VDSLR for more than run-and-gun/music videos/small time?

K

Kholi

Section Moderator
I mean, Matt points out the best example: can you use the GH-1, D90 or 5DMKii to shoot Lord of the Rings? Would you ever even try it?

The VDSLRs are great, but can they do major leauges? My first guess is that they aren't that versatile, like a RED can shoot anything.

Who's planning to do an Epic Action/Fantasy Feature on the 5D MKii? D90? GH-1?
 
A RED can shoot anything? From what I hear, the dynamic range (lights shadows) is not as good as with film. Mabe the new models can do better.

I don't know why you mention big budget productions, when talking about very cheap cameras, bought by individuals. Those VDSLRs are great for a one man production or small budget stuff, low key, guerilla/underground/indie film and stuff like that. The premise is to give more people the artistic possibilities of film making. RED is the high key version, because they deliver top notch equipment for reasonable low prices. The cheap VDSLRs cover an even broader range of people. It all fits into the big picture of democratising film making. That coul water down the elite, but oh well...
 
Kholi said:
...can you use the GH-1, D90 or 5DMKii to shoot Lord of the Rings?...
Click to expand...

Haha... what a funny imagination: directors like Peter Jackson, Ridley Scott... etc and their DOPs with a GH1 in the hand. For indie-film-maker, low budget productions... sure, it´s a good alternative to high-priced equipment. I guess that´s it...
 
Honestly, you could do pretty much any project on a RED. Sure, the Dynamic Range is limited, but working with the camera you can push it pretty damned far. Epic will only be better.

Also, a RED ONE can totally be employed on a 10K or less project. Trust me on this one.

I was more talking about whether the VDSLRS can go the other way? Or are they limited to quirky small budget thrillers, comedies, etc?
 
If the HDC-F900 can shoot Star Wars, then why not? It's not very practical, but still possible. Epics movies will always be shot with film until digital can match it. But I say movies like "Pulp Fiction, Slumdog Millionaire, Garden State, Juno....simple movies that don't require a huge budget can be shot with the new VDSLR...at least I plan on trying to.
 
Nitemare said:
I don't know why you mention big budget productions, when talking about very cheap cameras, bought by individuals
Click to expand...
it wouldn't be the first major film shot with a cheap camera, and they don't have signs that say "if you have money please don't enter" in any camera stores i've been to.
what a funny imagination: directors like Peter Jackson, Ridley Scott... etc and their DOPs with a GH1 in the hand
Click to expand...
why is that funny? i mean really? doesn't it depend on the project and not the director or the budget? btw why did you pick those two? they are two of the very directors i can totally see with a gh1.

/matt
 
Kholi said:
I was more talking about whether the VDSLRS can go the other way?
Click to expand...
you can do anything with any camera but the camera always becomes part of the message. my point in the other thread was that you can't do something you can't do, but you can do anything you can do, it has very little to do with genres or budgets.

/matt
 
Car3o said:
Compared to what's out now? It's the same camera shooting the office, which looks like it was shot with HVX200 w/adapter.
Click to expand...
yes, it's still a professional machine with all the necessary controls, and it actually still holds up well when it comes to image quality.

/matt
 
So the question isn't COULD you, but WOULD you? If you could shoot something EPIC but the only way you could do it was to use cheap cameras so that those thousands of dollars went to the rest of the production instead, WOULD you do it? In what circumstances could it really hurt you?

Maybe I'm just wondering who's gonna be the first to pull off something other than horror, thriller, drama or comedy on the system?
 
right, agreed. though it's pretty outdated compared to what's out now, professionally. the quality on the mk2 probably trumps it now in terms of raw image quality. and gh1 will probably match. i think it does have a 180mb/s bitrate, which is stellar, but what's its chip size? and doesn't have 16mm dof. still probably better in controls than these vdslrs. actually, it is better. not probably.
 
Kholi said:
So the question isn't COULD you, but WOULD you? If you could shoot something EPIC but the only way you could do it was to use cheap cameras so that those thousands of dollars went to the rest of the production instead, WOULD you do it? In what circumstances could it really hurt you?

Maybe I'm just wondering who's gonna be the first to pull off something other than horror, thriller, drama or comedy on the system?
Click to expand...

nah, epic, i'd never shoot with anything less than RED/Viper/Genesis/Film. I wouldn't bottle neck my film just to cut some corners. I'd love to see you do it though. Or wait, Kholi, you worked on the fake Zelda trailer or you the company you work for, what did they use? Maybe something like that is plausible, but it still had that Sci-fi channel look though.
 
That was the HVX200 and some of it employed the original Redrock Micro. It's true, I also think it's got a Sci-Fi channel vibe. Most of that could be attributed to the budget (you don't even want to know how much we completed that for) and a one-man show on VFX. It was fun, but boy did everyone (especially Sam B) really bleed into that one.

But you raise a good point. I study that video quite often and wonder what could have changed in-camera to remove the Sci-Fi Channel Look. Not that it's bad, again that was a labor of love (literally) and it did what it was supposed to. Just I wouldn't want our features to look like that.

Good thing is that our most recent content is definitely a leap over what the Zelda trailer looks like, and that was just a year ago.



Here's the video for those wondering what Car3o's talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oqwFNKN8MA
 
And you/the magazine, whichever, had A LOT of people stocked,....actually it was a year ago tomorrow right? Classic April fools joke for the Zelda nerds. So, I think with a little bit more work put into something of that nature, you could possibly pull off epic with these new VDSLR's...so sure, why not?
 
Car3o said:
right, agreed. though it's pretty outdated compared to what's out now, professionally. the quality on the mk2 probably trumps it now in terms of raw image quality. and gh1 will probably match
Click to expand...
i don't think so actually, it has a true 1080p sensor with no pixel skipping, and it records uncompressed either if modded or with an external recorder. oh, and it has no jello.

/matt
 
Car3o said:
And you/the magazine, whichever, had A LOT of people stocked,....actually it was a year ago tomorrow right? Classic April fools joke for the Zelda nerds. So, I think with a little bit more work put into something of that nature, you could possibly pull off epic with these new VDSLR's...so sure, why not?
Click to expand...

Yeah, 2.5 Million views in one day and a good 10 by the end of the week if I remember right. To be dead honest, had we used a pair of VDSLRS like the GH-1 or MKII on all practical parts, I really think it would have sold it a bit more.

So, yeah, why not? I think you could totally do Epic on one of these things. I guess it really does come down to if you want to or if you can even afford to do Epic in the first place.

I think for my next feature I'll consider a stock of VDSLRS. This one is definitely RED territory.
 
Kholi said:
Yeah, 2.5 Million views in one day and a good 10 by the end of the week if I remember right. To be dead honest, had we used a pair of VDSLRS like the GH-1 or MKII on all practical parts, I really think it would have sold it a bit more.

So, yeah, why not? I think you could totally do Epic on one of these things. I guess it really does come down to if you want to or if you can even afford to do Epic in the first place.

I think for my next feature I'll consider a stock of VDSLRS. This one is definitely RED territory.
Click to expand...

Epic probably comes down to the amount of talent you have onboard. VFX, FX, DP, art director, editor...etc...etc..if you got the talent, and the money to afford it, then you can probably do epic.
 
my second feature is going to be a sci-fi action epic. It will be shot in confined spaces and remote rugged places so the plan is to shoot with something like a D800 full frame, full manual control with a 40Mbps min bitrate like the 5D. I wouldn't shoot with the current DFSLRS beacause they don't have the resolution and or manual control but I won't be shooting it for at least another year. My budget will be in the 100-200k range. I think a $3000 DFSLR will look just as good as a red by then and if I destroy a few of them it's no big deal.....and I could see peter jackson using a DFSLR....mine!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top