Hello Large Sensor, Nice to Meet You.

By Ben Crosbie

With the Panasonic AF100 having just been released, and Sony having announced two new S35 video cameras, how does an indie film-maker decide on what camera to use for their next project?  DSLR, AF100, NXCAM, F3 (if you can afford it) – such a wide array of choices that many of us would have never imagined could exist 5 years ago.  Now instead of struggling with clunky 35mm adapters for your 1/3″ camcorder, you can simply pick up a DSLR or the forth coming Panasonic/Sony camera, attach a SLR lens and hit record.  You’ll be rewarded with a filmic depth of field, expanded dynamic range, and incredible low light capabilities (previously you only gained 35mm DOF with the adapters.)  So which camera do you choose?

Our Choice

We just got the new Panasonic AF100, and had picked up a Panasonic GH1 a month ago as a B-camera and to use in the gap prior to the AF100’s release.  In a previous blog I had said that we were not going to use a DSLR for film-making, but obviously we have reneged on that decision.  We were all set to shoot our new projects on the AF100, but a few had to begin a couple months prior to its release.  As a result, we decided we would try out the GH1.

While the Canon 5D MkII was one of the first DSLRs used to shoot video, and remains king of hyper shallow DOF (thanks to its massive full frame sensor), we decided against using it for a few reasons.  We opted for the GH1 because it’s cheaper ($1000 for body and video optimized lens vs. $2400 for the 5D body alone), and because we would easily be able to share lenses between the GH1 and the AF100, and the two would cut together much more easily.  Additionally, older models of the GH1 can be hacked to improve the bit-rate (and perhaps one day the newer models as well), and even without the hack, the GH1 works much better for shooting video.  It has no limit on recording times, includes typical video frame-rates and a good articulating LCD screen and high quality view finder that can be used while recording video (unlike the other DSLRs that have mirrors preventing the use of the viewfinder during recording.)  The 5D (and 7D, 60D etc.) all offer some advantages over the GH1 for certain users and purposes, but for us, the net advantage went to the GH1.

Shooting with the GH1

Our GH1 is unhacked due to it’s build date, so we are only seriously considering using it for sit down interviews and staged B-Roll/artistic scenes.  I have no real desire or plan to use the GH1 for any run & gun action, fast-moving subjects, wide shots or the like.  That is what the AF100 will be for.  So how did the GH1 work out on our recent shoot?  As a video camera, the GH1 is not perfect.  Like any DSLR, it is not meant to shoot video, so it lacks some essential features found on “real” camcorders.  Exposure tools like zebras, waveforms, XLR audio, and timecode are all absent from the GH1.  It also lacks a video out port that you can connect to a pro monitor.  So judging exposure with the GH1 can be scary to say the least.  You have to really trust your eyes and have enough experience with it to know what you will end up with.  All that said, the images it produces can be spectacular.  We shot 12 sit down interviews with the GH1, and all of them looked gorgeous.  We were able to get some shots that we were physically incapable of filming just one year ago with an XHA1 in the exact same shooting locations.  We shot a 2nd camera with an HVX200, and the side by side difference is actually quite stunning:

The lower quality AVCHD of the GH1 didn’t really present any problems with these types of shots.  In underexposed areas there were some artifacts, but the GH1 still outshines the HVX200 in pure aesthetic quality.

The AF100

We pre-ordered the AF100 a couple days after it went on pre-order.  “How can you buy a camera sight unseen?” you may ask.  Well, the last camera we bought (Canon XH-A1) we purchased without ever having used it, and I would venture to say most people never get to touch, let alone test extensively, any camera they are buying.  You have to make the decision based on reviews and specs.  The AF100 doesn’t have any reviews really, aside from pre-production model tests which have sent some into a tizzy about highlight clipping, lack of dynamic range and a “video-look.”  The footage I’ve seen from the test shots look amazing, and the earlier testers are all in love with the camera, so I stand firm in my decision to pre-order.

The AF100 offers everything the DSLR users have come to love, but leaves behind all of their short comings.  I consider this a game changer, but many do not.  Many are expecting this camera to deliver some amazing new “never-before-seen” imagery, but that is just unrealistic.  I’m not sure what that would even look like.  The AF100 will give us the same filmic image we have come to expect from DSLRs, but without moire, aliasing, skew, and with the addition of proper video features such as long recording times, proper audio, proper monitoring, outputs and lots of buttons to control all the functions.  This is exactly what we need.  We need a camera that works like a real video camera, that can be trusted in a variety of situations, and doesn’t need a multitude of accessories to function properly.  The AF100 promises to fit that bill.

First Test Shoot

Today I was able to take out the AF100 for a test shoot.  This was my first time using the camera, so I still have many things to learn about it.  But my first impressions are very high.  The camera is a dream to use.  Functionally, it works just as any prosumer camcorder should.  It has all the right tools, knobs, and functions for creating good looking video, and allows you to do it easily.  That is the key thing I noticed from the test shoot.  I never found myself once wishing that I had some extra feature.  I had all the tools I needed at my disposal.  This is how using a video camera should be.  The LCD is quite large and sharp, and I rarely had focusing issues due to the handy focus-in-red feature.  The built in waveform also helped enormously in judging tricky exposures.

The footage the AF100 produces is also very, very nice.  It resembles the GH1, but has the much better broadcast version of AVCHD.  This means it has a higher bitrate and many more compression key frames which allow the codec to withstand more challenging situations in which the GH1’s codec would fall apart.  The AF100 also has variable frame rates up to 60fps at full 1080p.  This is huge feature for a camera in this price range, and let me tell you, the 60fps stuff looks awesome.  I have many more tests and shoots to do with the AF100 before I can really comment on the quality of the footage, but so far I am impressed, and you can judge for yourself:

http://vimeo.com/18326382

The Difficulty of Not Being on the Bleeding Edge

By Ben Crosbie

As most people who work in the media/video field (and many serious hobbyists and enthusiasts) know, the last year or so has brought about a revolution in film-making.  With the release of the Canon 5d MkII, stunning 35mm film-like images with mouthwatering DOF and colors at an affordable price point has become a reality.  Since then, Canon and nearly every other camera manufacturer have released a wide variety of DSLRs that can shoot HD video.  Now this new breed of HDSLR film-making has spawned a whole new way of shooting.  What was once only attainable by Hollywood cinematographers can now be achieved by anyone with a relatively inexpensive DSLR and some nice lenses (and a ridiculous assortment of attachments and accessories).   Even though I have never used a DSLR for film-making, I have seen enough videos online to make me lust deeply after one.

So why don’t we just go out and get a 5d already?  Well, the main reason is we have plenty of gear we have been using the last 3 years that still works perfectly, and in my opinion still produces wonderful images.  Our latest project was shot with a Canon XHA1 and Panasonic HVX200, a set of Cool Lights LEDs and natural light (see below).  While neither camera can come close to getting the depth of field achievable with a 5d, I still think with the proper lighting and creativity they can produce very pleasing visuals.   Would this video look even better if it were shot on a 5d?  Certainly.  But that doesn’t mean we are ready to get one.

Because Eidolon is not currently on the bleeding edge of digital film-making, I question nearly every day whether to bite the bullet and buy a 5d, 7d or even a T2i, Canon’s latest DSLR that shoots video.  It’s tough not being on the bleeding edge!  But all that anxiety aside, I remind myself that this field is rapidly changing and evolving, and if we can just wait it out a bit longer, we will be rewarded.  Of course if you always wait until the “next thing” to purchase any gear, then you will never buy anything.  But if you have the tools to do your job and do it well, then there is no absolute need to upgrade.

The other reason we have not switched over to DSLRs is that they aren’t particularly well suited to documentary shooting.  Sure they would work great for planned sit down interviews in which we can control the lighting, environment and to a certain degree the subject.  But for run and gun shooting, a DSLR needs many accessories to function like a traditional video camera.  Stabilization, a viewfinder, and double system sound are just a few of the add-ons needed to make a camera like the 5d work like the XHA1 in a verite documentary situation.  Don’t get me wrong, there are many film-makers currently using a 5d or 7d to produce documentary film.  But these cameras were simply not built for serious documentary shooting, and it shows.

I eagerly await the day that I can hold in my hands the latest DSLR, or Canon/Sony/Panasonic’s new video camera with a large sensor (one can dream) or even the Red Scarlet.  I’d love to use a 5d on our next project, a short documentary about Karen refugees living in New Jersey.   But I just don’t feel confident any of the DSLRs would mesh with our style of unpredictable shooting out in the field on an already complex documentary.  So, we have to just wait a little longer, and continue to hone our craft and focus on story telling.  Because if I have learned one lesson from this revolution in film-making, it is that no amount of shallow depth of field can turn poor story telling into great film.

Watch Barberin’ online!

The full version of Barberin’ has just been posted on OurStage.com, a site on which you can vote for different films. Check it out here.  Vote for our film!  If we get into the top 10, we have a chance to win some really cool prizes.

To vote, you must register on the site, go to the “Judge” tab at the top of the page, select “Video” and then “Documentaries.” The voting competition is completely random (as far as we can figure out), so there is no way to choose which films you get to vote on. Two films are shown (a “battle”), and you pick which one you like best. So if Barberin’ comes up, vote for it. If it doesn’t come up, and you have the time or patience, keep voting on the films until ours pops up in a “battle.”  It doesn’t seem like there is a great deal of good films,or even voting going on, so any little help we get could go a long way.

Either way you can still watch Barberin’ without going through the judging process. Just click on the link above and enjoy.

p.s. the aspect ratio of the film is screwed up on the site (it is vertically stretched out), we are trying to get them to fix it asap.

Filming Children

Filming children can be fun and can result in some heartwarming footage that anyone with an ounce of humanity will find endearing. Filming children can also be a nightmare, that can result in endless lawsuits. Ok, you probably won’t get sued if you film a child, but there are huge legal ramifications when it comes to filming children. While anyone can film a child in public if he so chooses, it’s mainly the public display and/or distribution of such footage that causes the legal problems.

Tourists around the world film children, adults, babies, and elderly people on a daily basis, and no one bats an eye. As soon as you whip out a big fancy looking XH A1, people start to get suspicious and some might even yell at you for filming them without their permission (hey, that creep with the tiny camcorder hiding behind the tree is just as likely to do something strange with your image as I am!) Luckily we haven’t had any issues with people becoming upset when we film them yet, but getting permission to film people, especially children, is a top priority for us, but it’s also a major hassle.

Releases

In the filmmaking and photography worlds, model release forms are standard issue. Before we started filming Barberin’ however, we didn’t really have any idea what a release form was. By chance, after searching through the dvinfo forums, we found some posts about model releases. A few minutes of quick research later, we had 20 model release forms printed up and ready to go for our first shoot.

A release form basically states that the filmmaker has the right to film the model (any person you film), and that the model has no editorial control over the way their likeness is used, and that the filmmaker can edit and use their likeness in any way they see fit and display it any way and anywhere they want to. The exact terms of the release can differ, but the idea is that the person to agrees to be filmed and not have any say in what you do with the footage. Also, for the release to be legally sound (because it’s technically a contract) the model must receive some form of “consideration.” Consideration can be anything the model agrees to receive in return for granting the filmmaker the use of their image — money, food, credit in the film, a high five, or in our case a free copy of the final DVD of the film. So for Barberin’ we had all of our main characters sign simple release forms, and then gave them all free copies of the DVD when it was finished. It worked out great for both parties, and it was pretty easy to get people to sign the form.

Here in the kibbutz we have a little more trouble getting people to sign the release. One reason is that we are filming so many more people than we did for Barberin’. Filming people as they go through their day to day lives results in a certain level of chaos when it comes to getting releases signed. For example, one day Frankie walked from his “shop” (junk pile) to Uzi’s workshop, then to Etsion’s workshop, then he jumped in a car and drove to Qiryat Shemona to drop off the bottles he collected. All along the way we filmed various people and didn’t really have time to grab each person and get them to sign a release — otherwise we would have lost Frankie. Luckily most of those people are kibbutz regulars so it was easy to go back and get releases from them, but it’s still a hassle.

Another reason we have difficulty with releases is that all of our forms are written in English. While most people here can speak English, not everyone can speak it well, let alone read it. Out of the 40 or so releases we’ve had signed so far, maybe two or three people have actually asked what was written on it, or made an attempt to read it. We’ve tried our best to encourage them to read the form, and have explained the terms to the best of our ability.

Kids

When it comes to kids, the release form must be signed by their parent. This presented a unique challenge for us when we went to film the children playing at the kid’s house summer camp. There are about 60 kids that go to the summer camp, and about 20 are from outside the kibbutz. We knew that it would be impossible to get release forms signed for all 60 kids. So we decided to film a small group of children, ask them for their names, and obtain releases after filming. We first filmed a group of 8 year old boys as they played basketball and then later as they played in their “tree house,” an arrangement of cushions, ropes and ladders under a large tree in the corner of the playground.

The boys first made silly faces in front of the camera, or simply stood and smiled. But after a few minutes, they became disinterested with our presence, and continued their play. Ben used his limited Hebrew to ask them open-ended questions about summer camp in the kibbutz, but they gave one word answers. We asked Leah to question the boys using her fluent Hebrew, but their responses were not any more expansive. They are clearly too young to fully reflect on their childhood. But their largely unsupervised, free, creative play spoke volumes of their childhood.

We’ve filmed a total of ten children. On Thursday, we went back to the children’s house in the afternoon to distribute the releases to parents picking up their children. Some of the children didn’t attend camp that day. Other kibbutz children rode their bikes home from school. Luckily, the community is small enough that we will be able to find their parents at another time. We will go back one afternoon next week to obtain the rest of the releases.

It is important that we cover all of our legal bases while we are here. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to obtain Errors and Omissions Insurance, a crucial requirement for most distributors or broadcasters before they acquire your film. During editing, we will more than likely realize that we have missed a release form somewhere during filming, but for now we can only try our best!

30 Minutes in the Sky: Memories to Last a Lifetime.

By Ben Crosbie, photos by Tessa Moran

High in the Sky

Spinning, spinning, spinning higher and higher into the air, sometimes gaining a few hundred feet of altitude in a second, the glider climbs towards the atmosphere in a dizzying ascent. The small engine-less glider is like a toy airplane, jolting left and then right at the whim of the wind, pitching up and down without any care to the precious cargo it holds inside its hull. The blue sky is a glider’s playground. The craft strives to escape the confines of a patchwork quilt of multicolored fields and hills below.

Today I went gliding with Uzi, and the experience was far less picturesque. All I could think about was 1) how to get some good aerial shots through the canopy of the glider, and 2) how to not get vomit on our expensive XH A1 if I hurled.

Pre-Takeoff

Uzi drove us to the end of the tarmac, where a gathering of men 50 years of age and older (the gliding club) sat beneath a tent. We briefly interviewed Uzi and his fellow pilots, but I was preoccupied with the gliders that were taking flight off the nearby runway.

Shooting down the strip of asphalt while towed behind a small prop plane, the glider swayed back and forth, lifting a bit off the tarmac but then hitting the ground again. “The pilot has to maintain the glider as an extension of the plane until it is airborne, otherwise it could crash,” one of the experienced pilots says to me as I watch the plane and glider take off into the air. Just what I needed to hear before I stepped into my soon to be winged coffin.

As Uzi strapped me into the back seat of the glider, he started to explain to me how to use the different controls in the cockpit (both seats have controls). “If the flight goes well, maybe you can fly” he tells me. Uh… wtf? Then another pilot says something to Uzi in Hebrew that I don’t understand, and they close the canopy and start to roll the glider down the runway to its takeoff position. At this point I am totally feeling 100% confident in my glider flying abilities, and the safety of the venture I am about to take part in. Right…

Takeoff

Sitting in the tiny cockpit sweating, I fiddled with the camera controls and tried to find the best way to position it so that I could get some good aerial shots. I’m glad I had something to occupy my mind, because shortly thereafter, the glider started to roll down the runway. We were strapped to the plane and it was pulling us down the runway towards take-off. I was filming the back of Uzi’s head and the ground rolling by the glider as we picked up speed.

The second we were airborne I felt it in my gut. Sort of like that feeling you get when an elevator goes up quickly. Looking through the viewfinder of the camera, I could see the little prop plane in front of us sway back and forth as the crosswind hit it. The glider shook pretty violently up and down, and I had to be careful not to hit the camera on the canopy.

As we ascended higher, Uzi looked back and asked how I was feeling. I felt fine — a feeling that would be short lived.

The First 10 Minutes

In my limited gliding experience, it seems to me that the flight is pretty simple. The prop plane takes you up, then you spiral around in a thermal to gain altitude (more detail on gliding here) and then you glide down, looking for another thermal to go up again, or head back to land. The first 10 minutes of the flight went pretty much exactly like that.

I tried my best to film out of the small open slot in the canopy that let the wind in, but decided shooting through the dome of the canopy to be my best option. The glider was banked to the opposite side of the slot, so I couldn’t really get any good shots out of it. Nevertheless I think I caught a few good aerial shots of northern Israel. We couldn’t fly over the kibbutz because it was too far north for the weather conditions to take us there, but what I shot is still the same general area (about 30 minutes away by car).

The Last 20 Minutes

About half way through the flight, I started to feel a bit queasy. Uzi again asked me how I was doing. I told him I still felt fine, because I figured I was just having a little difficulty with the sharp banks and sudden jumps in altitude. He continued to spiral upwards through a thermal until we reached its apex, and then we started to descend. At this point I was feeling more and more nauseous, and was just trying to focus on my breathing and allowing the cool wind coming through the slot to hit my face.

Uzi asked me one more time how I was feeling, and this time I told him I felt a little dizzy. He said something, but his words were swallowed by the wind. I returned to my rhythmic breathing, and began praying that the ride would soon be over. I had stopped filming (I shot about 15 minutes of aerial footage) and was just trying to calm myself down and enjoy the rest of the ride.

The Landing

As we descended further, I asked Uzi if we were landing, noting that I was beginning to feel sick. He said we were landing soon, and so I began to focus on the gray cross of the airfield etched into the earth. I kept breathing deeply as we approached the ground, but my nausea wasn’t subsiding. I didn’t want to disturb Uzi with my fears of vomiting — one of the pilots had earlier told me how landing the glider was the most difficult part. I just started to think about what to do when I actually did vomit. Uzi had given me an old cap to wear in the glider, and so I figured that was the closest thing to a sick bag I would find. I still had hope that I wouldn’t vomit before we landed.

Maybe only 100 feet above the ground, my stomach churned in a way that let me know it was too late. In one fluid motion, I pulled my cap off, lifted my precious XH A1 high above my head, and puked my guts out into my borrowed piece of head wear.

By the time the glider came to a stop, Uzi had figured out what was going on behind him, and he quickly opened the canopy and got out. I must have been a sad sight to behold. I jumped out of the glider and finished my business on the runway.

The Aftermath

After getting back into Uzi’s pickup truck to head back down the runway, he told me not to worry. “My daughter’s husband, also named Ben, threw up when he flew… it even happens to pilots” he claimed. I apologized for what had happened, but he didn’t seem to be that surprised.

Uzi later told me that it was an unusually rough ride, and that even he had some trouble during the flight. Apparently people puke all the time while gliding — they even had a puke bag near the seat, but Uzi forgot to tell me before getting in. None of the other pilots seemed to really care about what had happened. Uzi and another pilot deftly cleaned out the cockpit and swapped the seat padding, and the glider was already shooting down the runway again before I had even finished rinsing off my t-shirt.

Was the whole experience worth it? I got a few cool aerial shots and some nice footage of gliders taking off and landing, so I think so. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and aside from getting sick it was pretty awesome. Sometimes you have to go the extra mile to get a certain shot. Hopefully that effort shows through in the final product. How many other low budget docs have aerial footage in them!

Filming Uzi (not the gun, but the man).

Uzi

Yesterday morning we filmed Uzi in his workshop. He was shy and appeared nervous about the accuracy of his English. But after some time filming, his demeanor changed and he opened up about his life in Kfar Giladi — where he was born, met his volunteer wife Kathy, and raised five girls. Nearly 70 years old, Uzi is a pensioner who is only paid by the kibbutz to work four hours a day repairing bicycles, club cars, and kalnoeets (electric tricycles mostly used by the older people).

But he often works more hours without pay. He says working without payment doesn’t bother him because he likes to help people and he loves what he does — he was busy fixing a friend’s tractor free of charge when we showed up. When asked why most of his job responsibilities were transferred to the kibbutz quarry a few years ago, he responded that it was a topic he felt uncomfortable talking about. “Everything is fine,” he said. We promptly moved on from the issue, though it is something that continues to intrigue us.

Uzi also flies gliders during his free time. He said he always wanted to be a pilot, but struggled with the academic tests required of such a post. Gliding is his way of pursuing his lifelong passion. We plan to film Uzi as he glides, and we are considering taking a ride with our camera to shoot some aerial shots of the kibbutz and its environs (sounds fun right?).

Everybody Makes Mistakes

We’ve reviewed some of the footage of the shoot, and have recognized one of our errors. We still occasionally forget to lock the exposure. In tricky lighting environments like Uzi’s workshop, auto-exposure fails miserably. One moment Uzi’s face was perfectly exposed, but as soon as he stepped close to the windows and openings of the warehouse, his face became underexposed because the camera was compensating for the bright sunlight.

Exposure lock remedies this problem very quickly. It allows you to lock the exposure on your subject’s face, and then remains properly exposed when he steps into a much brighter area, such as a room with large windows. The windows will appear as overexposed white glowing squares in the background, but most of the time you don’t care about what is going on through the windows, you care about your subject’s face. It seems like a simple task to lock exposure (and the XH A1 makes it really easy with the placement of the exposure lock button), but amidst all the other distractions of shooting, it is sometimes easily forgotten. Most of the time we get it right, and hopefully in the future we won’t mess it up again!