Greetings, after receiving my Sony ex1 I’ve been playing around with some of it’s different functions and decided to try and make a short by just using the lens in the macro setting. It’s just a little mess around using toy soldiers and a fake set I bodged together on the edge of my pc table (sand has gone everywhere) and decided I’d post the results seeing as I haven’t seen much macro footage from the ex1 online and thought it may be of interest to someone.

Anyway if you can, check it out and I hope you enjoy. This is my first time posting a video here, so errrm’ be easy on me ;) but please feel free to comment!!!

http://www.vimeo.com/824568

Amazing the DOF you get out of that macro setting and the audio and music really make it work as a short. Good lighting too. I very much enjoyed it!

Thanks bryan. Glad you enjoyed it

Thanks bryan. Glad you enjoyed it

This was just amazing! Very good work.

It’s just a little mess around using toy soldiers... Man, the day you do some serious work, I'll like to see it!

And it's great to see how the deeper DOF of the 1/2" sensors makes the macro shots less "artificial" than they would look with larger sensor/film sizes. I was thinking in the special FX guys, when they had to shot scale models and make them look real, it was such a pain to have everything in focus with 35mm film cameras... had to work with not so small models, and HUGE amounts of light to stop down and increase DOF... I bet they would have enjoyed working with a little toy like the EX1 rather than the big Panavision or Mitchell cameras!

David, much appreciated for the kind comments. The 1/2" sensors really make a difference, i'm still amazed at the dof i can get from this camera especially as i've only recently upgraded from a sony vx2100. Im glad you enjoyed it, thanks again.

Daniel:
David suggeseted I copy to you a post I put on the EX1 main forum:

I have been using the macro but do not feel I'm really using it right. I'm never sure at what distances it works. There seems to be a large distance between where regular focus ends and macro begins. I'm never sure at what zoom I should be and I find focusing with either MF or AF difficult.

Can someone give a short macro primer.

Thanks

Hi Michael, I had a look at your original post and the feedback you got and its pretty much solid advice as i can see. The video that i produced was the first time in my life i've ever used the macro function, so maybe some of the other guys are better equipped to answer. However what works for me personally is to frame my object by getting as close to it as i need to whilst the lens is in full wide (and in some cases zooming in more to get the desired composition), then i adjust my focus to be sharp on my target as much as possible and then slightly zoom in or out until the focus is very sharp (i always use expanded focus in this stage).

Just be very careful if filming moving objects in this mode as even the smallest move forward or backwards of the subject will cause you to lose focus which means you will have to compensate quickly.

Also removing the lens hood is a good idea SOMETIMES!!!, as it will allow more light in, as you will find when you have your camera so close to an object, if your light source is limited and behind you, you could in fact be blocking the majority of it out causing your target to look like a silhouette. I put 'sometimes' in capitals because you have to be careful of what your shooting and having your lens so close to it. I was filming scenes with sand in and i dont know about you but having my glass near enough touching sand isn’t something i fancied doing and so in my particular case i kept my lens hood on.

I hope this helps

Great advice Daniel, and made me realize I didnt even think of taking off the hood when I was shooting my Pasquini vid, spent much more time juggling lights than I needta.

Sometimes the oblivious escapes me. =)

- Ray

sometimes i'm the same Ray, im so focused on complex tasks that the simple solutions usually get overlooked hehe. Oh and on a side note, i showed a few people 'a parody of me' and they really like it, we would really like to see more films from you.

Thanks man, hoping sooner or later I can run across the source files for that so I can have a better version. Right now were trying to get my one feature "For Love & Stacie" out there, cross your fingers. =)

- Ray

Very nice. I've toyed with idea of using...um toys too.

Was the Halo 3 commercials your inspiration. Its quite similar.
Cool video.

Thanks Tom, there was no real inspiration really other than finding some toy soldiers brand new in my nephews toy box and thought it would be a perfect chance to play around with macro (i feel bad as he's still looking for them). Thanks for checking the vid out tho, i'm just working on a short film at the mo with real people lol so should have more to post soon.

Are you going to do any stopmotion with the EX1? One of the reasons I bought mine was to start doing stopmotion again after years of talking about it. Lego was my favorite for this. You can build any sets to any any camera angle. Heres one I did in my last year of Highschool. using Canon 1014xls super8.
http://www.vimeo.com/771418

That was amazing, i loved it. Let us know when you make part 2 with the ex1. I haven't done stop motion myself but may have to give it a try after watching that.

Thanks. It's never been easier to get into stopmotion than now with this camera. Take it to the next level..Fully articulated GI.Joe figures perhaps.

Had to watch it again. I thought that you used the same song that was used in the Halo3 "Believe in hero" tv commercial but I was wrong. The second song in your video was used in a Gears of War commercial (also another video game). But I found the Halo commercial on youtube if you want to check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZCQak1_55Q&watch_response

The reason I bring it up is your concept is really commercially viable. I could see your video being used to promote a History Channel show or something. Its so well done that all you would need to do is shorten to 30 seconds or however long commercials run.

Very nicely done, look forward to seeing your next one.

Thanks Tom, i had a peep at the halo commercial after your first post and i loved it, it almost made me want to do another version of mine with better figures which i might do one of the days. Thanks for the positive feedback, i plan to try and film somemore 'out the box' ideas and see where they take me but at the mo im in the middle of trying to produce my first short film with 'real people' and see if i can get my vision to come to life. Would love to get some feedback when thats complete (june).

Daniel that was a good message and idea?

Childrens toy soldiers Kids learn war through play its a natural instinct. Toy soldiers are toys, just playthings. But when you add a little reality and truth. A realization hits you. What your playing and practicing is likely to have very severe consequences like suffering loss of limbs or life etc. Something never factored into play. All the more poignant and attention grabbing for being original. Nice one

Thanks Mark, I really appreciate the positive comments and especially your interpretation of the film. Theres a few places/people that have been interested to use it but i would have to replace the music to an original track that i have rights for, which is a shame because i think the 'Mad World' track is perfect for it. So if anyone ever comes across some royalty free music or even a local band that has something that would fit nicely I'd really like to hear. Thank you :)