Feature Film Entirely with A1+Brevis at DVinfo.net

Andrew Waite · July 31st, 2008, 10:12 PM

I finally got the Trailer for my film up on my website. The film is a SAG "Ultra-Low Budget" shot in 14 days. The entire film was shot with the Canon XH-A1 equipped with a Brevis 35mm adapter. It was a lot of fun to shoot, not so much fun to edit, but an all around great experience. Now we have the task of trying to find someone to buy it and distribute it, wish us luck!

You can see the trailer HERE: http://www.higherdefinitionmedia.com...log&Itemid=111

And here are a few production stills:

Jack Colmenero · July 31st, 2008, 11:12 PM

Hi Anderew,

Wow, an entire feature film with the A1! We've all got to see this, but we can't see any video. I'm using Safari as my browser (Mac 10.4 OS). Let me know what we need to do to see some footage. Good luck with distribution. I sincerely mean that...

Best regards from Austin, TX,
Jack

Jonathan Shaw · August 1st, 2008, 12:12 AM

Just watched the trailer... looks bloody great. Very 'Breakfast Club'.... you could have a winner there.

Good luck with it, what are your plans with it?

Jon

John Lewis · August 1st, 2008, 02:17 AM

Looks like solid work, very much in the 'Breakfast Club' genre, which is not a bad thing. Good job on the production. Hope you have plenty of luck with the distribution.

Richard Gooderick · August 1st, 2008, 02:24 AM

Looks good to me too.

Alain Mayo · August 1st, 2008, 11:21 AM

looks good, very film like

Andrew Waite · August 1st, 2008, 12:13 PM

Thanks! Yeah, Breakfast Club is a good way to sum it up... just 23+ years later, pg-13, testing not detention, and an happy ending... but other than that.... yeah, Breakfast Club.

We hope to sell it. All our actors where SAG and we went through all the proper channels, permits, insurances, legal, etc. So we have that going for us. We'll see.

Doug Davis · August 1st, 2008, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Waite

And here are a few production stills:

Nice use of child labor in the second picture... : ) Ha, looks great man... I love that final shot where the girl says "No Class..." and then the kid screams... Classic... Bet of luck to you...

Jack Walker · August 1st, 2008, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Waite

We hope to sell it. All our actors where SAG and we went through all the proper channels, permits, insurances, legal, etc. So we have that going for us. We'll see.

It looks good!

Which SAG contract did you use? Is it SagIndie? If so, which one? What was the budget?

Thanks!

Andrew Waite · August 1st, 2008, 01:45 PM

doug, haha yeah, our boom op gets it all the time, he's 19, but looks like he's 12. He was a good boom op for being so short.

Jack, good question on the contract, I have no idea... I had no part in that end of the production, just all the technical part mostly. As far as budget... I would have to guess somewhere around 70-80,000... so much was donated, so it's tough to say, again I didn't have much part in that.

Alain Lumina · August 1st, 2008, 02:24 PM

Hi,

I own a XH-A1 as well

I'm starting work on our feature-- initial shooting in San Francisco Area Aug 24-25.

Could you tell me if you used single camera?

I'm wondering if it would save a lot of time to be shooting say, a medium and close up
at the same time for later editing, or one cam on each actors in a two shot.

Along this vein, I'm interesting in a trade exchange with other A1 owners who would want to do the same thing. I lend you mine for your shoot, you lend me yours for mine, with a deposit while camera is borrowed of course to protect everyone.

Alain Lumina
magicalrealismfilms.com

Andrew Waite · August 1st, 2008, 05:32 PM

I have two A1s, but I only used one at a time. One camera is fine for simple dialogue scenes. Really you only need two or more for stunts. My second camera was used exclusively for exterior shots and b-roll... nothing more.

Steven Glicker · August 2nd, 2008, 09:28 AM

Wow, impressive trailer! It's inspiring. Congrats!

Did your strategy involve much use of the in-camera video image settings? Was the boom mic connected directly to the A1? If so, did this work well? Did you use other mics? ADR much?

You mentioned that editing was not so fun. Would you use the A1 differently if you were to do it again?

Many Thanks,
Steven

Andrew Waite · August 2nd, 2008, 01:28 PM

Thanks Steven, I used a Sennheiser ME66 for all the interior stuff... and a some exterior, and a Sennheiser G2 Lav for the very wide exterior stuff. Everything went strait into the camera (since I didn't have dedicated sound guy) and it worked out pretty well. Not much ADR if any... I was such a stickler with sound, if we had any problems with sound we just did another take.

Didn't use any presets, camera set to factory... hindsight, I would now... but I did all my grading in Apple Color, so it's ok. The biggest problem I encountered was with the A1s tendency to purple fringing, if you look really closely you will notice it in some shots... especially the VERY quick shot of the kid cheating by peeking at the girls test... look at his left shoulder. That problem is totally solved now with the Cinevate flip module for the Brevis. The camera equipped with the Brevis Flip has NO PROBLEMS whatsoever with Purple Fringing or CA. I wish I had it on this film, oh well.

John B. Nelson · August 2nd, 2008, 02:53 PM

I know this is off topic, sorry....

Regarding a one camera shoot.. when you are shooting a scene where it involves dialog between 2 or more actors, do you shoot the scene several times at different angels so that you can go back and forth between the actors as they talk during editing?

I hope to be shooting a short film myself one day so I am curious as to the different filming techniques people do when using just one camera.

-John

July 31st, 2008, 10:12 PM	#1
Andrew Waite Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bakersfield, CA Posts: 307	Feature Film Entirely with A1+Brevis I finally got the Trailer for my film up on my website. The film is a SAG "Ultra-Low Budget" shot in 14 days. The entire film was shot with the Canon XH-A1 equipped with a Brevis 35mm adapter. It was a lot of fun to shoot, not so much fun to edit, but an all around great experience. Now we have the task of trying to find someone to buy it and distribute it, wish us luck! You can see the trailer HERE: http://www.higherdefinitionmedia.com...log&Itemid=111 And here are a few production stills: Attached Thumbnails

July 31st, 2008, 11:12 PM	#2
Jack Colmenero New Boot Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 14	Can't see any video Hi Anderew, Wow, an entire feature film with the A1! We've all got to see this, but we can't see any video. I'm using Safari as my browser (Mac 10.4 OS). Let me know what we need to do to see some footage. Good luck with distribution. I sincerely mean that... Best regards from Austin, TX, Jack

August 1st, 2008, 12:12 AM	#3
Jonathan Shaw Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Sydney Posts: 552	Just watched the trailer... looks bloody great. Very 'Breakfast Club'.... you could have a winner there. Good luck with it, what are your plans with it? Jon __________________ www.ginclearfilm.com www.facebook.com/ginclearfilm

August 1st, 2008, 02:24 AM	#5
Richard Gooderick Major Player Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: London, UK Posts: 795	Looks good to me too. __________________ http://www.gooderick.com

August 1st, 2008, 02:24 PM	#11
Alain Lumina Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Fort Dick California ( Far North) Posts: 59	Single camera? Hi, I own a XH-A1 as well I'm starting work on our feature-- initial shooting in San Francisco Area Aug 24-25. Could you tell me if you used single camera? I'm wondering if it would save a lot of time to be shooting say, a medium and close up at the same time for later editing, or one cam on each actors in a two shot. Along this vein, I'm interesting in a trade exchange with other A1 owners who would want to do the same thing. I lend you mine for your shoot, you lend me yours for mine, with a deposit while camera is borrowed of course to protect everyone. Alain Lumina magicalrealismfilms.com

August 1st, 2008, 02:17 AM	#4
John Lewis Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London UK Posts: 36	Looks like solid work, very much in the 'Breakfast Club' genre, which is not a bad thing. Good job on the production. Hope you have plenty of luck with the distribution.

August 1st, 2008, 11:21 AM	#6
Alain Mayo Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Miami, Fl Posts: 81	looks good, very film like

August 1st, 2008, 12:13 PM	#7
Andrew Waite Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bakersfield, CA Posts: 307	Thanks! Yeah, Breakfast Club is a good way to sum it up... just 23+ years later, pg-13, testing not detention, and an happy ending... but other than that.... yeah, Breakfast Club. We hope to sell it. All our actors where SAG and we went through all the proper channels, permits, insurances, legal, etc. So we have that going for us. We'll see.

August 1st, 2008, 01:45 PM	#10
Andrew Waite Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bakersfield, CA Posts: 307	doug, haha yeah, our boom op gets it all the time, he's 19, but looks like he's 12. He was a good boom op for being so short. Jack, good question on the contract, I have no idea... I had no part in that end of the production, just all the technical part mostly. As far as budget... I would have to guess somewhere around 70-80,000... so much was donated, so it's tough to say, again I didn't have much part in that.

August 1st, 2008, 05:32 PM	#12
Andrew Waite Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bakersfield, CA Posts: 307	I have two A1s, but I only used one at a time. One camera is fine for simple dialogue scenes. Really you only need two or more for stunts. My second camera was used exclusively for exterior shots and b-roll... nothing more.

August 2nd, 2008, 09:28 AM	#13
Steven Glicker Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 52	Wow, impressive trailer! It's inspiring. Congrats! Did your strategy involve much use of the in-camera video image settings? Was the boom mic connected directly to the A1? If so, did this work well? Did you use other mics? ADR much? You mentioned that editing was not so fun. Would you use the A1 differently if you were to do it again? Many Thanks, Steven

August 2nd, 2008, 01:28 PM	#14
Andrew Waite Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bakersfield, CA Posts: 307	Thanks Steven, I used a Sennheiser ME66 for all the interior stuff... and a some exterior, and a Sennheiser G2 Lav for the very wide exterior stuff. Everything went strait into the camera (since I didn't have dedicated sound guy) and it worked out pretty well. Not much ADR if any... I was such a stickler with sound, if we had any problems with sound we just did another take. Didn't use any presets, camera set to factory... hindsight, I would now... but I did all my grading in Apple Color, so it's ok. The biggest problem I encountered was with the A1s tendency to purple fringing, if you look really closely you will notice it in some shots... especially the VERY quick shot of the kid cheating by peeking at the girls test... look at his left shoulder. That problem is totally solved now with the Cinevate flip module for the Brevis. The camera equipped with the Brevis Flip has NO PROBLEMS whatsoever with Purple Fringing or CA. I wish I had it on this film, oh well.

August 2nd, 2008, 02:53 PM	#15
John B. Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bradford, PA Posts: 67	just out of curiosity I know this is off topic, sorry.... Regarding a one camera shoot.. when you are shooting a scene where it involves dialog between 2 or more actors, do you shoot the scene several times at different angels so that you can go back and forth between the actors as they talk during editing? I hope to be shooting a short film myself one day so I am curious as to the different filming techniques people do when using just one camera. -John