Glass house

[Noa Put]

Like I said last week I got the approval to film in the "glass house" not far from where I live and today was the day :)

I was very lucky as today they are closed for the public and you can only get in if you have an appointment and approval, when I came in I was all alone for the day so I had the whole building all to myself, I was even more lucky when a glass artist came in as well (normally they never make glass on a Monday) and he didn't mind if I would film him, you can't imagine how excited I was :D

I was there between 09:00 and 14:00 and was filming non stop and I"m dead tired right now from running up and down those stairs and that several times but I feel it was worth it.

I used my Canon 10-22mm f3.5/4.5, Samyang 35mm f1.4, Samyang 85mm f1.4, Tamron macro 90mm f2.8 lenses and my homemade slider, was planning to take my steadicam with me as well but decided last minute to leave it at home as I didn't knew what to expect if I would arrive (never thought I would end up alone). The macro was used for those extreme close ups with crazy shallow dof, it was an excellent lens to show all those details in the glass art, the Canon was used at 10mm all the time and it deformed quite a bit on the edges of the image but that was an effect I was after (a bit like those curves in the glass) and I wanted to capture the large hall in one shot.

In this video I tried to use the reflection of the glass as much as possible as dissolves which I think gives a nice effect and tried to keep a natural flow in my movements which wasn't easy with a crappy tripod and slider.

I must say the size of the Sony does take some getting used to, it's quite a beast and sometimes limits certain movements which easily can be done with a small dslr.

So here it is, hope you like it:

Glass House - SONY NEX EA50 on Vimeo

[James Manford]

One word.

AMAZING

Just goes to show the capabilities of this camera. You are really putting your purchase to use.

I feel so embarassed. I have yet to do a proper video with mine !!! Forget weddings ... I want to create a mini film like you of just some place nice.

Such a fantastic video. Well done.

Can I ask, what software you used to edit? what work did you have to do in post? any grading, sharpness etc?

[James Manford]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

I must say the size of the Sony does take some getting used to, it's quite a beast and sometimes limits certain movements which easily can be done with a small dslr.

Glass House - SONY NEX EA50 on Vimeo

Yes, but don't you find the weight and size almost helps stabilize the image?

For example, on my VG20 when I use my Helios F2.0 Prime lens it is very hard to not get shaky footage. But yet, when I put the lens on my Sony EA50, it is smooooth almost like the lens has built in OSS.

[Phill Pendleton]

Beautiful! Amazing subject and fantastic shot composition! Hot edit, congratulations.

[Chris Harding]

Nice job Noa!!

Yeah I can imagine that a couple of times up and down those stairs would make your legs feel like jelly.

James? I have the same situation! The weight (I think actually more the balance now) of the EA-50 or just purely the form factor helps stability ..I find it easier to keep really steady than my Panasonic which is over 1kg heavier BUT it higher too ...the very low height of the Sony helps keep the centre of balance low too. With small primes up front however the camera is a little back heavy sometimes.

Chris

[Rod Pike]

Noa, you said "hope you like it"- a bit like saying I hope the sun comes up somewhere tomorrow!

Beautiful work, and I'm sure inspirational to us all. I trust you have done, or will be doing a marketing video for them. You know how to use the paintbrushes! (see my signature).
Cheers!
Rod

[James Manford]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Nice job Noa!!

Yeah I can imagine that a couple of times up and down those stairs would make your legs feel like jelly.

James? I have the same situation! The weight (I think actually more the balance now) of the EA-50 or just purely the form factor helps stability ..I find it easier to keep really steady than my Panasonic which is over 1kg heavier BUT it higher too ...the very low height of the Sony helps keep the centre of balance low too. With small primes up front however the camera is a little back heavy sometimes.

Chris

Yes!! that's exactly what I meant. The balance of the Sony EA50 is perfect. Even with a prime, I find it so nice to handle ... The only drawbacks I can see of this camera is trying to use it in tight spaces.

[Noa Put]

Thx for the nice words :)

Originally Posted by Rod Pike

Noa, you said "hope you like it"- a bit like saying I hope the sun comes up somewhere tomorrow!

Well, this morning I couldn't see any sun as it has been raining almost constantly again :)

Can I ask, what software you used to edit? what work did you have to do in post? any grading, sharpness etc?

I use Edius 6.5 but my edit is usually very basic with straight cuts and dissolves, nothing fancy. I did apply some sharpening and added some contrast and saturation.

Yes, but don't you find the weight and size almost helps stabilize the image?

I was actually referring to the size in small spaces, on the stairs f.i. I did a few shots but was limited in movement because the length of the camera. But like you said, the camera is much more stable when doing handheld shots, there are 2 close up in the video (at 02:25 where I did 2 "over the shoulder" of the glass artist shots) that where done handheld with a 35 and 85mm prime (not stabilized) which I could not have done with my dslr without applying a stabilizer in post. Now I could just use the footage without any post treatment.

Forget weddings ... I want to create a mini film like you of just some place nice.

What are you waiting for? You know what NIKE's slogan is. :)

I enjoy this time of year the most as I can do what I like, I also like these "shorts" as I always try to shoot and have the edit ready in 1 or max 2 days so I can start thinking about what I do next :) It's this kind of "free" experimenting that helps me develop my shooting style.

Normally I hardly use the macro lens as it is a very specific purpose lens but I like using it a lot as it can produce some dream like imagery with very soft backgrounds and very smooth transitions in color and exposure. So I was thinking of doing a macro (meaning extreme closeup) video only next, I have no idea yet what subject and how but it's just to challenge myself into doing it what can make shooting video exciting even if the end result is not what you expect, it's the learning prosess that counts. Just do it... :)

[Allan Black]

Great work Noa, a creative place to work in.

Now you can meet with a glass blower and make a doco about how he does it.

Nice HOT closeups, check the cam manual for the upper range :)

Cheers.

[Steven Digges]

Noa,

Thank you. I am inspired again!!!

Steve

[Neil Chamberlain]

Beautiful.

[Lee Berger]

Excellent work Noa!

[Allan Black]

Hi Noa, here's another glass house video, yours is much better .. and aaargh! the last note is out of tune.

NIKKOR 80th Anniversary Special Movie - YouTube

Send 'em a link to your video, with a Happy 80th Birthday card .. and include your business card mate.

Cheers.

[Robert Moran]

Terrific place for a shoot without question. The camera is a beast. It takes quite a bit of time to get use to it. Primes do lighten the load however. Great video for sure.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Allan Black

Send 'em a link to your video, with a Happy 80th Birthday card .. and include your business card mate.

The city Lommel, where I made the video has already started to share the video through their social network like facebook so it might reach Nikon Japan in that way :D

Even though I made the video just for fun I do know it might open up other opportunities, you never know if the city needs a video done about their other cultural activities and then they might think of me. So it's a good combination of pleasure and business :)

Your suggestion of meeting up with a glass blower to do a docu sounded interesting and after doing some inquiries there is one living just 500 meter from my place! I do live in an area known for it's glass activities (I can see the glass factory AGC from my bedroom window and there's a big site nearby where they get all the sand for producing all the glass, AGC is a big player when it comes to glass production)

Usually I prefer to do "film and edited in a day" kind of stuff when it comes to shooting for fun but maybe it would be good to do a docu or narrative type of film where I have no experience in, would be interesting to see where that leads me.

I"ll try to make some contacts and see if I"m able to get something going.