View Full Version : My first project with the 5DmkII


Glen Elliott
December 14th, 2009, 02:24 PM
Hi everyone, I excited to have just finished my project that was shot with the 5DmkII. I shot this quite a bit of time ago- in fact the first shoot (piano scene) was pre-manual control firmware! As many of you probably know my work primarily involves wedding/events and occasionally commercial and corporate work in which I use Canon XH-A1s.

At my own wedding this past February I ran into my cousin whom I haven’t seen in many years. Growing up I remember her always being involved with music with a particular affinity for piano. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she’s now a Contemporary Christian artist who just published her first album- available on iTunes and CDbaby (re: Caitlin Jane).

After I got a chance to actually listen to her album I was blown away. It sounded great, and she is extremely talented! We touched base after the wedding and threw some ideas around and decided to produce a music video for one of her newer songs entitled “Unborn”.

The song tackles the issue of teen pregnancy and abortion in loving, non-aggressive way. I was thrilled to be starting such a cool project and, as a Christian myself, to be part of something sending such a poignant message.

Thank you all for taking the time to watch.

Unborn- Caitlin Jane on Vimeo

Louis Maddalena
December 14th, 2009, 03:05 PM
I really liked that video, very emotional, great composition and lighting. The song was great too, but the video really helped it.

Wayne Avanson
December 14th, 2009, 03:31 PM
Classy Work there Glen. Very Classy.

Avey

Paul Cronin
December 14th, 2009, 07:38 PM
Nice job Glen,

What shots were with the manual firmware? Were the piano shots to the right manual or auto mode.

Thanks for sharing.

Glen Elliott
December 14th, 2009, 07:42 PM
The piano, bathroom, park, sidewalk, bedroom, baby, and car scenes were with the old firmware which required workarounds to open the iris.

The field, and ultrasound scenes were shot after the firmware update.

Paul Cronin
December 15th, 2009, 02:21 AM
Thanks Glen

Peer Landa
December 15th, 2009, 10:27 PM
Hi everyone, I excited to have just finished my project that was shot with the 5DmkII.

Wow, the lighting is really really nice. Too bad the sound is a bit distorted -- how did that happen... mismatching sample rates perhaps?

-- peer

Glen Elliott
December 16th, 2009, 09:29 AM
I noticed that too- particularly evident in the piano opening of the song. I rechecked the original AIF file and even the original timeline and it's pristine. I converted the song to 48khz before the edit so it's not a mis-match of sample rates. I rechecked the 720p file I sent to Vimeo and it's in that- so apparently it had something to do with the compression.

Brant Gajda
December 16th, 2009, 10:15 AM
Very stunning video and song. I'm impressed with your shots despite the limitations of the older firmware.

Daniel von Euw
December 16th, 2009, 10:24 AM
Brilliant images and song - i have seen it many times and its one of my favorite music-vid.

Can you tell us a little bit of the lightning? What light fixures are used and how much grading you do?


Daniel

Glen Elliott
December 17th, 2009, 12:23 PM
Brilliant images and song - i have seen it many times and its one of my favorite music-vid.

Can you tell us a little bit of the lightning? What light fixures are used and how much grading you do?


Daniel

Thanks Daniel! The only shot that was lit was the piano scene which was a simple 2-point set up. Had a diffused light (umbrella) in front of talent, and a hair light (on a dimmer) behind them.
Grading was done in Magic Bullet Looks.

Glen Elliott
December 17th, 2009, 12:23 PM
Very stunning video and song. I'm impressed with your shots despite the limitations of the older firmware.

Thanks Brant.

Jerry Mennenga
December 21st, 2009, 08:55 PM
Glen, Very nice video. The editing was sweet cutting back and forth between the singers and the woman. The movement you used was done very judiciously...


jerry mennenga
sioux city, iowa

Perrone Ford
December 21st, 2009, 09:22 PM
I really liked the piece. There were only a couple shots that felt a bit "strange" to me, but it's very creative, well lit, and well shot. Certainly should serve as a lesson to a great many of us about making art.

Thanks for sharing it with us, and good luck to your cousin. She certainly seems to have a bright future ahead.

Brian Luce
December 21st, 2009, 11:32 PM
What'd you use to get those tracking shots?