Hi,

I have a customer interesting in hiring me to shoot underwater video and possibly topside video using my Z1. The footage will be transferred to film.

Can anyone give us some examples of noteworthy film projects that successfully used the Z1?

Thanks,

Nick

Sorry, no 'films' shot with the Z1, but we do shoot a daily video podcast with the Z1...

http://www.neo-fight.tv

Best,

Benjamin


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http://www.neo-fight.tv [The "Techno-Debate" Video Podcast]

Thanks. I am thinking specifically of projects that were transferred to film in order to give the client confidence that the Z1 can do the job well.

Hey,

This movie was shot using the Z1. Pretty damn good cinematography if you ask me.

http://www.lumieremedia.com/tomorrowistoday/

Looks great John, thanks. I don't suppose you know if they shot it in 50i and what the transfer-to-film workflow was?

Looks great John, thanks. I don't suppose you know if they shot it in 50i and what the transfer-to-film workflow was?

I also would like to know that. Also, did he use a 35mm adapter?

Hi Guys

Some answers here:
http://www.lumieremedia.com//magazine-articles/kevin-c.w.-wong-on-film-video-magazine.html

Regards
Gareth

Also, you can see the trailer is on "The Lot". Anyone who enjoyed it, I'd love to get your vote!

Thanks... Frederic

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE LOT (http://films.thelot.com/films/3158)

Here's the correct link with filmmaker's intro and in the proper aspect ratio (2.35:1):

http://films.thelot.com/films/30365

Millimeter had a great article recently on Clint Eastwood's use of the Z1U in "Flags" and "Iwo Jima"...other studios are also using it for cutaways and more.

http://www.freshdv.com/2007/02/sony-z1u-supplementing-footage-for-major-motion-films.html

I shot a full film with the Z1 (and FX as B-camera) - 70 tapes! Shot it at full 60i, making sure the angles and movement were as cinema as possible to reduce video look. No, it won't be transfered to 35mm. Great small HD camera IMO.

Saw Mojave Phonebooth at the local film fest that had been shot with a Z1. Looked great - detail abound, looked fine at night, didn't spot one HDV artifact in the whole thing. It did look like it was shot on video, but I think they showed it off a BetaSP deck on the big screen, so it didn't have the resolution it could have had. I bet no one in the theatre felt that anything was off - the camera was transparent and let the actors shine through.

http://mojavephonebooth.net/

Why 60i instead of 50i? Then again, Frederic wondered why we chose to shoot my film, 9:04 A,M in 50i with CineFrame 25 vs. just 50i and deinterlacing later. It was a choice the DP Jon Fordham and I made. We have no slow motion, etc. and it means less rendering time in post.

Spot, I believe, shot some stuff, or knew of it, that went to film. I'll email him a link to this topic and get his thoughts.

heath

I've been standing on the sidelines watching the 50i vs cf25 vs 60i vs cf24 debate for awhile. But now we're seriously planning some projects this summer and the director would like it to look filmic, possibly even do a film transfer someday.

So I read back through old threads, various articles and websites... and that made my head hurt ;-) I'm pretty sure I don't want to use cineframe since that impacts resolution. So we shot some tests and I decided to use 1080i60 thinking it was a bit of a coin toss. I haven't had time to experiment much, but since I already have DVFilm Maker I'll start with it. They seem to favor 60i on their website:

http://www.dvfilm.com/fx1/index.htm

60i vs 50i

The advantage of 60i vs. 50i is that 60i can be converted directly to 24P, but 50i must be converted to 25P and then slowed down 4% upon projection in a movie theater. The slowdown (from 25P to 24P) is usually not noticable, but it does require that the dialog track be time-expanded by 4% and the music slowed down by 4% as well, before the 35mm soundtrack is made, to keep it in sync. There's no other advantage to 60i, the resolution is the same as 50i.

Interested to hear what everyone else is using.

I know this is on myspace (I have an upload size rule on my database linking to my site that I need to figure out how to get around), but here's a downconverted clip from 9:04 AM, conformed to 24p:

www.myspace.com/904am

heath

I'm with you boyd..... I don't think I've ever researched a subject so much in my life.

I have a z1.... and a fx1 ( stays on a merlin ) and since the fx1 won't record 50i, it's kept me from wanting to shoot at 50i on the z1.....

Viewing both 24cf/30cf on my 720p projector looks soft to me.... ok for closeup shots, but wide shots fall apart in comparison to 60i.

Viewing 60i that's been "smart deinterlaced" with nattress ( with 24 or 30 fps checked in the plugin ) looks much sharper and cleaner.....

lucky for me I do my post on a macpro with raid and 4GB of ram..... still takes a while but.... if I were to have a slower machine I might be more tempted to use the 30CF mode and loos the rez.

I've even been tempted to seel both cans to get a jvchd100..... but the bad lens CA bothers me..... so I'm hanging tight and trying to get it into my head that 60i is'nt a bad thing.

One thing I do quite a bit is transfer to 24 frame in DVfilm then run it back through and convert to NTSC take this copy and layer it over original 60i in your time line. Once you do this you have tons of control.You can change the opacity of the 24 frame according to the motion going on at different times. I have found you can really smooth out the film look Plus you can also color correct the 60i different than the 24 frame. Play wiyh it and I think you will be suprised at what your results will be. Besides the filmic movement, you dont lose resolution.I'm with you boyd..... I don't think I've ever researched a subject so much in my life.

I have a z1.... and a fx1 ( stays on a merlin ) and since the fx1 won't record 50i, it's kept me from wanting to shoot at 50i on the z1.....

Viewing both 24cf/30cf on my 720p projector looks soft to me.... ok for closeup shots, but wide shots fall apart in comparison to 60i.

Viewing 60i that's been "smart deinterlaced" with nattress ( with 24 or 30 fps checked in the plugin ) looks much sharper and cleaner.....

lucky for me I do my post on a macpro with raid and 4GB of ram..... still takes a while but.... if I were to have a slower machine I might be more tempted to use the 30CF mode and loos the rez.

I've even been tempted to seel both cans to get a jvchd100..... but the bad lens CA bothers me..... so I'm hanging tight and trying to get it into my head that 60i is'nt a bad thing.

dude.... I did the layer thing and your right... very nice! thanks for the tip!

Interested to hear what everyone else is using.

In spite of all the opinions for it, I don't think 60i is a good choice for a project that will be transferred to film. I believe 50i should be the choice.

Several reasons:

1) Converting 50 fields in 25 frames would be smoother. There's no combination of fields to be made by any software, according to the scene or whatever.

2) This should translate in less aberrations and less lab time, which ultimately means a smaller lab bill.

3) If you still want to go to 24 frames, which would demand an audio speed correction too, the correction is small and shouldn't provide visible problems in the image.

We did do some tests some weeks ago with a Z1, which were then transferred to film. Both from 60i and 50i.

After watching the film I can say this: those images coming from the PAL tape were much better than those coming from NTSC, very noticeable in pan movements and even subject movement. Even if I think those 60i flickering aberrations can be further corrected, they would demand more video handling.

In that test we also tested underexposure and gain settings, even going up to 18dB gain, because of some very dark situations we should be involved in. During those tests, lights were turned on, so we could also see overexposure.

I can tell you results were quite remarkable for both ends, even if some more tests should be made.