GH4 Project Greenlight Submission shot on GH4

renegadewill

renegadewill

Well-known member
I shot this short the same day I got my gh4. It was like a narrative style camera test for the gh4. Sort of a much smaller scale version of what Steven Soderbergh does where he makes a feature film with a brand new camera. Eg, Full Frontal-XL1s, Bubble-F900, Che-RED-ONE, etc.

The time requirement for project greenlight is 1-3 minutes.

I am still sorting out some of it, but take a look and let me know what you think.


https://vimeo.com/102415697
pw: sound
 
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Wow! Looks and sounds great! Will you tell us a little more about your setup, manpower, budget and so on please?
 
That was great Will. Shots were pretty, the lighting was strong in the dialogue scenes and the performances convincing. The only feedback I'd give would be to consider mixing in some energy shots/pacing (handheld/movement/normal framerate) which might help with the sense of threat and dread. And would provide a nice counter to the score (and calm dialogue) you've chosen, which is also very effective. 2nd point, with the protagonists line "I don't know", another option might be to have him say nothing, which makes the character stronger, but also makes the moment stronger...it allows the audience to ponder that question.

Nice work...thanks for sharing.
 
Spartacus said:
Wow! Looks and sounds great! Will you tell us a little more about your setup, manpower, budget and so on please?
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Thanks man. I didn't do it all alone. The crew is listed in the description of the video. I owe a lot to my crew, but extra props to my colorist and sound designer/recorder/composer.

When I saw the footage in my NLE I was blown away. I don't understand how people say the gh4 isn't cinematic. It just baffles me. I never want to work with my 60d package again. The gh4 totally spoiled me.

I shot the main day of production the exact same day I got the gh4 in the mail.

Budget was roughly $70 so far (Not including my gh4 kit, lights, etc, things that I borrowed or owned). My crew is comprised of friends and people that I get paying gigs, so I asked them to help me on this. It was actually 3 short 2-4 hour shoots. The 4 hour day had the production crew and the other two were just me. I kept it under 4 hours, because at 6 you have to feed everyone. I still feed people after wrap, because they're good people. ahahahaha

The GH4 kit is micro 4/3 rokinon cines. Those lenses are way too good for the money. I shot cined, -5 on everything, with the -5/+5 S-curve. Turned off just about everything, but used the beautiful peaking and zebras. I think I am gonna do some tests with the noise reduction on, just to see how it works with the way I shoot.

All of the slow motion scenes are 96 fps shutter 1/200. These look great until you are shooting under street lights at night. AHAHHAH! I like the flicker, but the sensor does not like to be under exposed (as no image recording medium does).

The 1080 96fps can look better than my cleanest 60d 1080/23.976 footage.

All of the conversations were shot at my house in the valley, and the rest was stealthy guerilla. ahahahha. I went to a restaurant supply store, bought an apron and shot inside of a von's. No one said a word to us. Sometimes not asking is the best solution.

If there is any other questions I am more than happy to answer.
 
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StMad said:
That was great Will. Shots were pretty, the lighting was strong in the dialogue scenes and the performances convincing. The only feedback I'd give would be to consider mixing in some energy shots/pacing (handheld/movement/normal framerate) which might help with the sense of threat and dread. And would provide a nice counter to the score (and calm dialogue) you've chosen, which is also very effective. 2nd point, with the protagonists line "I don't know", another option might be to have him say nothing, which makes the character stronger, but also makes the moment stronger...it allows the audience to ponder that question.

Nice work...thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for the kind words. The reason I avoided any normal frame rate footage when not shooting dialogue is because I was shooting in "tourist mode" for all of the guerrilla footage. The 96fps hides the fact that I am just walking around with the gh4 on a neck strap. If I shot 24fps, it would look like garbage without my rig or tripod, but rigs and tripods bring instant cops in the city of LA.

I like the note about him not saying anything, and I did have a version of the cut where I just had him staring. One of the things that happens when you give actors "copy and credit" for payment is that they want to be delivering dialogue for their reel. This current cut knocked out tons of his lines already, so I would feel even worse if I took away more from him. ahhahhahaah!

Thanks again, solid feedback. This is why I love the dvxuser community.
 
I didn't consider that those shots were 96fps (something about being distracted by the storytelling :)), but of course. It surprised me when you mentioned it...most 96fps demo shots from the GH4 have looked a little suspect (reswise), but your use of closeups counters that. You really have done the camera justice (as has your colorist).

A question about the dialogue scenes - the softened look, was that post or on camera filter?
 
StMad said:
I didn't consider that those shots were 96fps (something about being distracted by the storytelling :)), but of course. It surprised me when you mentioned it...most 96fps demo shots from the GH4 have looked a little suspect (reswise), but your use of closeups counters that. You really have done the camera justice (as has your colorist).

A question about the dialogue scenes - the softened look, was that post or on camera filter?
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Distracted by the storytelling! AHAHAH! Thanks big time. That's makes my day!

I turned off all of the sharpening on the camera, the lighting was also extremely diffused and I also did use some optical diffusion.

One thing you wouldn't guess about this short is that the two shot of the old man and the kid was shot on the 85mm rokinon. That technique comes from me being a huge Michael Mann fan. There are some mediums in Heat that are shot on like 200mm lenses. So awesome and no one in film school or the internet will tell you to do that. I love the compression. I blame canon and full frame dslrs for the wacky, everything is super wide for no reason movement. One of the things that I love about the GH4 is the fact that my lenses get longer.
 
Cool man, that's some great info.

Agree with you on Mann...I love the way he opened Heat and Collateral...long long shots to introduce his protags (DeNiro off the train/Cruise walking to bag switch). A unique way to throw us into the world he's created. That said, I also dig good wide angle cinematography...Breaking Bad is especially a fave in this respect as is Refn's work on Drive, Bronson and Valhalla Rising (and maybe everything he's done). I guess any technique, if done well and to serve the story, can be effective (like your close use of 96fps :))
 
StMad said:
Cool man, that's some great info.

Agree with you on Mann...I love the way he opened Heat and Collateral...long long shots to introduce his protags (DeNiro off the train/Cruise walking to bag switch). A unique way to throw us into the world he's created. That said, I also dig good wide angle cinematography...Breaking Bad is especially a fave in this respect as is Refn's work on Drive, Bronson and Valhalla Rising (and maybe everything he's done). I guess any technique, if done well and to serve the story, can be effective (like your close use of 96fps :))
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No problem guys. I was on this forum when I was 17 reading like a possessed person before I bought my dvx.

None of those films have the type of wide angle wackiness I am referencing. I am talking about the 5d fanboys and how they shoot everything, including narrative projects like a skate video from the early 90s. That has made people think that they need the viewing angle of vista-vision to shoot their camera tests. Not to mention how people say that micro 4/3 can't create shots with shallow depth of field. For stills full frame is king, but for motion it is overkill to the extent of good 1st ACs battling to keep anything in focus. Rant over.
 
wow I thought PROJECT GREENLIGHT was only for non-professionals. guess I'm screwed!! hahahahahaha :D
 
renegadewill said:
...When I saw the footage in my NLE I was blown away. I don't understand how people say the gh4 isn't cinematic. It just baffles me. I never want to work with my 60d package again. The gh4 totally spoiled me...
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When I saw this trailer, I put my Canon 60D up on EBay!! GH4 here I come!
Simply phenomenal work!!
 
Wow! Fantastic video! Amazing that you did this the same day you received the camera.

Can you go into more detail which lenses you used? Especially curious which one you use at ~1min baby scene

Thanks
 
topsykrett said:
Wow! Fantastic video! Amazing that you did this the same day you received the camera.

Can you go into more detail which lenses you used? Especially curious which one you use at ~1min baby scene

Thanks
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Thanks for the kind words! Sadly, I did not make the top 200 of Project Greenlight, but I still have a decent little gh4 test short film. I used Rokinon cine primes with MFT mount. The "baby scene" was shot on the 35mm.
 
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Excellent. Really beautiful -- and a tight, evocative story. This should have easily pushed you into the Greenlight running.
 
R Hudson said:
Awesome, awesome, awesome!

Why you didn't make the cut with that is beyond me.
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I thought I had a decent shot at the top 200, but I doubt I would make it past that. They are looking for Cinderella stories about someone making their first short film in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.
 
"Project Greenlight" doesn't really seem like an apt title anymore, since this is now only a competition to find a director for a project based on a predetermined script. It used to be "Let's have a competition to find a project that we'll greenlight." Now it's "This project already has the green light. Now we just need to hire the director." At least that's how it seems by reading the contest rules. Nothing at all like the first season.
 
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