I don't know what it is but every time I go to Brackendale in Canada to watch the bald eagles up there, I always end up doing some weird city at night piece. I guess it's one of the few trips where I actually go through a city so it gives me an excuse to shoot something different. In this case, it's Vancouver BC.

Anyway, this is a pretty similar opening to another film I did, also called Brackendale but I can't help myself :)

I may or may not use this as an intro.

The shots with the long light trails and long blurs were shot with the shutter set to 1/6th, with the native lens, no Letus. The rest was with the Extreme. All at 24f. Lenses used: Nikon 50mm f1.8 and Nikon 100mm f2.8

EDIT: I made some changes and uploaded a new file.

Also, I realized that my batteries were pretty weak in the Extreme so you may see some gg in one or two shots and I think I was just out of juice.

Some pretty heavy color correction done Premiere Pro CS3.

Enjoy.

Windows 720p version:
http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/citylightsintro.wmv

720p MP4 version, will play in Quicktime player:
http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/citylightsintro.mp4

Steven:

Getting a Sorry message, indicating that you have removed many films from site pending DVD release....

Oops, try that...I fixed the links

Downloading now, looks like its going okay.

Looks like the start of a good mystery film, was waiting for the opening shot of the main character driving his or her vehicle or making his or her way down a city sidewalk. This is certainly more dramatic than your beautiful "scenic" fare, demonstrating the range of your production capabilities...

Hi
I love the Entrance! but to short ...
cheers

Hi
I love the Entrance! but to short ...
cheers

Huh, not sure what that means, but okay :)

Thank Chris.

Steven, nice stuff as expected.

Quite a while back I had asked you regarding your music sources in an email but got no response (probably got thrown in your spam bucket :). I recall seeing a post of yours once replying to someone here about that, but couldn't locate it.

You won't have to kill me. Reveal your sources! :D

www.killertracks.com

Steven, you have a nice piece, it has pure cinematic expression, the mood is conveyed nicely. The piece moves me to shoot something similar in Moscow. (when I finally get over all commercial work)
Does it seem a bit soft , to tranfer it to 35mm or even for DVD distribution?
Great music, I wonder if this music can be purchased, looked the composers up on Google, couldn't find them.
Thanks for inspiration. (sorry if I misspelled words)

Thank you Oleg. It is definitely a little on the soft side mainly because it was all handheld and I was in all kinds of positions trying to get smooth footage while the car was jerking around in traffic. All the while, I was also trying to focus using the LCD...so yeah, it's a little out of focus :)

Hi Steven,

What settings did you use to minimize the grain? I've been experimenting with my Letus Extreme, but seem to find a decent amount grain still under low lighting conditions. You seem to get away with it quite nicely.

Nicholas, I don't do anything special. I try to avoid having the gain more than zero. That's about it.

Nicholas, I don't do anything special. I try to avoid having the gain more than zero. That's about it.

Steven:

To keep things at zero gain, are you recording a fairly dark image and taking it into post to punch up ?

Not really, I tend to use a slower shutter if it gets too dark but honestly, for the most part, if it's too dark I'm going to light it or simply not shoot it. I find that shooting dark ends up looking really grainy and, unless that's the intention, it's not what I want.

Steven,

Thank you so much for all of your posts and clips. My question to you is what if you have to film something and it is darker than the camera likes. What steps would you take to improve the image without having to go past a gain of +6? Specifically, how would you adjust your vividrgb preset to accommodate for a low light situation (i.e. wedding ceremony) wihtout adding additional lighting or grain?

Jonathan Schwartz
CA Video Productions

Spectacular intro to a film. I'm definitely thinking thriller with murderer at large in the city.

Great abstract effects on the night shots. And a very cool candid of the old man crossing the street.

trish

Thank you Trish, very much appreciated.

Jonathan, I simply wouldn't use VIVIDRGB for low light situations. It was developed for relatively well-lit environments. I would probably shoot flat, one of the factory presets or one of the low light presets posted on this board.

Replaced Quicktime version with this:

http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/citylightsintro.mp4

Simply outstanding... the opening shots are great, what about the custom preset you used? Any CC?

Alex