be in.
 
The budget is now at $2954. I got my tax return early and bought a wireless mic set, chroma pop for field work, Glidecam HD-2000, 50mm 1.8 lens and some other goodies. I've been doing a bunch of short videos playing with everything and I can't wait to start shooting in August. I finally finished the breakdowns in Movie Magic this week, so now it's on to the schedule.
 
It's taken almost a month, but I'm finally feeling comfortable with the Glidecam. It's a beast to learn, but well worth it. I have a trip to Vanuatu coming up for work and I've talked my boss into letting me bring it instead of just handholding our cameras the entire time. Should bring a nice dynamic to the shows. I have mad respect now for Devin Graham as it's a workout doing this without a vest. I do have an arm brace, but I actually prefer using it with just a wrist brace for carpel tunnel.
 
So based on Facebook El Director seems to have had a fire at his house that destroyed his gear, laptop etc and also killed his dog. Keep him in your thoughts.
 
That's just terrible! I'm so sorry - I hope El Director is not hurt! Shocking. I have followed El Directors various film endeavors on these boards, and he frequently made the point that whatever happened in his life including related to film was for a reason (in a spiritual context). I can only hope that his obviously strong spirit helps him recover as soon as possible. My thoughts are with this young man.
 
I'm with OldCorpse on this. My thoughts and prayers go out to El Director. His dog being killed in the fire hit me real hard, my dog is an animal shelter rescue and has no idea why he got a long quiet hug.
 
I appreciate the kind thoughts guys. Best we can tell, my pup started the fire that killed her by trying to get something off the stove while I was at work (It was not unheard of for me to leave a half clean pan up there, and it was not uncommon for Keyper to pull it down when i was gone). I'm still mourning the loss of my best friend, but I am doing better. I lost all my camera and outdoor gear, plus laptop and office I had just set up for production on Leap: Revelation. Fortunately, while the computers were toast, I was able to salvage the harddrives and recover all my data from them. This includes all my master files for Leap 2, footage and project files for my unfinished Derek short, as well as all the stuff for my series, Surviving the Wild. I was also able to save all my pre-pro for Leap 3, so when my new laptop arrives this week I'll be able to jump back on track. Worst case scenario is that I postpone production by a month to make up for the time lost. With the insurance, I'm no heavily considering getting an Ursa Mini (the $3k version) for this film. I'll also be shooting an episode of the survival show in memory of Keyper in about a month.
Thank you again for all the kind thoughts, and if I can give you one piece of advice that I've learned through this, it's to never take anyone you love (human or furry) for granted.
 
Long time no post. My house has been rebuilt and I moved back into it in early November. I've been slowly replacing gear and equipment and am getting back up to speed quickly. I received a $5000 donation to get back up and filming again, so I've purchased the Blackmagic URSA Mini 4k. It arrived yesterday and now I'm keeping busy learning the ins and outs of it. With all the VFX work in this film, the global shutter and almost non existent moire and aliasing will be a huge blessing. I've learned a few things working with the camera that I have yet to see mentioned in reviews, so I'll be doing my own review very soon for those that might be interested.

Over the summer, I shot all the news propoganda that is seen in the film and thought it'd be fun to try some guerilla marketing. I started a fake youtube channel as "VNN: The Vatican News Network" and uploaded the first two propoganda vids. They started spreading like wildfire and within a month had almost 20,000 views. I've since been accused of doing the will of Satan lol

Otherwise, not much else to report. I have a few short films I'll be doing in the coming months (one of which is based my experience being homeless in the mountains of Montana) that will serve as a testing ground for the new camera and workflows (Avid, Nuke, Resolve, ProTools).

Last note, having to repurchase gear and including the new camera, the amount of money spent is now at almost $10,000
 
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