Feature film just completed on 5d mk2 at DVinfo.net

Mark Moreve · August 23rd, 2009, 01:48 PM

Hi
I just thought you may be interested. I have just completed a two week shoot filming a 90min feature called Love Loss starring Virginnia Mckenna and Keith Mitchel entirely on the 5dmk2. You can check out the blog of the film at Love/Loss where you can also see a few of the shots from the film that the director took from the footage that we filmed. ( only a couple of the shots are from the film. I'm sure you can figure out which ones!)
I shot using my two zooms a 24 -70 f2.8 & 70 - 200 f4 and mainly worked at between 100 to 640 iso. I shot at a 50th throughout & used the neutral picture style.
As for camera hardware I used a proaim bars & wedge plate system but because the proaim follow focus broke on the 1st morning ( nightmare & going to get money back hopefully!!!) I hired a Chroziel follow focus and matte box.
Filter wise I kept it simple by using a Schneider tru pol on most exteroirs and a ND.6 & also ND grads (.3,.6,.9 & 1.2) on skys when we needed them.
Monitoring was the biggest problem I used my Sony PVM9044 but mainly just for playback. Otherwise it was mainly just using a black drape over the top of the camera ( funny how with all this technology you end up going back to old methods). This monitoring solution was not the most popular solution by the other people in the crew. The sound recordist was most un happy ( aren't they always?)
A note on sound: The mixer recorded to a sound devices compact flash card 12 channel mixer he used Audio ltd 2040 radio mics with sanken cos 11 mics and also sennheiser mkh 60's & 50's. He also used a schoepps mic on a couple of occasions. He recorded at 30fps and we did a sync test before we started. We used a Clapper board for sync.
Our Focus puller hated the Canon lenses as they do not stop rotating so we rigged up a G clamp and Noga arm system so we could stop the lens rotating. He still did distance checks at every opportunity.
A note on editing and grade.
Our editor copied each card and made 3 back ups of it. He then converted the footage to Prores HQ & is now editing. The grade is going to be done at the Mill in Soho.
I have attached a couple of shots of the camera on location ( NO red rock or Zaccuto here!!!)
All the best
Mark
P.S: I have also included a shot of the broken Pro aim Follow focus gearing that snapped (PLASTIC GEARS!!)

Wayne Avanson · August 23rd, 2009, 02:38 PM

Absolutely fascinating Mark. Thanks for sharing all the info, brilliant and Inspirational.
I'm off to Canada next month with my 5D2 to film a documentary there. Taking the 24-70 2.8L the 70-200 2.8L and a couple of 1.8 primes. Should be enough for something as seemingly simple as a documentary but I'm not sure what else might be thrown at me while there.

Cheers

Avey

Mark Moreve · August 23rd, 2009, 02:59 PM

Thanks Wayne. It was quite an experience. Good luck with the doco.

Evan Donn · August 23rd, 2009, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Moreve

This monitoring solution was not the most popular solution by the other people in the crew. The sound recordist was most un happy ( aren't they always?)

Why did the sound recordist care about the video monitoring situation?

Peter Damo · August 23rd, 2009, 05:18 PM

Good work Mark. Nice breakdown on the gear (pun intended!). I guess all including Director was familiar with the MKII and its limitations? Of course we'll all go to see the film just to see how the gear went. ; )

Thanks for the details.

Mark Moreve · August 24th, 2009, 12:57 PM

Evan Hi
The sound Recordist said that he had to have a monitor so that he could see who was talking and also so he could see the shot. I guess it is for his " production mix" but I said to him that it just wasn't possible without me losing picture and asked him "What did we do before such luxuries were available?" He did not answer and got on with it! He had his "sides" all highlighted and just got on that way. I always tried to make sure there was somewhere he could go with his cart so that he may be able to see what was going on.
It was only a minor problem but one that would be easier to live without if we could have a picture out and also the live view working, that would be great. Does Magic Lantern let that happen?

Mark Moreve · August 24th, 2009, 01:02 PM

Hi Peter
Yes the Director was well aware of the camera's limitations & what made this the perfect script for this camera is that he really didn't want any camera movement at all. He just wanted the action to happen within the scene. So apart from the odd very slow pan there is almost no movement & this was only done when the action within the frame made us have to move. The director listed Straight story and The wind that shook the barley as ideas of camera style. So this is what I tried to achieve.

Chris Barcellos · August 24th, 2009, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Moreve

Evan Hi
Does Magic Lantern let that happen?

Not yet. It has been requested. Trammel Hudson, after a 48 hour shoot this weekend indicated he would be working on HDMI fulltime output and I posted a request to include LCD on camera and monitor with image at both times. Problem with all this is we may be asking too much. A lot of PCs have with a lot more stuff on board, have issues with outputting two different formats at the same time. May take up to much computing power.

August 23rd, 2009, 01:48 PM	#1
Mark Moreve Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: london Posts: 125	Feature film just completed on 5d mk2 Hi I just thought you may be interested. I have just completed a two week shoot filming a 90min feature called Love Loss starring Virginnia Mckenna and Keith Mitchel entirely on the 5dmk2. You can check out the blog of the film at Love/Loss where you can also see a few of the shots from the film that the director took from the footage that we filmed. ( only a couple of the shots are from the film. I'm sure you can figure out which ones!) I shot using my two zooms a 24 -70 f2.8 & 70 - 200 f4 and mainly worked at between 100 to 640 iso. I shot at a 50th throughout & used the neutral picture style. As for camera hardware I used a proaim bars & wedge plate system but because the proaim follow focus broke on the 1st morning ( nightmare & going to get money back hopefully!!!) I hired a Chroziel follow focus and matte box. Filter wise I kept it simple by using a Schneider tru pol on most exteroirs and a ND.6 & also ND grads (.3,.6,.9 & 1.2) on skys when we needed them. Monitoring was the biggest problem I used my Sony PVM9044 but mainly just for playback. Otherwise it was mainly just using a black drape over the top of the camera ( funny how with all this technology you end up going back to old methods). This monitoring solution was not the most popular solution by the other people in the crew. The sound recordist was most un happy ( aren't they always?) A note on sound: The mixer recorded to a sound devices compact flash card 12 channel mixer he used Audio ltd 2040 radio mics with sanken cos 11 mics and also sennheiser mkh 60's & 50's. He also used a schoepps mic on a couple of occasions. He recorded at 30fps and we did a sync test before we started. We used a Clapper board for sync. Our Focus puller hated the Canon lenses as they do not stop rotating so we rigged up a G clamp and Noga arm system so we could stop the lens rotating. He still did distance checks at every opportunity. A note on editing and grade. Our editor copied each card and made 3 back ups of it. He then converted the footage to Prores HQ & is now editing. The grade is going to be done at the Mill in Soho. I have attached a couple of shots of the camera on location ( NO red rock or Zaccuto here!!!) All the best Mark P.S: I have also included a shot of the broken Pro aim Follow focus gearing that snapped (PLASTIC GEARS!!) Attached Thumbnails

August 23rd, 2009, 02:38 PM	#2
Wayne Avanson Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Lancashire UK Posts: 496	Absolutely fascinating Mark. Thanks for sharing all the info, brilliant and Inspirational. I'm off to Canada next month with my 5D2 to film a documentary there. Taking the 24-70 2.8L the 70-200 2.8L and a couple of 1.8 primes. Should be enough for something as seemingly simple as a documentary but I'm not sure what else might be thrown at me while there. Cheers Avey

August 23rd, 2009, 02:59 PM	#3
Mark Moreve Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: london Posts: 125	Thanks Wayne. It was quite an experience. Good luck with the doco.

August 23rd, 2009, 05:18 PM	#5
Peter Damo Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sydney, NSW Posts: 90	Good work Mark. Nice breakdown on the gear (pun intended!). I guess all including Director was familiar with the MKII and its limitations? Of course we'll all go to see the film just to see how the gear went. ; ) Thanks for the details.

August 24th, 2009, 12:57 PM	#6
Mark Moreve Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: london Posts: 125	Evan Hi The sound Recordist said that he had to have a monitor so that he could see who was talking and also so he could see the shot. I guess it is for his " production mix" but I said to him that it just wasn't possible without me losing picture and asked him "What did we do before such luxuries were available?" He did not answer and got on with it! He had his "sides" all highlighted and just got on that way. I always tried to make sure there was somewhere he could go with his cart so that he may be able to see what was going on. It was only a minor problem but one that would be easier to live without if we could have a picture out and also the live view working, that would be great. Does Magic Lantern let that happen?

August 24th, 2009, 01:02 PM	#7
Mark Moreve Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: london Posts: 125	Hi Peter Yes the Director was well aware of the camera's limitations & what made this the perfect script for this camera is that he really didn't want any camera movement at all. He just wanted the action to happen within the scene. So apart from the odd very slow pan there is almost no movement & this was only done when the action within the frame made us have to move. The director listed Straight story and The wind that shook the barley as ideas of camera style. So this is what I tried to achieve.