CharlesPapert
Director of Photography
Harkening back to the question of putting a Varicam on a Movi...here is the setup on my current show, two cameras on 7' Chapman Miniscopes with LT's and Cabrio 19-90's. Tight fit but works fine.
Varicam LT big price drop
- Thread starter Newsguy
- Start date
Regarding Maste of None it’s difficult to tell. With that sepia tone and the heavy grain, I guess any 5000$+ camera would achieve the same. I don’t understand that camera to be fair. I see amateur footages shot with the LT showing nice colors sometimes, but anything professional I saw so far has a heavy tint applied or look super weak colorwise. There isn’t a reference movie yet to show the Varicam potential in my opinion. Everytime, people refer to Master of None but it’s not showing much.
NorBro
Major Contributor
ha...it's just one man's opinion (that man's). I could not possibly confirm all of his findings.
But until your cameras (any cameras) are shooting $150M movies consistently, it doesn't really matter.
And 'Master of None' is like the only example anyone ever shares so that's the only one I personally know about.
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
Thats great to see and all the back mass - Im surprised they can carry that.
Not a rig Id want to hand hold though! Doing Movi tomorrow with the FS7 (for a well known 'energy drink') and that is scaring my puny 110kg frame.
The Netflix series "Ann with an E" demonstrates both the color performance and low-light versatility of the Varicam cameras, filming a variety of skin-tones in natural environments, including night-time interior shots that are literally lit by candle light, all look great. The DOP for this series evaluated the usual suspects for their main cameras ( including ALEXA ) and ended up choosing Varicam. Here's a short video where he talks about shooting with Varicam cameras...
I really liked seeing the Bongo Tie being used as a support for the 19-90 in CP's pic!
But for working with any of the hand-held gimbal stabilizers, first you figure out a way to make everything as light as possible, then you work on making sure that you don't need to be standing there holding it out in front of you all day - or bring an EasyRig to take some of that weight off your arms. Doing a 1 minute shot may not be that much of a strain, but standing in place holding the rig motionless for 10 minutes while the agency and the client discuss a detail in the deep background can be a killer!
I am pretty sure that they started with RED, but switched to Varicm by the second season.
The two seasons look very different. The second one looks way better than the first one that was shot on the Varicam. I’m pretty sure that they used a different camera for the second season. Or they hired a different colorist. And I think that the Varicam was used for low light shots on Better Call Saul.
Edit:
Ok my bad. I looked at the BTS of the second season and I found this:
It's S02E07 BTS.
I changed my mind. I now have some nice color reference with the Varicam.
Last edited:
As you discovered, both seasons were shot with Varicam. I think they had a healthier budget for season two, where the first season had a limited number of episodes to prove that the show actually had an audience and was economically viable.
On a side note: I was going to see a movie last Fall, here in Toronto, when about 600 teenage girls all wearing the flat period-piece hat from the "Anne with an E" show swarmed the theater lobby. It turns out they were invited to see the first two episodes of season two about a month before the episodes would actually air. I was kind of surprised at how rabid they were about the show, it had obviously struck a cord in their lives, and they were dying to see what season two had in store. Apparently the show has had a fair impact around the world, especially because it's quite a bit darker than other versions of the Anne story.
I agree and wouldn't be surprised if that is what is happening with many of those shows where the later seasons look better. I'll bet much of it is a combination of lessons learned and more money for things like production design and lighting.
In the case of Anne with an E it might also be related to the colorist and cinematographer learning how to give the other what they need to create their best work. In the first video you posted Bobby Shore mentioned he didn't even time for camera tests and had use tests a friend of his shot. It sounds like he practically had to start shooting right away. Later he said he spent months in a room with his colorist where I imagine they were pushing the image and discovering what worked and what didn't. It looks like those lessons learned carried on over to later seasons.
CharlesPapert
Director of Photography
This isn't necessarily the strongest stuff I've shot but it's maybe helpful to see in terms of skin tones? Dunno. It was a clip reel I made when I was up for a feature (actress at the beginning was the lead in the movie). Didn't get it, but it got shelved anyway, so maybe a blessing in disguise.
Varicam is 00 - 1:10 and again at 2:00 to 2:36
https://vimeo.com/198946641
Varicam is 00 - 1:10 and again at 2:00 to 2:36
https://vimeo.com/198946641
cyvideo
Veteran
Not LT but Varicam 35. I watched both of these series and I think they were good examples of Varicam. Dr Foster especially looked good on the old Canon K35 glass. Same primes as used by Cameron and Biddle back in '86 on 'Alien.' The other was BBC's 'Broken.'
https://www.definitionmagazine.com/journal/2015/10/21/6q7c1utuurexb8vi4nt03kvdqbycfo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h9-kpiV9X0
https://business.panasonic.co.uk/professional-camera/varicam-35-adds-colour-to-bbcs-broken
There again the old cheapo Sony FS7's in S-LOG was used very successfully on Channel 4's 'Broken' in '18 and I think they are using it on the new series this year. Images looked good. Most cameras in the $7-10k bracket are more than capable of delivering decent looking TV these days if used properly and with their images posted correctly.
https://www.live-production.tv/news...nnel-4’s-high-tension-documentary-hunted.html
Chris Young
https://www.definitionmagazine.com/journal/2015/10/21/6q7c1utuurexb8vi4nt03kvdqbycfo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h9-kpiV9X0
https://business.panasonic.co.uk/professional-camera/varicam-35-adds-colour-to-bbcs-broken
There again the old cheapo Sony FS7's in S-LOG was used very successfully on Channel 4's 'Broken' in '18 and I think they are using it on the new series this year. Images looked good. Most cameras in the $7-10k bracket are more than capable of delivering decent looking TV these days if used properly and with their images posted correctly.
https://www.live-production.tv/news...nnel-4’s-high-tension-documentary-hunted.html
Chris Young
Run&Gun
Veteran
I was partially wrong. The handheld camera and maybe one of the jibs(there were two) were LT’s. The rest of us were on V35’s. So, five cams total and 1 to 2 were LT’s and 3 to 4 V35’s.
Run&Gun
Veteran
Just because a show looks different from season to season doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve changed cameras. To my knowledge Big Bang Theory has mostly been shot on the F55(very early seasons F23 or F35, I believe) and the look of it has changed dramatically over the seasons(not for the better).
So much can be done, both good and bad, in the grade that the only real way to truly evaluate the way a camera looks(can look) is to get a demo unit or rent one for yourself.
Alex Derrick
Active member
Panasonic should do waaaaaaaaaay more to promote the projects shot with their cameras. When I've been to to RED presentations, they have movie posters shot on their cameras hanging all over the place. You go to a Panasonic booth or Panasonic HOllywood (haven't been a minute so maybe they've changed) and they have 'dont be afraid of the dark' signs here and there and that's it! :-(
Panasonic dropping the ball on their PR for real.
Mitch Gross
Veteran
It’s an example people bring up because so many remark on the look of the show. Same with Ozark. But I guess we could refer more to The OA, Orange is the New Black, David Letterman’s show and a host of other examples more consistently. We did just publish a new online edition of Shot on VariCam, with lots of other examples. Mindy Kaling’s Late Night is about to hit theaters and The Enemy Within recently finished its season on NBC.