why someone would choose the 7d for a feature film?

for some people, these cams will pose mad problems, but in the right hands, they will produce astonishing results. Lighting, composition, good scripts and an understanding of the cams limitations is priceless.

I'm from the working class, so anytime someone can produce results from one of these cheap cams and infiltrate the big market I'm all for it. I'm an indi filmmaker, and in the indi world where the budget is most times 0, You find ways to work around your limitations and make your weaknesses your strength. whether it's lighting from home depot, a poor mans stedi cam, or one of these dslrs we half to put on a stabalizer to avoid the swaying. A true filmmaker will not allow the circumstances to dictate when he tell his story, but will tell his story with an iphone if that's all he has at his disposal.

To answer your question, There are films being done on less and resulting in blockbuster.
 
Long Time Lurker, first time Poster. My name is Dan Kanes. I'm the DP of the world's first feature to complete principal photography on the 7D. I've already watched the first rough cut of the full film. Here's a trailer. Before you rip the trailer apart for not fully explicating the whole movie, please realize it's just a teaser.

http://www.theaspectratio.net/WinterNightsLog8.htm

So, why the 7D? Well, the 7D provided me, the DP with the best possible image quality for the amount of money the production was willing to pay me. I own three 7Ds. We had two rolling full time on set, and the third was being rented out to someone else. In this economy ask yourself, "Would I rather shoot a movie on Red, which pays me nothing, and we can't even afford to light it correctly (ISO 320, no real lighting budget) or would I rather shoot something that looks acceptable for release, that I can be proud of and still get my full day rate with no compromises."

Read more at my blog:
7dcinema.blogspot.com
 
Looks pretty good dan, It certainly does not scream video. Good lighting and use of what seem available light.
 
reem12 said:
Looks pretty good dan, It certainly does not scream video. Good lighting and use of what seem available light.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the kind words.

I did my best to keep things naturalistic looking, often it takes quite a bit of work to get acceptable exposure and still have things look 'real' which was my goal for the look of this film.

I want to say thanks to my cool gaffer Brian Sorbo, and camera assistants Ivan Acero and Maxwell Williams who helped keep things moving quickly and professionally, and we always had some good laughs together.
 
The teaser looks very good Dan. I like it. I like your blog entries about your use of the 7D. I noted that you said that you thought that the 7D, "...Made pictures better than every video camera that cost less than $17,500.00...". I am not disputing you, but, them some bold words there Hombre.... Please expound on that. I realize that the $17,500.00 is a reference to the Red One....
 
I'm a 7D nut

I'm a 7D nut

David G. Smith said:
The teaser looks very good Dan. I like it. I like your blog entries about your use of the 7D. I noted that you said that you thought that the 7D, "...Made pictures better than every video camera that cost less than $17,500.00...". I am not disputing you, but, them some bold words there Hombre.... Please expound on that. I realize that the $17,500.00 is a reference to the Red One....
Click to expand...

Agreed, bold words ;)

For my needs, and to capture the images they way I see them in my head I feel the 7D is the best tool for the lowest price.

I feel that I am personally capable of attaining 75%-80% of what can be done with a Red body on a Very Low Budget shoot for quite literally 10% out of pocket expense (we're talking body only, no lenses or accessories)

If I used a 7D and a Red side by side, going for the same look, with the same lighting budget I feel that I can achieve a very similar look - now, we all know the 7D footage won't stand up to grading as much as Red footage, and that it can be especially bad in capturing detail in the lower range of stops, all I need to do is make sure I have enough light in the shadows and I can do some nice things, actually anyone could with a lot of time, practice, determination and patience.

The way I see the DSLR evolution is this: as audience accepted levels of image quality become more affordable then the only obstacles to making a good watchable film are what low budget (and high budget) films these days are lacking: a good story. I don't want to come off sounding like a know it all, or an old timer (I'm 28 years old) but, these are exciting times for filmmakers, but also dangerous times. Producers often confuse buzzword product names with talent, or the ability to make a film.

I just got passed over for an 18 day feature to be shot in Los Angeles because I wanted to be paid a living wage. It's not because any of the other DP's applying had a better reel than I did. It's because some of them had Red One systems, and they were willing to offer them to these producers for free. Now, granted I wasn't even asking for my normal rate - I was looking to just be able to make enough money to barely pay my rent during those 18 days of shooting, and not feel like I had to jump off their feature to take a job that would allow me to make the wages I need to live. This is my major frustration right now. The producers thought they could get a better movie with one red, with no lighting budget, no professional camera assistants, no gaffer, and what I'm guessing is a Green DP with a Red Camera. I could yell until I'm Blue in the face, but that won't get me a job to pay the bills (like my little RGB pun there?)

So, for the kinds of commercials and low budget movies that I've been, and probably will be shooting for the foreseeable future, I find the 7D to be the best camera for what I want to do for under 17.5k (that is available to me at the moment, barring any future developments) That's not to say the Sony EX1, Panasonic cameras and many others aren't technical marvels.

So, until something new comes along I have to say, I'm very pleased with my 7Ds!
 
That makes a lot of sense Dan. Yes it is an exciting time in filmmaking and the new tools are having a great impact. Of course, as with any new technology, there are ecomonic consequences, both for the good and for the bad. I quess it has been that way since the luddites were smashing looms in the 19th century to today and will continue for a long time to come.
 
ok so i guess the question becomes, if i have the budget to buy the new ex1r when it comes out should i purchase it or should i save my self a little bit of money and go with the 7d for a feature length film?

Thanks again everyone for the input.
 
You know, even DVDs can look OK (to most people) when projected in a theater.

Some movie theaters actually hold TV screening parties (for popular shows like "24," "Heroes," and "Lost"). Broadcast HDTV is either 720p or 1080i, which are similar in resolution.

The earliest digital cinema projectors only had a physical resolution of 1280x1024, which would presumably be 720p or less for widescreen. Attack of the Clones was exhibited on such projectors.
 
download kmplayer,play your footage n it and press "+" on numeric keyboard on the right side (not this "+" between backspace and "-") you will zoom into your video ,zoom as much as you think cinema screen size would be if cropped on your monitor/tv and judge yourself.
Its very watchable but codec is quite visible sometimes.
You can also upscale to 2k and check this with zoom in too.
Its not that important people.
This is 1080p film scan
http://www.blu-raydefinition.com/wo.../2009/09/BDDefinitionarmyofdarkness-f1080.jpg

http://www.blu-raydefinition.com/wo.../2009/09/BDDefinitionarmyofdarkness-q1080.jpg

http://www.blu-raydefinition.com/wo.../2009/09/BDDefinitionarmyofdarkness-i1080.jpg

Search some frame grabs from your favourite 1080p movies and compare with 7d 1080p frame grab ,then maybe you will give a rest to this pixelride .
 
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