Primetime Dutch documentary "California Dreaming" for VPRO's Backlight shot on a 7D.

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Jean Counet

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Primetime Dutch documentary "California Dreaming" for VPRO's Backlight shot on a 7D.

Primetime Dutch documentary "California Dreaming" for VPRO's Backlight shot on a 7D.

California is a strong brand, the state of new beginnings, dreams and movie stars, of surfers and a wonderful climate. But the Golden State is bankrupt and the city of Los Angeles is running out of cash. Public services are being cut and unemployment keeps rising. At the same time, optimism, entrepreneurship and the belief in the power of America are stronger than ever.
In Los Angeles, we meet five people who are going through a transformation in their lives during this crisis. Justin and Christine lost their jobs and are now living in a van with their two young sons. Charles has gotten out of prison after fourteen years. Mizuko prepares her children for the future by making them at ease in virtual reality. Laura has taken advantage of the crisis by buying land cheaply and starting an urban farm and artists collective Fallen Fruit maps the abundant free public fruit available in the city. Who are the pioneers who are reinventing the new America and how do they see the future?
Backlight, VPRO's weekly, 50-minute, Future Affairs- program, balances on the edge of storytelling and journalism. It focuses on our globalized world in which societies, economies and cultures seek a new equilibrium. Backlight aims to grasp the quintessence of prominent trends and developments.
Cinematographer Jean Counet shot California Dreaming on a 7D with a 30mm 1.4 lens. The documentary has been mostly shot handheld using a Redrock Micro's rig.

Here a link to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/VPROinternational#p/u/0/zKkJB8Etq54

HD download available here: http://tegenlicht.vpro.nl/nieuws/2010/november/creative-commons.html

Director: Bregtje van der Haak
Cinematography/Editing: Jean Counet
Sound: Joris van Ballegoijen
Research: Maren Merckx
Production: Mariska Schneider
Commissioning editors: Henneke Hagen/Jos de Putter
Broadcaster: VPRO Television/Backlight series
 
this was really really good Jean. i luv it. i'm going to watch it again. I luv that this was shot with the 7d. I have a documentary idea i want to shoot with my 7d also so this was really inspiring for that. But this was just good all around. Excellent sound and really nice shots.

Questions:
1.was this all shot with the 30mm?
2.what did you do for sound?
3.how long was did this take to shoot?
4. what kind of ND are you using?
 
Last edited:
Hi Darren !

California Dreaming has been shot for 95% with a 30mm lens 1.4 (on the 7D it's almost like a 50mm) It's the perfect lens giving the possibility of making close-ups, medium shots and even total shots. The other lens I used was a 50-150 mm 2.8 This one was used in the last part of the documentary (the interview with Laura).

The sound has been recorded separetaly by sound recordist Joris van Ballegoijen. I'm not sure which device he used, something comparable with the 744T. I synced it manually later, as pluraleyes did not find back all the time the 4 separate audio tracks. Syncing manually went quicker than checking if pluraleyes did it's work properly. If you match the internal timecode of the 7D and the sound recorder, it's very easy to find the right track back. It's also important to do a slate with every image/sound recorded.

We had 12 shooting days, and 15 editing days for this project. And I was using an ND fader filter, essential if you want to keep control with the shutter speed/ f-stop.

Greetings,

Jean
 
thanks for the info. I also have a fader ND but find the image 2 soft when i use it..and it has a greenish color also. i'd like to know more about how u match internal 7d timecode to the recorder. The recorder cant be connected to the camera...and the 7d timecode is limited. Do you mean u manually write down the takes and timecode?
 
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