Showtime's "The Franchise" Using AF100

[groveChuck]

Showtime's BTS look at the Miami Marlins baseball team debuts on July 11 (Wednesdays).
Looks like he needs a Z finder or DP4 on the shoulder mount (which mount is it?)- that's a tough shooting position on the neck... but has a Marshall for interviews and tripod.





This preview has a scene in post asking if a shot "is Varicam or DSLR?", so they use a variety of cameras, including the AF100.
They shoot "100s and 100s of hours per episode".
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=22775199&topic_id=29387502&c_id=mia

 

[hscully]

Cool! Thanks for the pix

 

[Bassman2003]

Thanks for the heads up. I will check it out.

 

[groveChuck]

But you do realize we'll have to treat it like Zacuto's Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout and pick which shot is DSLR, Varicam and AF100, don't you? :happy:

 

[hscully]

Yikes! rogar-BlackEye(DBG I don't know if I have the required sleuthing capacity to deconstruct the setup and shots of some of the early guessers at Zacuto. Hell, I had to watch it twice to find the iPhone!

 

[Bassman2003]

But you do realize we'll have to treat it like Zacuto's Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout and pick which shot is DSLR, Varicam and AF100, don't you? :happy:

No, I was expecting Showtime to put "AF-100" or "5D" in the bottom right corner as each scene changed... Is that not going to happen?

 

[Everts]

tripods are kewl !

 

[groveChuck]

Yikes!

I don't know if I have the required sleuthing capacity to deconstruct the setup and shots of some of the early guessers at Zacuto. Hell, I had to watch it twice to find the iPhone!

As if sleuthing ability is actually required??? :grin:

No, I was expecting Showtime to put "AF-100" or "5D" in the bottom right corner as each scene changed... Is that not going to happen?

I thought we'd get "The following segment is brought to you by Panasonic AF100..." :thumbup:

 

[groveChuck]

1 hour premiere tonight (Wed), 10pm Showtime (which I don't get- a friend's DVRing for me, hopefully).

7 half-hour episodes to follow...

The Marlins are slumping/sliding, so perhaps that will provide some drama? Well, that, and Ozzie Guillen praising Castro in Miami...

With the very different cameras, it will be interesting to see how consistent the grade is.

 

[little bobby]

That guy needs an a DP4 or something because he does not look comfortable with his head like that. Sheesh.

 

[Erik Naso]

That guy needs an a DP4 or something because he does not look comfortable with his head like that. Sheesh.

I wish my vision was that good. I can't get that close to the LCD Display.

 

[Bucknfl]

I'd like to know what lense he is using. I like using my af 100 on a tripod, handheld not so much.

 

[Bassman2003]

I watched the first episode with the intent on judging image quality. I would have to say image quality was all over the map. To my eyes, the 2/3" footage looked the best. The scenes that where the shot was from the passenger side of the car while the player was driving looked good and a few shots of the sit down interviews in the stadium were nice, but the rest was kind of DSLR-ish. Heavy on the blacks, resolution deficits. The shot where guy was jumping into the pool caught my attention as the GoPro they cut to looked better than the other camera!

Imho, this was not the best showing for use these SDOF cameras in a big, live style production like this. A lot of focus hunting & image issues. Maybe not the best tool for the job in this instance. If the AF-100 guy had a shoulder rig a lot of the time, why not use a Varicam?

Thanks for pointing this show out as it is always good to see these cameras in the wild presented over broadcast to see a good finished example of their look.

 

[groveChuck]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I'd wondered if they would be able to grade the images to some sort of consistency, but I guess not...

Did they use a lot of overcranked slo mo and time lapse transitions?

I wonder if they didn't use more Varicams in an attempt to keep the budget lower, or if it was a "look" decision?

Was it at least entertaining? Still wish I had Showtime so I could watch...

 

[Bassman2003]

Hey,

Yes, I think the content kept me interested. They did use a lot of slo-mo, actually ultra slo-mo in many cases. The SDOF look might have played into the decisions but honestly, when they cut to actual game footage or certain clips that looked like Varicam the image was so much more refined.