VaricamLT: Shot on Varicam LT: Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television

CharlesPapert

CharlesPapert

Director of Photography
The first trailer is out for a series I shot for Youtube Red:


As demonstrated in the trailer, the show is self-aware/meta and we used a multitude of cameras for different styles within each episode. Primary package was two LT's, and there are Snapchat looks shot on iPhone 7's, sitcom looks on three F55's, audition tapes shot on a Canon HV20 plus a few things here and there on A7S and RX100IV.
 
I presume this is what you needed the in car small camera rig for...did you use the RX100IV?....it all cuts together very seemlessly!
 
Looks great Charles!
Will you maybe give some BTS info when this is released, like you did with the Key and Peele episodes?
 
fboonzaier said:
I presume this is what you needed the in car small camera rig for...did you use the RX100IV?....it all cuts together very seemlessly!
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We did GoPros inside the car for one or two scenes. The RX100IV was on a Zhiyun Crane M for a couple of action shots--there's a very short piece of that at 1:46.
 
Hey Charles - great stuff, as always! I'm curious, I think you've mentioned a few times that you've used Sony DSLRs as B or crash cams with the LT. Do you think the A7sII/RX100IV, etc, are the better choice to match the LT then Panny's GH series? Or is that a convenience thing, like you just happen to have easier access to them?
 
I just happen to own an A7S and the RX100IV, so that makes them better in my book! I'm sure the GH is a better match but I acquired those cameras before I started using the Varicam. The colorists have felt that they can get them pretty close. And the shots are always quite short, we aren't using the little cameras for anything that lingers onscreen for very long.
 
If I was to start a longterm show on Varicam after the EVA1 becomes available, I'm pretty sure I'd buy one to replace the A7S for those situations. The RX100 was an interesting experiment. We definitely achieved a couple of shots with it on the Zhiyuh crane that we could not have otherwise (my operator could run much faster with it than he could with his full size Steadicam and the LT).
 
Yeah that makes sense. You really can't tell the difference with those quick cuts, it looks good!

I have a GH3/GH4 combo that I was using before I got my LT, and I've been debating whether to stick with it and grab a GH5 or move over to the A7s series. The GH4 is in the ballpark with the LT, but it never feels quite right when I try to match them. Probably just the codec, more then anything.

EVA1 does look great, but I'm not ready for another full fledged cinema cam just yet. A Ronin-M with the EVA1 sounds like a perfect companion to the LT though. Or maybe even Zhiyun's newest crane offering that can apparently hold small camcorders. Crazy.
 
Charles, well-done mate! I laughed a bit and liked the self-aware/breaking the fourth wall angle. Especially with the lines degrading themselves. :)
 
charles, what lenses were used on the LT? and care to share your lighting package? any LEDS or skypanels?

did you shoot with RAW out of the LT or was it all internal avc-intra?
 
Amira-user said:
charles, what lenses were used on the LT? and care to share your lighting package? any LEDS or skypanels?

did you shoot with RAW out of the LT or was it all internal avc-intra?
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Lens package included: 19-90 Fuji Cabrio, 15.5-45, 30-80 and 45-250 Alura, 70-200 Zeiss, 11-16 Tokina.

I'll go into more detail once the show drops (all episodes at once)! about the different cameras...and there were MANY.

Lighting-wise: as far as LED's go, package included Litemats, Literibbon, Cineos, Zylights and Quasars. We may have dayplayed Skypanels here and there but I'd like to have at least one full-time, I'm finding them indispensable.

No RAW. TV turnaround doesn't allow for it unfortunately.
 
"Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television" season 1 now viewable on Youtube Red. Free three month trial to subscribe to YTR.
 
This looks awesome. I am a huge Veronica Mars fan. Kickstarted that movie.

Oh, also, LT looks way better than the 16mm stock they did the show in. Haha.
 
Kristen B. was great (as usual) and she had my favorite line in this show!

The first time I worked with her I was shooting the pilot of the reality parody "Burning Love". To make a long story short, we were shooting that day at my house and one of the scenes was in my bedroom. I don't take many pictures with cast but I couldn't pass this one up, so I asked if she'd be OK with it. She said "it's your bed, right? Get on up here, buddy!"

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Really nice match of all the shots in the trailer, considering all the different cameras you used on this Charles...one very simplistic question, did you like shooting with the Varicam LT after working more extensively with the Varicam 35?
 
Dude . . .

CharlesPapert said:
Kristen B. was great (as usual) and she had my favorite line in this show!

The first time I worked with her I was shooting the pilot of the reality parody "Burning Love". To make a long story short, we were shooting that day at my house and one of the scenes was in my bedroom. I don't take many pictures with cast but I couldn't pass this one up, so I asked if she'd be OK with it. She said "it's your bed, right? Get on up here, buddy!"

View attachment 129026View attachment 129027View attachment 129028View attachment 129029
Click to expand...
 
fboonzaier said:
Really nice match of all the shots in the trailer, considering all the different cameras you used on this Charles...one very simplistic question, did you like shooting with the Varicam LT after working more extensively with the Varicam 35?
Click to expand...

From my perspective, it was virtually the same, since I wasn't operating on the show. Same sensor, same image processing. I think the only two times I noted the difference was going high speed (120fps at 4K on the F35 vs crop sensor on the LT) and green screen where we couldn't do 4K 444. The show was largely handheld, so I think my operators appreciated the difference in weight. The image Panasonic used for the press release above was unfortunately the only one from that show that had me and the camera in the same frame--my A operator was in the bathroom when we were about to roll, so I grabbed his camera for a setup. My crew isn't used to seeing me operate, so suddenly a bunch of phones materialzed in front of me!

As far as matching, outside of the A7S and RX100 I mention above, the various other cameras were meant to look notably different to match the shifts in style.
 
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