The season finally of House. It was incredible and any one who says it can't be done now, clearly has not seen what has been done. Beautiful shots and my wife who is a fan of the show and not a fan of geeky video things loved it. SO, the fan in my house just saw a great show and didn't even notice what it was shot with.

That's what its all about. We can all argue specs and issues, but it's the story and how its presented. Great season finale. So, being a House fan and a geek, I loved it.

Looked good and a good episode although I don't watch House much. Did think a few shots were too shallow (see ending focused on House in Bathroom) but that's my 2 cents! Compression held up well on Directv.

That was fantastic, to a normal viewer they will never guess what camera this was shot in.
I am curious if they choose the 5D for this final episode of the tight areas( crawl space) which makes the 5D perfect for !

Good to see a few focus lags - It's not just me but they also used them artistically in places too. I must say that's the first House episode I ever watched.

That was fantastic, to a normal viewer they will never guess what camera this was shot in.
I am curious if they choose the 5D for this final episode of the tight areas( crawl space) which makes the 5D perfect for !
I do think that was one of the main--if not the main--reason for using the 5DMII.

The mood, lighting and intimacy was just perfect. Couldn't have done it with any other system. My hats off to the Director of photography and all the crew to making this work.

Looked good and a good episode although I don't watch House much. Did think a few shots were too shallow (see ending focused on House in Bathroom) but that's my 2 cents! Compression held up well on Directv.


I really liked those shots and thought they worked great for the mood.... Just goes to show everyone has an opinion and in this case we are both right.

"House," which may be Fox's biggest show behind "Idol" can afford to use whatever set-up they want (including 35 mm film).

So that they'd use an off-the-shelf DLSR camera is news in its self. That it looked so good (and I loved that bathroom shot BTW) is nothing short of amazing. I was taught to shoot film, well, on film 20 years ago. If back then you'd tell me that a digital still camera would be able to shoot 24p 35mm quality footage, I'd have laughed in your face. Might as well tell me you had a time machine.

Simply amazing.

As a side note, I own a T2 and have been prodding my wife about upgrading to the Mark II. Tonight's ep (she loves House) may have pushed her over the edge!

john

oh man, i thought that looked great!

watched in hd and was really impressed. hats off to the house crew, they really nailed it.

"House," which may be Fox's biggest show behind "Idol" can afford to use whatever set-up they want (including 35 mm film).

So that they'd use an off-the-shelf DLSR camera is news in its self. That it looked so good (and I loved that bathroom shot BTW) is nothing short of amazing. I was taught to shoot film, well, on film 20 years ago. If back then you'd tell me that a digital still camera would be able to shoot 24p 35mm quality footage, I'd have laughed in your face. Might as well tell me you had a time machine.

Simply amazing.

As a side note, I own a T2 and have been prodding my wife about upgrading to the Mark II. Tonight's ep (she loves House) may have pushed her over the edge!

john

The finale looked terrific (as well as being one of the best House episodes.) It probably could have been shot on a T2i - but that would have been totally ridiculous! ;-)

I don't think you could have gotten quite as narrow a field of focus with a T2i as they did in some of those shots. Some of those were crazy!

The episode looked fantastic, no question. Now I find myself wishing they'd made a behind the scenes video of the making of this episode.

I do wish there had been more hospital shots, I liked seeing the 5D footage in the environments we're used to seeing for comparison sake. My wife is a huge House fan and she hasn't watched it yet, I plan to ask her if she thought anything looked or felt different about this show. I'm wondering if the thin focus will stand out to her of if she'll even notice.

I didn't think it handled skin quite as well as the high-end cameras (film or digital). But overall, very nice. I didn't see any objectionable technical flaws at all. I was mostly enjoying the show.

I thought overall it looked great although there were more than a few shots which looked softer than usual for a show. During the middle of the show I suspected they were using something other than the 5D so it will be interesting to find out if they intercut with anything else. The end scene in the bathroom did feel more 5Dish than other parts of the show. Did they actually use the H264 recording or did they record to something else?

What else could they have recorded to? You still can't get a useable HDMI signal out without cropping, right?

Did they actually use the H264 recording or did they record to something else?

Greg Yaitanes is quoted as saying they used cards and that the 12min limitation isn't a limitation in his world since 35mm stock is only 11min a cartridge.

.............During the middle of the show I suspected they were using something other than the 5D so it will be interesting to find out if they intercut with anything else. The end scene in the bathroom did feel more 5Dish than other parts of the show. Did they actually use the H264 recording or did they record to something else?

I think the difference in shots is simply stopping down. The image is lens-limited below f2 or so.

They certainly accomplished dark, intense and intimate.

I happened to misssss the episode! Strange because I think I watched all season 2 and 3 (missed 4-6). I know the online version will be up in a week or so but I want to see it on my 50". Any idea when the re-run is?

There will not be one single fan of that show who comes out after watching and says, "Hey, what did they do to my show..." The camera work was great. As a 5D owner, there were a few tale signs the camera was used, primarily shots where the operator was tring to catch up with actors movements to keep in focus, but generally they were spot on when they caught up, and in the static shots. The background scene of the initial arrival at the accident were surreal, with the extra shallow depth of field. The ability of the camera to deal with tight shooting conditions, space wise, was also evident.

I thought overall it looked great although there were more than a few shots which looked softer than usual for a show. During the middle of the show I suspected they were using something other than the 5D so it will be interesting to find out if they intercut with anything else. The end scene in the bathroom did feel more 5Dish than other parts of the show. Did they actually use the H264 recording or did they record to something else?

The director stated that 3 5Ds were used for the entire show.

I thought it looked amazing. Yes there were some things that were different than 35mm film (and some that weren't quite perfect), but the story powered through it and the sense of claustrophobia that they got by shooting in that tight space was 100% worth any of the other trade offs/flaws...

BTW, my hat is off to the focus pullers on that show - they had to have been the hardest working people on that set, and they shined.

Hugh Laurie talks about making the final episode (nothing technical or camera related)

Hugh Laurie Could Totally Be the Next Simon Cowell - E! Online (http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b181559_hugh_laurie_could_totally_be_next_simon.html)

Haven't you heard this interview with the DP?
EXCLUSIVE: In depth interview with Greg Yaitanes, Executive Producer and Director of “House” Season Finale shot on Canon 5DmkII | Philip Bloom (http://philipbloom.net/2010/04/19/in-depth-interview-with-executive-producer-and-director-of-house-season-finale-shot-on-canon-5dmkii/)
Here is a link with shots of the set-ups used:
“House” Season finale…The first DSLR filmed prime time drama ever airs tonight on FOX. Do not miss! | Philip Bloom (http://philipbloom.net/2010/05/17/first-2-minutes-of-house-5dmkii-season-finale-now-online/)

-Jonathan

Never watched House before; I watched the 720p version; I tuned in specifically to see the 5D in action... and after about two minutes i forgot why i was watching - and just watched.

A testament to capabilities of good storing telling. great actors, a great DP and a bunch of cheap DSLRs.

There MUST be some execs in Hollywood thinking about the $aving$ factor!

I had to make an effort to keep concentrating on why I was watching it.

It was just amazing really. I'm flabbergasted by how much it exceeded my already very lofty expectations. I'm betting it will win an Emmy.

I know that the main lens they used for their closeups was the canon 100mm 2.8 macro. If you look at the shot in the bathroom I think everyone is talking about, one eye is in focus and the other isn't. that's narrow DOF folks!

I try to run my lenses around F4-5.6 at 5.6 that same lens and distance will get you about 5 inches DOF which is just about right to keep a slightly wobbly head in focus and still have nice creamy backgrounds.

a 100mm lens at f2.8 focused to 8 feet away has less than 2 inches DOF.

I'm thinking about getting a 5Dmk2 now to go with my 7d for just those kinds of shots. one of the main reasons I chose the 7d is that I wanted that little bit deeper DOF to make shooting wiggly actors a little more manageable.

Haven't you heard this interview with the DP?
EXCLUSIVE: In depth interview with Greg Yaitanes, Executive Producer and Director of “House” Season Finale shot on Canon 5DmkII | Philip Bloom (http://philipbloom.net/2010/04/19/in-depth-interview-with-executive-producer-and-director-of-house-season-finale-shot-on-canon-5dmkii/)
Here is a link with shots of the set-ups used:
“House” Season finale…The first DSLR filmed prime time drama ever airs tonight on FOX. Do not miss! | Philip Bloom (http://philipbloom.net/2010/05/17/first-2-minutes-of-house-5dmkii-season-finale-now-online/)

-Jonathan

Thanks for those links... love the pics. I always assumed giant panavision class, but not so!

john

I think Greg says in the interview that they used the 50mm, and 85mm (1.2s I think) and the 100mm macro which I think is 2.8 and both the 24-70 and 70-200 which are both 2.8.

We're somewhat behind here in the UK and since I don;t have Sky or anything, it looks like I'll be waiting forever to see this.

the whole episode is available in HD on itunes.

the whole episode is available in HD on itunes.I would guess that it's only available in the US iTunes store.

I was impressed, not necessarily by the moody, murky shots, as that's right in the 5D's wheelhouse, but the clearer, brighter, deeper DOF wider shots. Didn't think the 5D had enough resolution for those. Wondering how much post processing magic went on with this episode, which made me very happy cause it looked like a real show.

A testament to capabilities of good storing telling. great actors, a great DP and a bunch of cheap DSLRs.

There MUST be some execs in Hollywood thinking about the $aving$ factor!

Execs tend to be control freaks and the limitations of the codec for colour correction in post, plus the post production costs and the time involved in dealing with the known issues of the current DSLRs would limit their use to appropriate story lines or scenes in TV dramas.

I've seen ever episode since the show began. Loved it! Oh yeah, and all the 5D stuff was neato too.