DSLR Cinema and Video Journalism

Tools for Cinematic and Documentary Storytelling by Kurt Lancaster

White balance with Canon DSLRs — not as easy as video

A couple of my colleagues at Northern Arizona University’s School of Communication noted how difficult it is to do manual white balance with the Canon DSLRs some of our students are using.

 

All I can say: Not as easy as video cameras. The Canon presets have worked pretty well for all the projects I’ve shot, but I’m using a Canon 5D Mark II where I dial in the color temperature I want. Beginning students may no what color temperature to use or just rely on presets — especially when they have to go through the steps I outline below. Or some may just want to use the simplicity of video cameras. Whatever camera you choose to shoot with, manual white balance is an important step not to neglect.

 

And if it’s more difficult with a DSLR, then you have to decide if it’s worth the extra effort. For me and many of my students who have purchased their own DSLRs, we realize one thing: The image quality, baby, the image quality. But knowing how to color balance is part of mastering the image quality.

 

Why do we even bother with adjusting color temperature in the first place? Why not just set the camera to automatic. If you’re controlling your image professionally, then you need to use the manual settings so it doesn’t do things you don’t want it to be doing.

 

Our eyes balance white automatically. A camera’s sensor isn’t as smart as us and it doesn’t have the multitasking capabilities of our minds. So you need to tell the camera what kind of light it’s seeing so it can find true white. White indoors is different than white outdoors. See the chart below:

 

Color temperature in degree Kelvins. This chart provides a list of different lamps and their corresponding color temps. (Image courtesy of Mapawatt.)

 

So if you’ve set your DSLR to an indoor light setting (~3700K), such as standard tungsten (a regular light bulb) and you go outdoors (~5500K), the white the camera saw indoors is now different and now has a bluish tint to it. If you’ve set your camera to daylight and you go indoors, the camera’s image now contains a warm yellow cast. See the images below.

 

The top image contains the bluish tint of an indoor white balance setting used incorrectly outdoors. The bottom image is too yellow — the typical problem with an outdoor setting used incorrectly indoors. The center image is properly color balanced. Photos by Kurt Lancaster (courtesy of Focal Press).

 

And if you are shooting a scene with multiple light sources (such as a window and a room with fluorescent lighting), you need to tell the camera which one it should see. Is the window your key light? Then dial in the proper color temperature or set the custom white balance.

Read the complete article at Focal Press’s Mastering Film blog:
http://masteringfilm.com/white-balance-with-canon-dslrs-%E2%80%94-not-as-easy-as-video/

 

Apple’s Final Cut Pro X — nothing else quite like it

With an interface that feels like it’s designed for artists rather than engineers, Apple’s new Final Cut X — to  be released in June at $299 — redefines the game, much like DSLRs altered the game for prosumer video cameras by creating a new category of their own. The new Final Cut Pro seems unlike anything else out there in the nonlinear editing (NLE) market.

 

Apple’s new interface for Final Cut Pro X. Notice the the relationship links and audio waveforms. The upper left features the management and organization window where you can sort files in different categories. The preview window is a film strip, where you can set the preview length (such as a new image every ten seconds) — and audio can be scrubbed allowing you to hear the dialogue. (Image courtesy of Apple.)

 

Apple’s Peter Steinauer (senior video applications engineer), unveiled the software at the Final Cut Pro User Group meeting in Las Vegas on April 12, 2011, declaring how they’ve created a new version of Final Cut that was designed from the ground up—not a facelift of the existing engine, but a brand new beast.

 

To read the complete article go to Focal Press’s Mastering Film:
http://masteringfilm.com/apples-final-cut-pro-x-nothing-else-quite-like-it/

Not DSLR killers, but killer DSLRs: How DSLRs killed the prosumer video camera

It seems the blogosphere is filled with talk about “DSLR killers.” Here are a few predictions ranging from the end of 2008 to March 2011: “Red unwraps ‘DSLR Killer’” by John Mello; “Sony joins the fray with (another) DSLR-killer“; DVXUser thread: “Panasonic AF-100 being called the ‘DSLR killer’. Any thoughts?“; “The Real ‘DSLR Killer’ For Filmmaking (No, It’s Not A Hasselblad)” by Neil Matsumoto.

 

Indeed, I would argue that the DSLR was the prosumer video camera killer and the video camera had to evolve in order to stay in the game.

 

Go to Focal Press’s Mastering Film to read more.

Using Canon DLSRs in Final Cut Pro

The magic of shooting digital films with a DSLR camera lies in large sensors, interchangeable lenses, shallow depth of field, and an HD codec, all of which combined provides a strong cinematic look—far more so than standard HD video cameras. Neil Smith of HDI RAWworks in Hollywood says that, “HD digital SLRs have a 35mm film aesthetic.” And there is “something about the sensor and the color science,” Smith explains to me in his office on The Lot as he waxes metaphysical. “There is something in the sensor design, something in the spirit of the machine, the soul of the machine that is very organic. There is something that Canon engineers do with these sensors and their color science that produces a very film-like aesthetic.”

 

Despite this, the HD codec (H.264) is highly compressed and does not lend itself well to editing natively. If you’re using Final Cut for editing, one of the easiest ways to tap into the soul of the machine, as it were, is to utilize Canon’s plug-in for Final Cut’s Log and Transfer process that will allow you to decompress the beautiful files into a form that Final Cut can edit comfortably (such as Apple Pro Res 422).
Here are the steps to get the plug-in from Canon and modify it so it recognizes Canon’s consumer level HDSLR, the Rebel T2i and T3i (which has the same APS-C chip as their 7D) and only costs about $800. It has the 5D, 7D, and 60D built in so you don’t have to play with the code. I have not tested the T3i/600D, but I assume it’ll work when you type it in as with the T2i steps.

 

For the rest of the article with the steps, click here for Focal Press’s Mastering Film.

Sundance winners shot on DSLRs

Two films, Like Crazy, directed by Drake Doremus, and photojournalist Danfung Dennis’ Hell and Back Again, took top prizes at the Sundance Film Festival.

 

Like Crazy, shot on a Canon 7D with cinema lenses, earned the Grand Jury prize, and as can be seen in the still below, it expresses the compellingly strong DSLR cinema look.

 

 

Danfung Dennis shot To Hell and Back Again on a Canon 5D Mark II and earned the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize in Documentary, as well as the World Cinema Cinematography Award for Documentary Filmmaking. This article will focus on Dennis’ film, with a hopeful follow-up later with Like Crazy.

 

 

Mark Olsen, blogging for the Los Angeles Times from Sundance 2011, writes about Dennis’ cinematography:

“Hell and Back Again” has a surprisingly glossy, cinematic look, be it the bright sun of Afghanistan or the neon and streetlights of North Carolina. For his time in Afghanistan, Dennis designed a custom steadicam rig for the Canon camera he was using to capture video — the shadow outline of the compact camera system can be seen in a few shots — and he served as his own soundman.

 

The film has an intimacy and directness that brings a heightened sense of emotion to such everyday things as going to Wal-Mart or ordering take-out, as the rigors of fighting are contrasted with the commonplace struggles of daily life. The film cuts directly from images of the firefight in which Harris was wounded to a drugstore parking lot at night, a transition that is shocking and disorienting, just as it must be for soldiers returning home. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/01/sundance-2011-at-war-and-at-home-in-to-hell-and-back.html

dennis_web1

Left: Danfung Dennis setting up his shot with Echo Company in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Danfung Dennis.

 

Jada Juan, writing inNew York Magazine’s Vulture, said this about Dennis’ film:

Former New York Times photographer Danfung Dennis won both the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Award and World Cinema Cinematography Award for his remarkable Hell and Back Again. The film follows a Marine from the start of his tour in Afghanistan through his disturbing recovery from a bad injury and then back home. Dennis risked his life to make the movie, and invented a special camera setup that will likely make a lasting impact on how documentaries look moving forward. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/01/sundance_2.html

Here’s a large excerpt from an interview I conducted with Danfung Dennis back in Oct. 2009, published on the DocumentaryTech site, back when the film was going to be called Battle for Hearts and Minds:

Danfung Dennis shoots HD video in war zones with a Canon 5D mark II, adjusting aperture in the middle of firefights and explosions—“when [an] IED exploded and dust filled the air, I was thinking about correcting the exposure as it had become much darker.”

 

But even under fire, Dennis has his priorities–keep your head down: “The first thing I am thinking about is finding cover—mud walls, ditches or berms—to protect myself from incoming fire,” he mentions in an email interview. After getting low, he gets the shot: “I simply focus on working the camera and doing my job.”

 

The London-based Dennis came out of Cornell University in 2005 with two degrees—not in journalism and photography, but in Applied Economics and International Agriculture. However, it was the “tremendous impact” of “images from past wars and conflict” that eventually drove Dennis away from his planned field and into war photography and video. He also “felt compelled to also bear witness to the wars of [his] generation and show others an honest picture of what is happening.” So he bought some equipment and “I trained myself as best I could,” he says, “before simply stepping on a plane to Kabul.” Adventure didn’t wait. “The second day I was there, I was nearly killed by a rioting mob, but I also got my first pictures published in The New York Times.”

 

Three years later, Dennis embedded with Echo Company in the 8th Marine Company’s 2nd Battalion, covering their July assault into the Helmand River Valley. He wanted to “open a window into [the Afghanistan] war to bring it closer to home.”

 

Intense footage from Dennis’ Afghanistan exploits can be found in the opening sequence of the Oct. 13, 2009 broadcast of Frontline, “Obama’s War” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamaswar/view/).
In combat, trust has to come easily for Marines, but for a civilian in combat gear, “There is always an initial ‘checking out’ period where the Marines or soldiers see if I have the right gear, can keep up and stay out of the way,” Dennis notes. However, once they know he’s not in the way and they see him “going through the same difficult experiences, trust builds quickly.”

 

Because of his closeness to the Marines during shooting, Dennis can convey what it’s like to be there when editing his footage. “I am trying to convey what it feels like to be a US Marine fighting a ghost-like enemy or an Afghan villager as their house is raided.” He hopes that this will help offset the numbing effect of Americans receiving “the steady stream of casualty and bombing headlines” during “eight years of war.” Thus, when he edits, he keeps in mind his first priority–to “convey emotion, then the narrative.”

 

At the same time, Dennis doesn’t want his focus solely on the Marines and miss the big picture of the war. “When embedded with the US military, one gets a very narrow view of the conflict,” Dennis explains, “so I spend about half my time working independently, simply traveling with an translator and driver.”

Congratulations to both filmmakers for their awards. It reinforces the fact that HDSLR filmmaking isn’t just a fad or that these cameras cannot be used as cinema and documentary cameras. That’s already been proven wrong over the past two years. It also reveals how HDSLRs are strongly cinematic when used in the right hands and that filmmakers on a low budget can create a look just as powerful as those costing thousands more.

An Interview with Andrew Wonder, director of Undercity

For those of you who haven’t seen Andrew Wonder’s “Undercity,” yet, check it out:

 

 

Andrew Wonder (andrewwonder.com) is focused. Seriously. When he descended into the depths of New York City’s forbidden zone of subway spelunking, Andrew stuck his foot in the track and lost his shoe. He retrieved it, but didn’t notice the blood until some time later.

 

“After climbing for a few more hours I looked down to discover my pant leg soaked with blood and my ankle completely black and blue. I had done some real damage but didn’t want to stop shooting and even with an ace bandage around my ankle and a cut that took weeks to scab we kept shooting.”

 

Photo courtesy of Andrew Wonder.

 

This would impact his weight distribution, the handheld camera work in “Undercity” wasn’t “quite as smooth as usual (especially when climbing).” But that didn’t slow him down. Indeed, he trained his body to readjust — a tip for beginning shooters wanting to shoot steady handheld shots:

 

“For just over a week I would walk around my apartment with a mug filled to the brim with boiling water. Soon I was able to walk around on my bad ankle without burning my hand which gave me the control I needed to run and climb while still keeping the camera steady.”

 

Steve is an adventurer and “Undercity” did not slow him down. He’d been interested in shooting in the tunnels for several years, but couldn’t find much through online research.

One day I stumbled upon Steve’s site. I got very lucky with my timing, Steve was having a welcome home party from a trip to Russia and after reading my e-mail he invited me to join. I told him I’d love to shoot and check things out, told him I had experience with extreme conditions (thanks to parkour shooting) and he agreed to take me down if I would capture footage to make a short reel for him since he was about to move out of town to attend grad school. After the first night of filming where I injured my shin and ankle we became close friends and realized we loved going into the tunnels for the same reasons. We kept filming almost every night for a month.

 

After a week of filming I realized we had something that was more than just a montage and thought we could develop it as a TV show. I put a teaser online to gauge interest (it was huge) then developed a structure/format for a show. I then took my favorite adventures from the filming to create a short doc to showcase them along with Steve.

 

Some people criticize the piece for not showing enough of the environments. I have all that footage but this was a choice because I wanted the film to be an intense character piece on Steve and his passion for what he does. After a few cuts I realized the film felt even more intense when we took out establishing shots and always stayed within a few feet of him.

Background
Andrew is a filmmaker at heart. By the time he was 20 — and while still a student at NYU film school — he was accepted into the International Cinematographer’s guild, working as an AC, but “after a few real sets I fell very out of love with ‘traditional’ shooting.” He wanted intimacy with his subject — an intimacy found when shooting stills with “my Nikon F and Rangefinders. Those small cameras always allowed me to connect with my subject better than any traditional video camera and I always dreamed of them capturing motion.”

 

So with the release of the Canon 5D Mark II, Andrew said, “I had finally found my paintbrush.” And “using the 5D with canon lenses is the perfect mix of Panavision and Fujinon.”

Black magic in the 5D
Indeed, Andrew loved to use other cameras, such as the Sony EX1 and F900, as well as “ENG cameras because of the way they shot quick and handled, but with my Canon lenses I can shoot quicker and more efficiently than any other camera out there. The other thing about the 5D is that it’s the first video camera I used that everyone who sees the footage has a emotional response to. Even the F3 still feels like a video camera (raw, lifeless, etc) as do most current film stocks (vision 3 is flat/lifeless). There is some black magic in the 5D (especially in the dark or mixed lighting situations) that makes it a clear choice for me at this point.

Although he hates “how people compare [Canon 5D Mark II] and use it like a true cinema camera. I was a union AC and used every film camera out there. The 5D is no cinema camera.” Rather, he feels it’s “something completely different and when you treat it as such you can get amazing results.”

 

The strengths of the camera lies in the fact that it is a part of the evolution of cinema history, Wonder says. “We are at a place in cinema where for the first time in 100 years we have tools to make films NOTHING like what we’ve seen before. The 5D can go places and capture emotion in ways no camera has been able to do. I really feel like when people let go of the notions of ‘legitimate’ cinema and stop trying to make everything look cinematic and embrace these new tools everyone can make films audiences have never seen before.”

 

Testing out the 5D with parkour videos
Before shooting “Undercity,” Wonder tested the camera’s ability to “see if the 5D could handle action and extreme environments (like my Rangefinders),” Wonder explains. “We actually shot one with Steve who took the athletes to some real funky abandoned places upstate New York (http://vimeo.com/18064000) and a cool one with EX1s (this was before clients believed the 5D could do anything) where we shut down a state fair and I would climb rollecoasters with them as they jumped (http://vimeo.com/17746153).

 

Broadcast work using the 5D
Wonder has not only used Canon’s 5D for personal work, but he has also shot two reality shows for MTV with it. One, The Real Show Choir, “was shot almost completely wide open on a 50mm 1.4 and was aired pre-House,” Wonder says. “The second aired this fall and was the 200th episode of MTV’s MADE. I shot it with a Sigma 24-70 and a beta copy of the Beachtek DXA-SLR (which I burned through 5 of before figure out how to make it production ready). I still prefer the zoom H4N to the Beachtek but when you are giving a network 12-16 hours of footage a day not having to sync is a lifesaver.”

 

TIPS and TRICKS — THE TECHNIQUES OF ANDREW WONDER

 

Andrew Wonder’s approaches to shooting includes evolving from a Zoom H4n to the smaller Zoom H1 and manually focusing by muscle memory rather than using the LCD screen. The following are the techniques he used while filming “Undercity” in his own words.

 

Creating intimacy in “Undercity”
I had seen a lot of videos of TV programs that had dealt with this subject matter and they always felt bland and emotionless. People seem to have so many preconceptions of the mythical world of the underground that I wanted to play with those fears and tensions while still teaching a bit of history.

 

Emotionally I hoped that if I was always within five feet of Steve and if he was always speaking to me, the way he would take a girl on a date, you would have a true visceral experience when watching. What also makes this shooting style effective is that since you never see my reaction to the situations then audience members are forced to project their preconceived notions about the dangers of the underground onto the film creating even more tension. We took this idea even further in the edit using a mix of quicker jump cuts with drawn out long takes to keep an continual sense of uneasiness.

 

Creating the look in-camera using Portrait picture style at 2800K
I used a custom profile based on the portrait setting in the PP menu. I wanted everything to pop and I didn’t want to do it in post. We were almost always shooting at 2500 ISO or above so I knew that any grading (no matter how minor) would make the footage even noisier. I also think the skin tones are nicer in the portrait settings (with the right white balance and color tone) than the neutral.

 

For white balance I always use 2800K for tungsten lighting. I felt like it was handling mixed lighting better than 3200K.

 

Getting clean audio and saving a Zoom with rice
We were always using the Zoom H4N but originally we were putting it on a hot shoe on top of the camera with the lav receiver velcroed to the back of it. That worked for a while until I was climbing out of a sewer and the zoom hit the manhole and fell into the sewer. Somehow by immediately putting it in a bag of rice when I got home both were saved and still work to this day.

 

Andrew Wonder’s audio set-up. Courtesy of Andrew Wonder.

 

After this failure I started wearing a AC pouch with the Zoom H4n and receiver on my belt which gave me more flexibility. Recently I’ve switched over to using the zoom H1 because it’s so small and sounds great. The 1/8″ in works great with my lavs. I also now put another H1 on top of my camera with a hot shoe adaptor to get me nice stereo recording of the ambiance in the tunnels. I learned that using a traditional shot gun (like the rode mono video mic) is not good in the tunnels because you’re mostly looking at someone’s back and all the creepy noises really mess with the audio gain and don’t record well. The stereo recording (even the in-camera audio) mixed with the lav on the zoom created a really nice mood where you got to hear my actions and Steve’s. I would record the entire shoot without stopping and then used PluralEyes to sync up in Final Cut Pro.

 

Shoulder brace
The biggest invention that saved my life was the Zacuto Rapid fire (now Striker). At first when trying to put it in my arm pit I hated it, but I quickly discovered that I could hold it in a bayonet position which would allow me to run backwards and forwards while keeping the camera steady (as opposed to the arm pit method which only worked when I stood still). What I loved about the rapid fire is that when you need it, it’s there but when the camera is on a strap over my shoulder it’s like nothing is attached to the camera. For camera straps I prefer my old Sony DV strap because I can draw/drop it much quicker than the canon. It’s also more inconspicuous when trying to get the camera to a hidden location.

 

Zacuto’s Rapid Fire (now Striker) at work in the hands of Andrew Wonder. Photo courtesy Andrew Wonder.

 

Lens
I used the Canon 24mm f/1.4L Mark I. I tested both versions and felt like the version 1 was a little softer in a good way (I swore the moire problems were less pronounced) and the flares looked more cinematic. I fe:lt like the Mark II tried to hide the flares with its fancy modern coating but the times they did show up it was much uglier and since I wasn’t shooting stills I couldn’t Photoshop them out. Sadly I had to use the UV filter (creating more flares) because of all the muck down. Originally I wasn’t using the lens shade but when we were climbing out of a station I smashed the front of my lens pretty hard and realized it was very helpful for protection.

 

Zone focusing with muscle memory
I am a huge Zacuto Z-Finder fan but it would have been way too dangerous to shoot in the tunnels with it. 90% of the time I was either running, climbing or watching out for obstacles (3rd rail, etc) and had to shoot/focus without looking at the LCD screen. To focus it I had to go back to my rangefinder training and try to use zone focusing. I spent a few days with the lens and trained my hand to know the distance for a close up, medium shot, wide shot, and infinity on the lens. When we were running through the tunnels I used muscle memory to keep Steve in focus and rack to the background when necessary. I bought the camera right before shooting this piece and got used to pulling Canon lenses with my hand that now I can’t focus anywhere near as accurately with a follow focus or longer rotation focus barrel.

 

Lighting
We used all natural light. In situations where it was too dark I would give Steve a Litepanel miniplus to use as a flashlight

 

Editing and sound design: Put little music the mix (use nat sound)
My editor, Matt Kliegman (steamclam.com) and I spent a lot of time figuring out the right feel for the piece. From the start I wanted to keep things authentic and honest. I didn’t want to use inserts, cutaways, or any other editing tricks that I feel “lie” to your audience. We chose jump cuts to preserve the feel of the real adventure.

 

There are several moments where we use the transition from quick cuts to long shots to help build tension. We purposely put enough jump cuts at the beginning so that when you hit the first true long shots (especially Steve leaving City Hall) you instinctively know something is going to happen if we’re not cutting away. I think this technique was very effective throughout the whole film.

 

Another HUGE asset to the rhythm of the piece was the work of my golden eared sound mixer Robin Shore from Silver Sound (silversound.us). We worked really hard to make the trains the loudest sounds in the whole piece so when they do show up it’s a big shock. I am not a big fan of music in films because I feel like it always takes you out of the moment (even if it helps add more emotion). I have worked with Silver Sound the past few years to create a system where I use a combinations of lav and stereo ambience to help build soundscapes in post. This was an excellent example of how the technique can be effective to build more authentic emotion than a music track.

 

Final words of advice
Fortune favors the bold. Stop reading the internet and worrying about messing up. Make your HDSLR a part of you and march bravely towards cinema. Don’t worry about the problems (artifacting, moire patterns, rolling shutter) and push yourself to get places no camera has ever gone before.

 

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Kurt Lancaster, PhD, is the author of “DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video, Focal Press, 2011.” He teaches digital filmmaking and multimedia journalism at Northern Arizona University’s School of Communication.

Why I dropped the Red Scarlet Dream and Got a Canon 5D Mark II

UPDATED 6 November 2011
 
I’m no longer dreaming of Scarlet, but the Canon Cinema DSLR.
 
The Scarlet dream was essentially crushed due to its delay and as that day has finally arrived (3 Nov. 2011), I’m glad I didn’t wait. I can’t afford this dream. But the Scarlet-X announcement wasn’t really that shocking. As I noted when I wrote the original article back in March:
 

Jim Jannard, the founder and visionary behind the RED camera, explained how the higher-end Scarlet is being renamed the Epic-S (a light version of the Epic-X) and it will be a professional camera priced at about $12,000 — and that this will be shipping after the Epic M and X models.

 
The writing, apparently, was on the RED User wall, for all to read. The higher-end Scarlet didn’t become the Epic-S — it became the Scarlet-X, and all lower end models (3K and less expensive) went out the door. Many were in denial, but the Canon 5D Mark II was the game-changer that sunk the original Scarlet ship. Believe me, I was holding out for the original $3500 Scarlet, then I thought maybe I could save enough for a $6500 Scarlet, but then I saw the 5D Mark II in the artistic hands of Shane Hurlbut, ASC on the set of Po Chan’s “The Last 3 Minutes”:
 

 
I observed, I thought, I asked questions. I changed my mind. That’s what critical and creative thinkers do. We don’t hold on to one way of doing things. Otherwise we become rigid and old. I purchased a 5D Mark II with several Zeiss Contax lenses and Canon’s 70-200mm f/2.8 — all cheaper than the old $6500-7000 Scarlet. I have no regrets. I never feel like I’m shooting video or shooting on a video camera when the 5D Mark II is in my hands. It feels like the time I shot on 16mm film with an Arriflex camera back at NYU. I feel excited about filmmaking again. (I never felt that way with 1/3-inch prosumer video cameras.)
 
Because of the 5D Mark II and the subsequent sales of Canon’s 7D ($1700), 60D ($1000), and Rebel models (under $1000) the prosumer video camera market — formerly stuck in the 1/3-inch sensor scale (17.3mm squared), evolved. They had to. And Panasonic’s AF100 (micro 4/3 sensor at 178mm squared) and Sony’s FS100 (S35 sensor at 313.9mm squared) at about $5000 (for the body) sealed the deal against the lower-priced, 2/3-inch (58.1mm squared) Scarlet’s fate. RED would have to release a $3000-35000 Scarlet with that chip size to stay competitive with DSLRs and the newer prosumer video cameras. But that was never their market — they’re selling the camera of the 4K and higher future.

And Canon, with its concept 4K cinema DSLR (mirrorless) to be released, perhaps, within 12 months, is already nipping at RED’s heal, trying to buy into that future pioneered by Jim Jannard and his team.
 
——————————-
ORIGINAL article 1 March 2011:
It appears that the HDSLR revolution may have forced the original vision of RED’s Scarlet into extinction. OK, as Mr. Spock said, an exaggeration. But it has been nearly three years since the original announcement at NAB, and still no Scarlet:

 

 

No Film School posted how the high end Scarlet is being replaced by the Epic-S camera for around $12,000 (formerly announced at nearly $7,000).

 

Jim Jannard, the founder and visionary behind the RED camera, explained how the higher-end Scarlet is being renamed the Epic-S (a light version of the Epic-X) and it will be a professional camera priced at about $12,000 — and that this will be shipping after the Epic M and X models:

 

I know many of you are waiting to hear what is happening on the EPIC-S front. While I still don’t have final details from the engineers, here is what we know now.

 

1. We have moved from the less robust Scarlet S35 chassis to the EPIC S35 chassis (like going from the economy car frame to the truck frame). Pro, not prosumer. [...]

 

5. Price has risen due to the chassis and HDRx™ change/additions. Expect somewhere in the neighborhood of $12K. Package prices will be posted as soon as we are sure what they will be. We will not post another “interim” price structure in the meantime. Next price posting will be final.

 

6. EPIC-S will use the same production line as its big brothers (which we are setting up now in California) so there will be no additional delays to produce this model. However, the EPIC-M and EPIC-X models will be released 1st as has previously been noted. [...]

 

Given the competitive landscape, we think that the EPIC-S will have no price/performance competition. Think 5K, REDCODE RAW, HDRx™, record to SSD, modular system, size of a Hasselblad with many mature professional workflow options. (Epic-S (old Scarlet S35) update, Jan. 1, 2011).

 

I was — and still a little — excited about the Scarlet. Last year, I researched my book, DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video (Focal Press, 2011):

 

During this research, I interviewed Ted Schilowitz, Number 2, at Red, and he discussed how Red is focused on resolution as the key to attaining cinematic image quality:

 

We at Red are resolution fiends. We believe the more the better. We believe in the history and the legacy of celluloid and the reasons why film has lasted so long and has been so successful through so many other technological changes is that there is a nice amount of usable resolution in shooting 35 mm film to get it up to large size cinema screens.

 

In short, HDSLRs are good as “still cameras”, but limited resolution prevents them becoming cinema cameras, Schilowitz feels.

 

Indeed, many people, including me, held out, hoping for the release of Red’s Scarlet any month now. Even last month we saw footage of a real Scarlet, so we know it’s coming sometime (perhaps at this year’s NAB — but I’m not holding my breath):

Ted Schilowitz shows of the Scarlet, recently at the Consumer’s Electronic Show:

 

 

While doing this research in Los Angeles last March, in which I interviewed Philip Bloom, Jared Abrams, Ted Schilowitz, Jeremy Ian Thomas, Neil Smith, Shane Hurlbut, ASC, among others for the book, I planned on purchasing a Scarlet. I came out of the Red Studios tour with Schilowitz convinced that holding out for the best was the way to go. In Schilowitz’s words at the end of the interview:

 

If you are looking to move into a camera that is going to be very affordable, that is going to shoot the kind of motion picture images you want, extract the kind of stills that you want to get out of it simultaneously, and you are not an EPIC customer because you are not talking about $30 to $40 thousand dollars in terms of the full-on set of gear (which is still remarkably inexpensive for professional use), but if you are under that [budget], if you are an indy film maker, a student film maker, if you are a high end amateur, then look at the success that has come before with the Red One and make a choice because [the Scarlet] is like a miniature version of that.

 

Great resolution, great functions (XLR inputs, RED RAW codec, and so forth) — why would I get a Canon 5D Mark II if I can get a cinema camera for another $1500 or so. Get real.

Then I darted over through the Hollywood traffic to Hdi RAWworks and talked with Neil Smith, the company’s CEO, who had originally developed it as a postproduction house for the Red camera. He told me last March (2010) that Red would have a hard time delivering the Scarlet, because they didn’t have the infrastructure to handle a large volume of sales that, for example, Canon was getting with their cameras.

 

I wasn’t convinced. Any company can market a product and get it to the consumers’ hands. However, here’s Smith’s clincher that made me doubt my Scarlet dreams (as transcribed in my interview with him):

 

We are a Red house, we know image quality, we graded the first 4K images off of the first spread. We understand all about color space and resolution. And then we got Rodney [Charters, ASC, dp of 24] to come in here one day and do a comparison test. [...] And they shot here on the lot a Red, a [Canon] 5D and a [Canon] 7D. And I don’t know if Jeremy [Ian Thomas] showed you the footage? He should have, if he didn’t show it to you, you should have a quick look at that. Because we did this. Rodney was with us for a day.

 

He shot Red, 5D, and 7D and we made this nice little story and they shot it here on the lot and we showed this intercut demo to hundreds of people, ASC DPs, independent filmmakers, documentary makers [...]. And we actually showed [the film] in a room of 200 filmmakers at HD Expo in October of last year. We asked everybody, if you can guess absolutely correctly which is Red, 5D, which is 7D and we will buy you the best meal you ever had. Have not had to buy a meal.

 

My heart beat faster. What? Professional image makers couldn’t tell the difference? I mean, haven’t scientific tests (as Schilowitz mentioned in his interview) been done?

In fact, chip chart tests support Red’s position:

 

 

Certainly, the 7D looks weak on this chart. Why couldn’t these filmmakers see it? At the end of the interview, Smith walked me over to Jeremy Thomas’ editing suite and they put up Rodney Charters, ASC film — “Dream in Possible” — onto a studio quality plasma screen:

 

 

They offered me the same deal. Guess which camera was behind particular shots, and they would give me a free meal. I guessed wrong, just like many of the others — including, according to Smith, Schilowitz himself.

 

Later, doing additional research, I came across Jared Abrams’s (Cinema 5D news) interview with Lucasfilm’s head of postproduction, Mike Blanchard, who felt that DSLR footage wouldn’t hold up to the big screen — but then discovered otherwise:

“Certainly when we just look at the footage and put it on a big screen it holds up way better than it has a right to,” he says. A lot of people get caught up in the numbers game, comparing one type of camera to another, he continues, such as the argument that

 

film is 4K, blah, blah, blah. You know, it’s really not, because nobody ever sees a projected negative. So by the time you do a release print and [put it] through its paces, it’s no way near [what] a lot of people claim that it really is. So the great part about working at Lucasfilm, for people like Rick [McCallum] and George [Lucas] — working for them — is that you just show them things and that’s where it ends. We don’t do little charts about how it doesn’t have that or it doesn’t do that. We make it work. And that’s just a beautiful way to do work, because it opens up everything. (Interview with Jared Abrams, 15 April 2010).

 

 

Blanchard is right in the 2K world, but 4K? Perhaps film does drop to around 2K after it comes to our local theaters, but when those local theaters start screening on 4K projectors, then Red’s ahead of the game.

 

Despite all of this, I decided to purchase a Canon 5D Mark II and never looked back. If the Scarlet came out for $3700, perhaps I would consider it, but whatever the new price will be (perhaps $5,000, but perhaps higher), it’s still a lot more than a $800 Canon Rebel — and, yes, deservedly so (the Scarlet will out perform the Rebel, so there’s no argument there).

 

And now Sony and Panasonic have released prosumer video cameras with larger chips, because they realized that there’s a market for cinema-like cameras and the ENG market — at least for low budget cinema makers, independents, and cinema students — just wasn’t good enough when faced with the soul of the Canon HDSLR camera.

 

I’ve seen Lena Dunham’s Tiny Furniture, beautifully shot by Jody Lee Lipes on a Canon 7D. I watched it at New York City’s Independent Film Channel movie theater in November — so it was on a big screen. Here’s a preview:

 

 

In short, the story’s good and the 7D delivered a strong cinematic image (despite all the published information about its weaknesses with moire, rolling shutter, chip charts, blah, blah, blah, to quote Blanchard from Lucasfilm). The movie delivered, because it had a strong story and I didn’t see any weaknesses in the cinematography, despite it being shot on a $1700 camera. The camera can deliver a cinematic look in the hands of a good cinematographer.

 

And in my classroom of 24 students in an introduction to video production class at Northern Arizona University, every one of them loved using Canon’s Rebel T2i (the School of Communication purchased 18 of them). Some of my students purchased their own cameras, and for $800 how can you go wrong?

 

Even if you have to spend another $1,000 to get good audio and other accessories, you’re still paying less than a prosumer video camera. And for the first time in eight years of teaching such classes, I’m seeing better looking images coming out of that little Rebel than $3500 video cameras. And now I’m teaching a class on DSLR Cinematography. It could be taught with prosumer video cameras, but why waste the money on a $3500 camera, when you can do more with an $800 camera?

 

Let’s face it, it appears Canon beat Red at their own game (at least in the $2K market).

—-

Kurt Lancaster, PhD, is the author of “DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video, Focal Press, 2011.” He teaches digital filmmaking and multimedia journalism at Northern Arizona University’s School of Communication.

Magic Lantern for Rebel T2i/550D — a key tool for DSLR video journalists and filmmakers

UPDATED 1-30-12

I teach in the School of Communication at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, where we have purchased 18 Canon Rebel T2i for our intro video production class (EMF 225 Production Techniques). We have limited funds, so the price point was perfect, especially when combined with the kit lens, spare battery, Rode VideoMic Pro, windscreen, 16GB memory card, a 50mm f/1.8 lens, UV filters, headphone adapter cable, a tripod, and a bag–which puts the kit at around $1500. (The equipment page on this site lists the Canon 60D package — go to this link for the Rebel T2i (550D) package I’ve put together at B&H.)

Yes, we purchased a number of Canon 60D kits for our advanced classes — with its manual control of audio and swivel LCD screen — but for half the price you can get a camera that puts out an image just as strong.

And with the firmware hack, Magic Lantern, for free (you should donate to help the cause), you can’t go wrong. It includes disabling of the automatic gain control (AGC) for audio — which is absolutely key when you want to even attempt to get usable audio in your footage. Furthermore, it puts the audio bars on top of the LCD so you can see what the audio is doing — and you can buy a Sescom cable and plug in headphones! In addition, it includes a spot meter, zebra patterns, histogram, and crop marks for safety zones (for broadcast purposes) — and one of the coolest things: blue pixels light up the focus plane, so you don’t have to wonder if you’re close on the focus — you know you’re there. You can even dial in color temperature, which is a feature of the more expensive Canon cameras!

I have installed it on one of my school’s Rebels and it works great! Be sure to go to the config menu and save any changes. The firmware also works for the 60D and 5D Mark II — but not the 7D, and the audio tools (including the headphone jack) do not work on the Rebel T3i (600D).

I love the fact that the LCD brings up the percentage figure of exposure on the spot meter and it provides the focal length on my zoom lens and it gives me the focal distance of what is in focus (in cm)! This means you can mark focus with tape. Most excellent!

Ok, the pic is a bit blurry because I used a Droid to take this image:

Image by Kurt Lancaster based on Dec. 2011 build. The audio meters change color (green for within the zone, yellow getting hot, red for clipping). The focus distance is in cm/meters. The exposure percentage occurs within the area of the rectangle, center (which indicates a 6% exposure in the dark are of the Christmas tree). While the histogram hovers above center to the right.

The install instructions are located here:

http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Unified/install

The user guide instructions is located here:

http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Unified/UserGuide

Here’s my short guide (I take no responsibility for failed installs and damage to your camera. Proceed at your own risk):

1) Be sure the Rebel has the latest firmware release (1.0.9). If not, then go Canon’s website and get the latest firmware, then Scroll to the bottom of this page and hit “I agree”: http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eosdigital7/firmware.html. You’ll be taken to another page where you can download the firmware. Place the file on your memory card. Put the camera in manual mode on the top dial and dial over to the third toolbar menu. Go to firmware and click on it to update. Let it do it’s thing.

2) Download the firmware from this page: (22 Dec. 2011), http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Release_2011Dec22 and unzip it, or go to the direct link, here: DOWNLOAD

3) Plug in your camera’s memory card to your computer and delete Canon’s 1.0.9 firmware from the card.

4) Copy all of the MagicLantern files to the card (don’t place it in any folders).

5) Put the memory card back into the camera.

6) Update the MagicLantern firmware as if you’re doing step 1: Put the camera in manual mode on the top dial and dial over to the third toolbar menu. Go to firmware and click on it to update. Let it do it’s thing.

7) Pull out the battery for about 10 seconds and turn the camera off.

(8) Dial the camera to video mode. Turn on the camera and hit the delete button to bring up the menu.

9) The camera will use Magic Lantern with this card. If you want to use it on other cards, then you will need to install the same files.  Delete the files manually (and empty the trash). The card should be formated about once a month to keep it clean.

10) Read the Users Guide to see what each function does.

My settings:

Audio:
Default settings for audio, including AudioMeter: ON

Video:
Global Draw: ON (turn it OFF and ON again by using the SET button)–this will clear the Magic Lantern text on the LCD screen
Histogram: ON
Zebras: OFF (I prefer to see my shot without all the red and blue graphics getting in the way)
CropM: OFF (I only need it if I want the “safety” zones, which I really don’t worry about)
Spotmeter: ON

Shoot
Trap Focus: OFF
ISO: Here you can dial in ISO settings beyond what Canon provides.
Shutter: You can choose shutter increments beyond what Canon provides.
White Bal: Hit the SET button to dial in your color temperature.

Brack [Test bracket]–I don’t use it.

Focus–I don’t use this since I focus manually.
Focus peaks: Superb. Allows for critical focus with glowing pixels on the focal plane.

Debug–Don’t go there unless you know what you’re doing.

 

——————–

Kurt Lancaster, PhD, is the author of “DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video, Focal Press, 2011.” He teaches digital filmmaking and multimedia journalism at Northern Arizona University’s School of Communication.

Input source must be the same says Travis Fox when using PluralEyes

I organized a conference panel on DSLRs Tips & Tricks at this year’s Online News Association conference held in Washington, DC on Oct. 30.

 

Panelists included Danfung Dennis (http://www.danfungdennis.com/), whose documentary on the war in Afghanistan puts you right into the action with his 5D Mark II. Rii Schroer, crafting short news pieces for The Telegraph and The Times in London, works magic with her 5D. Travis Fox, formerly of The Washington Post and currently shooting a variety of projects, including material for PBS Frontline, discussed his use of the 7D and how he developed his DSLR to work like a video camera. This post will focus on his audio set-up.

 


(Photo by Mark Mann. From http://blog.travisfox.com/)

 

As you can see, he wants to utilize an external monitor, so it operates like an LCD swivel on a regular video camera. In addition, notice his M-Audio MicroTrack II for about $150, half the price of the Zoom H4n.

 

Notice how Fox uses an XLR to 1/4″ TRS input of the MicroTrack (it doesn’t have XLR inputs), and then uses the RCA audio outputs to the stereo minijack input of his Canon 7D. This creates the same source recording of the on-camera reference audio that he feels is needed for PluralEyes, while providing him high quality broadcast quality audio by recording directly to the MicroTrack. Furthermore, he uses a 1/4″ TRS male to 1/8″ male mini jack for his wireless lav receiver.

 

Travis Fox on the advantages of using an external audio recorder
“I record audio separately on an M-Audio MicroTrack recorder. The last documentary I did was a one hour documentary and we did a hundred hours of footage. I would sync it every night. … One of the disadvantages of [Canon DSLRs] is that you have to start and stop the camera every twelve minutes. When we’re doing an hour, two, three, four hour long interview stopping your subject every twelve minutes can be problematic. So it’s another advantage for using an external recording device, because it can run constantly for hours and hours and hours on end — so you have clean audio uninterrupted. And for the second you have to stop and start the camera, you can cover that with a cutaway or any other shot in postproduction, but you never have to stop the natural flow of an interview.”

 

Why Fox likes the M-Audio MicroTrack II
“It has an headphone out, as well as a line out. The line out goes into the camera so the camera records exactly the same audio source. The other recorders don’t have the two outputs, I believe. And if your camera isn’t recording the exact same source, then PluralEyes will not work effectively. If you’re using an on-camera mic and … recording to an audio recorder, it’s a disaster. It’s a waste of your time. Don’t do it. You have to record exactly the same source. If you’re using wireless mics, it has to be exactly the same source. And that’s why I chose the MicroTrack recorder. With PluralEyes, when I’m doing it, I’m getting between 95 and 100 percent accuracy [when syncing].”

 

PluralEyes is the audio sync software put out by Singular Software for around $150. I’ve encountered similar problems as Fox when when I used PluralEyes to sync a short documentary and a short fiction piece I shot on a Canon 5D Mark II with the Rode Video Mic and a Tascam DR-100 — hooked up to a Rode NTG-2 XLR shotgun mic. My success rate was not even ten percent.

 

Although it appears that other people may not have run into the same problem as Fox and me. In a recent email, Bruce Sharpe of Singular Software told me, “While [the direct source recording used by Fox] would certainly provide ideal data, I can assure you that many, many people use PluralEyes successfully every day without having to do that. We’d be very interested in analyzing any recordings where the sync failed and that was thought to be the reason.”

 

I would be interested in getting your experiences on using PluralEyes. Does separate sources work for you? If so, what percentage are you finding syncing up? I’m planning to purchase a MicroTrack II and test out Fox’s setup and see if I get a better success rate.

 

XLR adapters don’t meet high end professional standards
By the way, Fox doesn’t use the DSLR XLR adapters, since audio engineers at Frontline says such adapters don’t meet their high quality broadcast standards. “It’s not even close to meeting their specs, according to them — these are their professional standards people,” Fox said during the ONA panel discussion.

 

If you’re doing run-and-gun shooting and need good audio and want a clean way to make sure PluralEyes is working for you, check out Fox’s advice.

 

If you’re doing web-based projects, Beachtek and JuicedLink XLR adapters will do the trick, but if you need to meet professional broadcast standards — or if you’re doing a cinema project needing high end audio — then use an external digital audio recorder.

 

If you want the MicroTrack II setup, be sure to get the following cables:
3.5mm right angle mini jack to RCA
1/4″ TRS male to XLR female
If you’re using a wireless lav receive, also get a 1/4″ TRS male to 1/8″ mini jack male.

 

——————–
Kurt Lancaster, PhD, is the author of “DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video, Focal Press, 2011.” He teaches digital filmmaking and multimedia journalism at Northern Arizona University’s School of Communication.

Philip Bloom gets a copy of my DSLR Cinema book from Focal Press

The DSLR Cinema book is almost available for order. Amazon lists the official release date as Nov. 2, but it’s available there preorder.

 

Philip Bloom picked up an advanced copy in Boston last Friday.

 

 

What others are saying about the book:

 

“A huge thank you to Kurt Lancaster for giving a voice to HDSLRs in this new trail-blazing book.”
– (Shane Hurlbut, ASC) (DP of Terminator Salvation)

 

“This book should be in every camera bag. A rich, comprehensive, and poetic examination of how filmmakers and cinematographers are creating stunning moving imagery with HDLSRs.”
– Rodney Charters, ASC (DP of TV series, 24).

 

“Kurt has written a masterpiece in HDSLR books — something that everyone starting to make a movie should read. It is like film school 101 and planet5D all wrapped together in a book. The thing that sets Kurt’s book apart from the other HDSLR training DVDs and books is the expanded look at several different short films. Breaking them down piece by piece (not only the images but the story as well) to help the student understand what went into the films and what to learn from each one.

 

Sure, there’s good coverage of the very basics of moviemaking (lighting, equipment, rigs, movie terms etc.) for those who are new or moving from stills. And yet there’s also much more detail in the basics than most of the other materials I’ve seen. Detail you can learn sink your teeth into and learn from.

 

At planet5D, we ask moviemakers to give us details about a particular shoot — but with Kurt’s book, you get an entire chapter on the breakdown of Shane Hurlbut’s “The Last 3 Minutes” — much more detail than we could provide in 10 posts online.

 

With interviews of major industry players, details about making movies, both the hardware and the story side, you will find plenty to not only learn from but to enjoy in this wonderful book.”
– planetMitch (www.planet5D.com)

 

“Out of nowhere, two DSLR cameras came out, and over a period of 18 months, they have been embraced by everyone from Lucasfilm to keen enthusiasts. … This is easily the most exciting time I have experienced in my 20 or so years in the business. … It’s really good. Great job!”
– Philip Bloom, DP, Director, Filmmaker (www.philipbloom.net)

 

“It tells me exactly what I want to know – how to get the LOOK that I need. Hats off to the author for tackling this subject. It make the book INVALUABLE for the DSLR filmmaker.”
– Julian Grant, Producer/Director

 

“Fantastic Approach! By emphasizing excellent cinematography as a critical aspect of filmmaking (especially cinematography in support of storytelling), he is immeasurably helping myriads of budding filmmakers avoid making crappy-looking films. Correspondingly, by emphasizing a ‘hands-on’ approach, and providing excellent walk-throughs of specific techniques to significantly, measurably  improve the reader’s cinematography, he lifts this book high above the pack!”
– Dave Anselmi, Director, Producer, and Instructor, PracticalMysticProductions.com

 

“It will spread the revolution and introduce people to this way of thinking … it would be a must read for anyone who has been filming for a year or two and still thinks in the old ways of looking through a camera.”
– Andrew Jones, Cinematographer

 

——————–
Kurt Lancaster, PhD, is the author of “DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video, Focal Press, 2011.” He teaches digital filmmaking and multimedia journalism at Northern Arizona University’s School of Communication.