Trailer for AF100 feature "Mandie and the Forgotten Christmas"

[Owen]

I went to Vimeo and watched some clips of the other Mandy films you have produced. I may be wrong, but it looks as if you shot the first Mandy film with the hvx and redrock combo, then the 7d for the second film, and last was the Af100. The footage looks beautiful from every film. WHy did you stray away from the dof adapter camcorder combo for your films. I know their light hogs, just curious.

Yep, light loss for sure, as well as camera size and weight. The first two films in this particular series involved a good bit of remote outdoor shooting, so the lighter the gear we are hiking around with the better of we are. Less light loss also means hauling around fewer lights, and smaller generators.

Upon comparing the look achievable with the 7D to the look (using the exact same lenses) on a DOF Adapter combo, I really couldn't justify the continued use a a bulkier and more complex setup (with many more possible failure points such as back focus and spinning glass). The biggest sacrifice was losing the lovely codec and color space of the HVX200 and the ability to record audio into the camera. The AF100 at least brought back the latter!

Very nice. I've been doing lots of DVD Covers for Bridgestone Multimedia Group so I wonder if they'll be having me do this one? Do you have distribution completed?

Either way very nice footage. Definitely some of the best AF100 footage I've seen so far.

Small world! Since this is another entry in a series we are basically just updating the pre-existing design they are using.

This is absolutely the most impressive thing I've seen come from an AF-100 -- and I'm trying to figure out why. I suspect that 80%+ relates entirely to your actors, costumes, scenery, action, editing, sound, and lighting, and I suspect less than ten percent of it relates to your camera.

That being said -- what was the scene file setup you used?

Absolutely correct -- it's amazing what a pretty location and period costumes will do when you put them all in front of a camera. When the actors see the monitor or playback and comment on the look I always tell them that's the reason we put the pretty people in FRONT of the camera. I also really enjoy lighting period pieces. I feel like when the majority of the light is required to appear as if from a naturally motivated source (sun through the window, moonlight) it narrows down a lot of the decisions and helps establish a nice, more unique look. It's also fun to have an excuse to play with the flicker box!

My basic scene file setting was designed more with the final look in mind (for various reasons), though I fully support shooting flat and preserving as much flexibility for post when possible!

F5
Detail -3
V Detail -3
Detail Coring +2
Chroma Level 0
Chroma Phase 0
Master Ped -2
DRS Off
Gamma Cine-Like V
Matrix Norm2
Skin Tone DTL Off

Man, is there any way I can convince you to pop over to the User Films section and start a thread? So that we can get some of your experiences to users who are interested in doing features.

Eight is a nice amount, and a wealth of knowledge for people. You started out on the DVX and today you're at the AF100, still kicking rump. And, you're in Georgia make this happen.

I want to read some chronicles!

But of course! ...though most of my input might be on what NOT to do!

 

[Melvin Harris]

Thrilling... this isn't even my type of movie, but I would watch this in a heartbeat! and +1,000,000 to it being among the best from this particular camera which cements the sentiments of others- less about the camera, more about the production.

Congrats.

 

[Elianarra]

Hey Owen and All,

This is great footage. I used to read Mandie when I was a kid, so it was interesting seeing this title pop up in my search for AF100 feature films! I'm currently a film student with access to a 7D or an EX3, but I'm really thinking about trying to go after the AF100. I like the setup better (minus all the letus extraness) and I love Nikon stuff, so this was a great post to find.