New Web Series "PINK" Now Online (shot w/A1)

[Blake Calhoun]

A couple months back I uploaded some test footage shot with my A1 and the Letus35 FE. We did this for a new show I was planning to produce and direct, and now that show has been shot and is in post-production.

The project is called "PINK" and will premiere online Tuesday 09.04.07 on Myspace, YouTube and the Official "PINK" website.

www.myspace.com/pinktheseries

Attached are four 1920x1080 JPEG frame grabs from the Avid timeline. These were all shot with the A1 and Letus35 FE setup at 1080 HDV 24F 1/48th shutter using Custom Preset #3. Nikon SLR lenses were used with Letus - a 24mm, a 50mm and a 85mm.

These shots are from some flashback scenes in the show. So you'll see a warm, contrasty look to reflect a past era. Color correction was done within Avid using the built-in three-way corrector, and also Magic Bullet Colorista. Additional film look was added using Boris Continuum.

I'll post the actual show(s) here once they start to run online. Rollout is one three-minute show a week for 10 weeks. This is more or less a "pilot", so we need to build an audience to allow the show to continue.

Please check out the premiere on September 4th!!!

Thanks,
Blake Calhoun

[Lloyd Choi]

Blake, those look great!

I recognize your lead on the myspace page... not sure where I've seen her before though.

Good luck with the series man

[Blake Calhoun]

Thanks for the note! Lead is Natalie Raitano. She starred on the TV show "V.I.P" with Pamela Anderson.

[Alain Mayo]

The grabs looked great, but they look out of focus

[Brent Goodale]

they do look out of focus.....

[Blake Calhoun]

Thanks, but I assure you they are not out of focus. Only thing you might be seeing is the JPEG compression of the frame grabs (and of course the Letus shallow DOF).

[Meryem Ersoz]

is a TV show debuting on the web considered a TV show? am i getting too old to sort through nuances of the vernacular? or am i simply confused?

looks nice, though.

[Chris Hurd]

I've always interpreted TV as television, so I've changed the title of this thread from "New TV Show PINK Shot w/A1 and Letus" to "Web Series PINK Shot w/A1 and Letus" to avoid any further confusion.

[Daniel Browning]

Originally Posted by Blake Calhoun

Thanks, but I assure you they are not out of focus.

The top two are obviously in perfect focus. However, the focus in the bottom left image is on the rifle, not the eyes, that may have thrown him off. The bottom right image *might* be front-focused by a smidgeon, but even if it is, I've seen worse focus accuracy on primetime television.

[Blake Calhoun]

Well, "Web TV" is a phrase we're using because when you say "Web Series" some folks don't seem to get it. Of course I guess some folks aren't sure about "Web TV" either. :) In the end you're watching a dramatic show on the Internet versus your TV, however, if you have an Apple TV you could watch it off YouTube on your TV - so is that TV? Not sure. Thing is too, we will likely make the show available on DVD so you can watch it on your TV in the end... but, all confusion aside, "Web Series" is fine and I've actually called it that for a while (but also use "TV" some).

About the focus, Daniel pretty much nailed it. The two images with the girl holding the rifle on the ground are actually crane shots that are "dollying" into her - so parts of the gun and her face slowly creep into focus as the shot moves closer (and the other parts go out of focus - purposely so of course), then finally settle on her face. I just chose frames as the shot progressed.

Remember, using the Letus you have VERY shallow DOF, sometimes only an inch or two depending on the focal length.

The other thing to note too, is all these shots have motion in them - either by the camera or the actor. So, you might catch a frame where there is slight motion and it looks slightly soft. But again, none of these shots are out of focus at all.

I'll post the actual show on September 4th and you can see for yourself. :)

Thanks for checking out the stills.

-Blake

[Blake Calhoun]

The new web series "PINK" that I've mentioned in a few previous postings is now online and ready to watch...

Easiest place to see it would be YouTube:
www.youtube.com/pinktheseries

Also can watch on Myspace:
www.myspace.com/pinktheseries

Or, on the Official website:
www.pinktheseries.com

Show was shot with the Canon XH-A1 in 24F HDV. We also used an HV20 as a B camera in a few situations and for some underwater shots. Also used the Letus35 FE adapter in many scenes.

"PINK" is a serialzed dark-comedy that will run for the next 10 weeks with a new webisode premiering each Tuesday. If you're interested you can subscribe to it on Myspace or YouTube (and we'll be on iTunes shortly too).

Lastly, we will make the show available for higher-res download (i.e. HD) in the future, and a DVD will be produced as well.

Hope you like the series. I was very pleased with the performance of the A1.

Thanks!
Blake Calhoun

[Dominik Gehring]

lol - i realy liked the preview for the second episode! :)

[Ian G. Thompson]

Looks dang good....left me wanting more.

[Blake Calhoun]

Thanks for the comments. I hope folks enjoy the show. Having the A1 made it affordable to produce and still give it a high-end look.

[Rob Gregory-Browne]

Nice work, Blake. It's nice to see budget tools being used for professional quality material. You're doing the kind of thing I was hoping someone would do on the net years ago.