Shooting my feature on GH2 and HMC150

N

noam

Well-known member
After several long months of pre-production, I am now about three weeks away from day one of production on my feature.

Originally I had planned to shoot much of the film on my HMC150, but since purchasing a GH2, I have decided to shoot about 95% of the film with the GH2. The exception being a few fast paced/high action shots I plan to use the HMC150 for, and some extreme low light shots I will be using a 5D for.

My question for all of you involves recommendations on gear to purchase and/or rent.

Currently I own:

HMC150
GH2 with kit lens only
Manfrotto Tripod and FigRig
Lowell DP4 Lighting Kit
Rode NTG2 (which I will likely not be using on the shoot)
some other misc. camera accessories including polarizers and other filters..

The film will largely be shot handheld so I will need some kind of support rig. My sound recordist will be providing loads of great audio gear and will be recording the audio to an external device so I am clear in that sense.

Really, mainly I am in need of a good all round set up for the GH2 that won't break the bank, as my budget is quite limited. If anyone can recommend a good rig (rails, mattebox, follow focus etc.) and any other accessories (monitors etc.) that would be greatly appreciated. From there I will decide whether it is more suitable to rent or buy the required equipment.

Possibly most importantly, I will need to pick up an extra couple of lenses. As of now I am looking at the 20mm pancake to get some nice shallow DOF when needed.

Thank you all in advance!
 
Have you looked into cheesycam.com? Some great deals on various things and reviews.

Sorry I can't be much help but the 20mm 1.7 is quite sharp when used with video
 
I am going to assume you're DP'ing? I would use whatever budget you have and put it towards lighting and lenses. You can shoot without a follow focus and mattebox, sometimes they are necessities but with good planning you can manage without them. My advice would be to rent, depending on the length of shooting, and only rent what you know you need. For instance a follow focus is an essential tool for pulling focus, but your not going to be pulling focus in every shot. A focus pull should only be done to serve a purpose in the story, not because it looks cool, so it is probably something you could go without. I noticed you mentioned using a 5D for lowlight, just because you're using a camera that can operate in extreme lowlight doesn't mean you don't have to light. You should be able to use the GH2 in the lowlight scenes, provided you are lighting it (which you should always be doing). As far as a support rig goes you should look at something comfortable that does the job properly. What you don't want is a horribly balanced, uncomfortable rig that you spend more time focusing on the pain in your shoulder and keeping the framing from dipping, than you don on your talent. An affordable option that looks like it would do the trick is the DSLR rig from DVTEC http://www.dvtec.tv/extreme-rig.html
 
I second that.

I just shot a feature in december and we changed lenses so much that I never really used my follow focus and mattebox and things were just fine. I left the lens gears on there though. Those made grabbing the lens much easier.

I think the hype over getting follow focuses and matteboxes is overblown really.

I would also spend your money on lenses, lens adapters, extra batteries and lights(plus extra bulbs, we had two go out during shooting and without spares we would have wasted a lot of time). You'd be surprised how many batteries you go through in a day when you are shooting all day long.
 
Lenses and Lights is a great philosophy when building your kit, but I wouldn't call the need for FF and MatteBoxes hype. There's a reason they exist and are so expensive and are used by every pro on the planet, control. Having said that you can get by without a FF (less control) and a mattebox (again, less control), for your production I think you should go with more lights, and build a set of good primes, old Nikons or Canon FD's are a good place to start.
 
Lenses and Lights is a great philosophy when building your kit, but I wouldn't call the need for FF and MatteBoxes hype. There's a reason they exist and are so expensive and are used by every pro on the planet, control. Having said that you can get by without a FF (less control) and a mattebox (again, less control), for your production I think you should go with more lights, and build a set of good primes, old Nikons or Canon FD's are a good place to start.
 
Rent the lenses. You can rent some really awesome glass for super cheap. Lenses that you might not be able to afford. For HD monitoring, there's tons of good solutions in the 2-3 hundred range, Just take into account batteries and power solution.


Another huge thing i advise is to get yourself multiple chargers for all of your batteries. Sucks to have to piggybag when instead you can just line up all up and go for it overnight.

For lights. I love the 2k moles cause they are cheap and you can bulb them down. If you can't afford to buy or rent HMI's, this will give you quite a lot of punch and variety. I'd also look into getting some good portable grip gear either through renting or buying used.


One thing I've also found. If you use it, treat it well and sell it within 3-6 months, you'll get about 75 percent of your money back... That's also better than renting too.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone..

Picking up extra batteries/charges is definitely something I need to do and had been looking over. I do have three batteries for my GH2 but at least an extra one and charger will be essential. I do have a great lighting kit, but will likely rent some extra lights on days where they are needed.

In terms of the follow focus/matte box, you're all making a lot of sense saying that it is a non essential item. I had mainly considered using ff and mattebox because I will be purchasing them in the near future for corporate/commercial work (so my clients aren't scared of the tiny GH2!).. And figured I may as well pick it up early and use it on the shoot.. But there's a good chance I'll just leave it completely at this point.
 
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