On Wednesday, April 7, Bruce and Chris headed out on a shoot for a client to capture footage of three statues in Washington, DC. The client had requested the Canon 5DMkII as the camera for the project and we shot in 24p, taking advantage of the recent firmware update from Canon. We took a decent number of lenses with us and a new toy, picked up the client at Union Station in DC and then headed out to start the day.
The problem most people are aware of with the 5D is it’s inability to deliver an HD signal via it’s HDMI output when recording begins. As such, we chose to simply take the standard def output from the camera and fed that into a Panasonic BT-LH900 HD monitor — the Hoodman was an absolute must have with the sun beating down on us! The monitor also allowed our client to see what we were shooting and offer input so that they got exactly what they wanted.
We were also playing with a new toy — the 3′ Shot Shifter from Bright Devices. It’s a slider dolly that utilizes your tripod as the base and then your fluid head screws into the bowl adapter on top. Regular light stands are then used as support under the ends, allowing for a smooth move all the way through. Quite bluntly, this was THE tool for the job. It allowed us to get moves on the statues we were shooting without the time and hassle of setting up dolly and track and also gave us a much smaller footprint which, in downtown DC, is absolutely key. And although we were using it with a DSLR, the Shot Shifter is rated for larger cameras so can be used with a Varicam, CineAlta, or any 2/3″ system. Brilliant. There’s also a 22″ version for interviews, allowing the operator to perform subtle moves with the interview subject, and the mondo 5′ version.
Here’s the complete list of the gear that we used on the shoot:
- Canon 5DMkII DSLR – we love this camera.
- Canon L-series 50mm 1.2 – beautiful, beautiful lens.
- Canon L-series 16-35mm 2.8 – a fantastic wide lens.
- Nikon 85mm 1.4 – one of our cine-modified primes from RP Lenses.
- Nikon 135mm 2.0 – again, cine-modified from RP Lenses.
- Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 – we borrowed this lens for the shoot and we’re still dreaming about it, just gorgeous.
- Zacuto Z-Finder, follow focus, DSLR plate, Z-American arm and lens gears – there isn’t anyone making better quality accessories out there at this time and the Z-Finder is essential. Again: ESSENTIAL.
- Chrosziel 5×5 mattebox with the Zacuto flexible donut – shooting in the sun with a fast lens and camera made it imperative for ND filters in front of the glass, along with the requisite Polarizer.
- LightCraft Fader ND – screws right on the front of the 50mm lens and allows for very easy adjustments to the amount of ND filtration you need.
The shoot was a success, the client left happy and we sent them a hard drive with all the raw footage via FedEx the next day, after we brought it back to Visual Edge and made a back up copy.
The emergence of DSLR film-making has really been a stunning development in this industry and we’re thrilled to be a part of it. For more information feel free to give us a call at 301/530-8210 or email us at info@visualedge.tv
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