The Possession of Hannah Grace - shot on A7S II

P

Polaroid22

Well-known member
Heey,

I stumbled on the following feature film (The Possession of Hannah Grace) , which is entirenly shot on a A7S II. And it looks pretty good for a A7S II. They got great skintones out of the camera somehow. Probably did a lot of tests with lighting and went for the one that matched the camera the best. Or hired the best color grader in the bizz. Offcourse its only a trailer, but it got me curious to watch it and see how it holds up.

Here is the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H1qCpZ9mi0

Here an interview:
https://www.vantagefilm.com/en/news...wt4mq4BnSVm_Pd2qAf_sxDT2nHa5zxGQiPkYSX6phW338

And some more info from the crew:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3P...fdCTFETAD01AmePWDiH5ZySEwzM7h2hyjFx9oIhT9vvJE

Curious what profile they shot slog2, slog3??

Cheers
 
Last edited:
IMO, the entire Sony color debate is a bit over-the-top and misconstrued.

But the above production value (& post) helps with the final product's delivery/appearance (including the glass they used...Hawk65).
 
Yeah for sure, but the skintones on sony cameras look a bit weird though if you look at any skintones tests/comparisons. So great they could fix this is with only a 8bit file. Where as if you would have shot with a Canon C300 which is also only 8bit but the colors are jsut good out of cam.
So def curious what their settings where on camera.
 
I saw the movie today and it looked quite good! After hearing about the A7S II, I had to go see it since my brother and I had considered using an original A7S for our first feature we filmed over the summer but we ultimately decided to go with a used RED One MX instead. We still have a few shots done with the A7S in it but I wondered how it would have looked if we had used it the whole shoot. I haven't read all the articles that have been posted about making the film but I wondered whether they used the internal 4K or used external recording for uncompressed Prores. The film seemed relatively noise free and it did look like they filmed with natural lighting for some shots but whether they went with minimal lighting or crushed black levels in post, I don't know. I wondered if one particular set of shots, where the main character talks with her police officer boyfriend in a hallway, was exposed too low as it looked so completely dim that it made me think perhaps they hit a wall with the 8-bit compression as far as raising it back up in post or, again, they simply didn't light it enough. As far as detail goes, everything looked nice and sharp for the most part but some wider shots actually looked a touch on the soft side as if focus was just a hair off or that they maybe removed so much noise to the point of removing detail or that they perhaps didn't add enough sharpness? It's hard to tell without sitting down with the filmmakers and discussing what their process was from shot to shot. In any case, as far as looks, the film absolutely delivered a cinematic feel and picture quality and, I daresay, if Sony just releases a 10-bit update with the A7S III, they will have set the absolute standard for a starter camera for indie filmmakers.
 
Yeah the workflow is kinda useless, if they did not even mention how they recorded, what codec what picture styles and such.
 
From some of the BTS stills I've seen, it looks like they were recording on an Atomos. I don't keep up with the Atoms recorders, so I don't know which one it may have been or "what" they may have actually been recording(don't know what the A7sII is capable of spitting out, either).
 
Appears the A7sII cameras were set to S-Log2, & the footage was captured as 8-bit 4:2:2 by Atomos’ Flame(s). Since this is a feature film I imagine it was edited in Avid, in which case the Flame(s) likely recorded DNxHR.

“The Possession of Hannah Grace” – a feature film shot entirely on the Sony a7SII
by Matthew Allard
https://www.newsshooter.com/2018/12...feature-film-shot-entirely-on-the-sony-a7sii/

Believe the original title was Cadaver, & there were some articles about it a year ago, or so. It’s a Sony “Screen Gems” film, a fact that helps explain the camera choice.
 
Last edited:
I read Matt's article(and is actually where I saw the pics of the recorders), and I more or less agree with some of the commenters that if this had not been a Sony produced movie, they probably would not have shot it on this cameras. I own an F55 and I bought it from a friend of a friend who owns a rental house. It was used on a Netflix show that was connected to Sony, and despite the objection of the DP who wanted another camera, they had to shoot on the F55, because of Sony(and the 4K mandate). So, I think the decision to shoot on the A7sII came down from high up and they got to say that a Sony camera was used to shoot it AND that a Sony camera that almost anyone can walk into Best Buy and buy was used. Publicity for the movie and helps move a lot of cameras, because now aspiring filmmakers are gonna snatch up the cameras because it shot a "Hollywood Movie" and gives the camera notoriety with the general public, too. That being said, the trailer that I've seen on-line does look good and it's doubtful I would have known otherwise.
 
Run&Gun said:
I own an F55 and I bought it from a friend of a friend who owns a rental house. It was used on a Netflix show that was connected to Sony, and despite the objection of the DP who wanted another camera, they had to shoot on the F55, because of Sony(and the 4K mandate).
Click to expand...

Have a friend who was the DP on a 6 year long “crime drama TV series” (not ‘Reality’) from Sony Pictures Television who was thrilled when the company eventually allowed him to shoot on the F55 instead of the F65. Had petitioned to use RED(s) for years but Sony wasn’t having it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top