Need HELP! Shooting a feature film!

S

saintos

Member
Hello there everybody.IM very new to this forum so i would like to say greetings! hehe
Basically im directing a low budget feature film by end of this year.We are now on pre production.I have a Panasonic HPX-170 with Letus Extreme and some nikon prime lenses.So i want to use the 5d mark 2 as well so now i dont know which camera to use as camera a and b..Which will be the main camera and 2nd unit..So please help me decide.

1. 5d sensors a much bigger then hpx 170,so in which is best if u want to show in the cinema

2. will the image blend togerther when editing or u can notice the quality dfference.

It would be great if u guys can help.

Thank you very much.
 
It depends on the look you prefer, and if the crew you have can support the needs of the camera..workflow...etc.
 
thekeygun said:
It depends on the look you prefer, and if the crew you have can support the needs of the camera..workflow...etc.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply.The look i prefer is those europe film kind of look,and i think that can be achieve by color correction.Its just that this is for cinema release,so i dont want it to look like a tv drama kind of look,which i know must be done by by other then choosing the camera,cinematographymlighting,shot composition and of course most importantly the story.

Its just the 5d has a bigger sensor,35mm equiv sesor,and my hpx170 has only a 1/3 sensor and using it with letus extreme,that must be something right? in therms of image quality?

so i still dont know which one to use a an a camera and b camera.

Please guys help me out...hehe :)
 
icon1.gif

Guys,i know this might be a boring question,but i really need some advise.If its not too much to ask please suggest me something.Thanks guys
 
saintos said:
icon1.gif

Guys,i know this might be a boring question,but i really need some advise.If its not too much to ask please suggest me something.Thanks guys
Click to expand...

Hi Santos,
I've not shot with your Panasonic/Letus kit before, so cannot comment on that specific configuration. It is unlikely you would be able to seamlessly intercut between those two without some work. Color matrix, grain, gamma will not match. Those differences will have to be fixed in a color grading pass.

I am mid-way through a feature on which I am shooting Red1 (MX) as A-Cam, and using a 5Dm2 as my B-Cam. The B-Cam in pretty much exclusively assigned to capturing CU and broll. There is a -HUGE- difference between those two cams as far as image quality and detail (Red is vastly superior). However, I am able to get quite usable footage from the 5Dm2 for closups, that can be intermixed with Red footage. There is a fair amount of color matching work required to do that though.

My suggestions is obvious: borrow a friend's 5Dm2 and shoot some test footage with both of your cams and and see what you can do with the results!

Cheers,
Paul
 
Paul Nordin said:
Hi Santos,
I've not shot with your Panasonic/Letus kit before, so cannot comment on that specific configuration. It is unlikely you would be able to seamlessly intercut between those two without some work. Color matrix, grain, gamma will not match. Those differences will have to be fixed in a color grading pass.

I am mid-way through a feature on which I am shooting Red1 (MX) as A-Cam, and using a 5Dm2 as my B-Cam. The B-Cam in pretty much exclusively assigned to capturing CU and broll. There is a -HUGE- difference between those two cams as far as image quality and detail (Red is vastly superior). However, I am able to get quite usable footage from the 5Dm2 for closups, that can be intermixed with Red footage. There is a fair amount of color matching work required to do that though.

My suggestions is obvious: borrow a friend's 5Dm2 and shoot some test footage with both of your cams and and see what you can do with the results!

Cheers,
Paul
Click to expand...


Thanks Paul for your suggestion! I thought that it will be hard to balance those 2 footage together.Its just that already have the panny and letus kit,but its a low budget for cinema release,so have seen what the 5d can do and i compare those 2 next to each other,the 5d footage looked more cinematic and the panny and letus looked more tv ish.So i can just go ahead with 1 camera shoot but still have to decide on which camera to use.Still cant decide...hehe
 
Last edited:
Okay so i havent decided to use 2 cameras or just 1,So lets say i stick with 1 camera production.Still i dont know which camera to use.Ive seen Kevin shahinians City of Lakes which was shot on the 5d.Thats amazing,Kalid Mohtaseb's lebenon footage.amazing.Which i think is more suitable for Cinema release.Bascally thats the look i want(city of lakes,lebenon) But can the Panny hpx170 + letus extreme set give me that kind of image? I have tried shotting some videos but it doesnt turn out like the look i wanted for this feature.Is it to do with color correction? The 5d has a much larger sensor,of course thats better right? hehe sorry formthis amateur question,still learning cinematography....really glad and thankfull you that the seniors here can help.....
user_online.gif
progress.gif
 
hey i'd say 5d as ur main cam. Think its a really powerful camera.. just finished a project with it and it all turned out well ! GOOD LUCKKK K!!!
 
how will you edit the program? make sre you have that workflow figured out in advance.
i love my 5D but it is a still camera that shoots video. its hard to follow focus and for me its hard to focus in "live view" and thats where it shoots video. some of the lenses have such a sharp focus range that i have to close the aperture to make sure i stay in focus which cuts the depth of field. DOF is one of the things people like about the camera.
it is also a Cmos camera and the panasonic HPX-170 is CCD so they get diffrent results when recording motion.
if you come from a back ground of still photograph you might not find it as challenging as someone who has only done video with a video camera.
its worth it to make a 5D work sheet and check that everything is where you want it before you shoot. you can really tweak a shot if you take the time.
and if you don't the mistakes are sometimes pretty good.
i don't think you will end up mixing the footage as much as you think, the scene will dictate which camera will do the best job.
aloha
tito
 
I haven't shot with the HPX, but I've seen footage on a friend's camera and I've been shooting with the 5d ii and I love it. I think you should use that as your main camera and when you have motion and action type stuff, use the HPX, so you don't have to worry about rolling shutter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top