Filmic Look and Motion Rendering

[Al Yeung]

Jonathan, just by accident I watched the "Behind the Scenes" video about Bloom's boxer piece, and he mentions that the punching bag scenes were shot with a higher shutter speed to create a staccotto effect and a crisper image. That again suggests to me that motivated deviation from the 180-degree shutter rule of thumb is probably one component of a "cinematic" look.

[Frank Glencairn]

For the record,

Man of Steel was shot 90% on a prototype FS700.

But yeah, the same problem with motion rendering as the FS100.
That's one of the reasons, I shoot mostly with my BMC now.
As much as I like(ed) my FS100, that motion thing was always bugging me.

Frank

[Jonathan Perry]

Frank,

Wow, didn't realize you responded here! Thanks for the feedback. If you can't get the motion rendering to look the way you want, I'm guessing it's not something that will be solved without hacking the firmware. And nobody with the knowledge seems to want to do that. So, I'll likely be selling my FS100 for a BMCC.

Jonathan

[Craig Marshall]

Jonathan wrote:

"3. Vintage Lenses. I just picked up some Canon FD lenses and I absolutely love the way they look compared to the super clean, too-clinical-for-film modern lenses like my SAL1650 and Zeiss ZE lenses.

4. Longer Focal Length. Along with choosing vintage lenses, it seems like a lot of the more filmic shots I have seen have come from telephoto lenses. Does anyone else feel that way? I know that shallow DOF has been really popular lately, and was a great way for me to cheat a filmic image with my T2i, but some of the shots used a pretty deep DOF (maybe F8?) and still got a filmic look out of it."

I tend to agree with these points Jonothan has made. I originally shot film professionally, then national TV commercials on Betacam SP videotape for ten years with Ikegami broadcast cameras before making the recent move to HD video. I treat modern HD cameras simply as 'dumb' sensor blocks (albeit with some gain and shutter control settings) so I like to get my image looking good 'before' it reaches the sensor. Consequently, only minor adjustments to gain, chroma and black levels are needed during post.

My current camera is Sony's 'entry level' NEX VG20 which has an APS-C sized CMOS sensor roughly the same physical size as the one in the FS-100. This camera has no internal 'picture profile' settings at all, just like an old 'film' camera. Consequently, my lens and filter choices are very important to me. I particularly like the 'look' of the classic Carl Zeiss Contax SLR lenses produced during the 70s and 80s in Germany and Japan for 35mm SLR film cameras. I have a growing collection of these 'affordable' vintage lenses and I am very fond of my Zeiss 300mm F4.0 telephoto. (which of course becomes F2.8 with the 'speed booster' attached) It is a big, heavy solid brass lens with an almost 270 degree focus ring rotation, so perfect for use with rails and follow focus wheel and the pictures it produces on a cheap 'video' camera are quite remarkable. I also use a small range of magnificent Schneider Optics 4x4" glass filters with my matte box including the 'Digicon' series which can allow you to shoot with a 'flatter' picture profile optically, rather than digitally. Good filters and good lenses coupled with just the 'right light' have created the 'look' of most of the wonderful motion picture films we have come to love over the years.

Although the VG20 is capable of shooting at 50fps in full progressive, I prefer to shoot 50i as it renders motion better than 50P because of the interlaced nature of the fields. Lenses, focal lengths, filters and frame rates: these coupled with the correct shutter induced motion blur, can help to achieve a more 'filmic' look with modern HD cameras.

Like most low cost HD cameras and DSLRs with small batteries, the Vg20 suffers from slight 'temporal aliasing' at 50P (60P in NTSC land) and it is possible that the FS100 also suffers from this. Pictures I have seen from the more expensive F3, (same sensor as the FS100) appear to show a minor dissolve or 'blend' between the frames. Whatever it is, many hi end HD cameras like the Alexa appear to have solved temporal aliasing so render motion better than entry level cameras.

For another take on the Alexa's great 'look' and how to get it with your camera: http://www.dvinfo.net/article/post/m...resolve-9.html

For more info on my earlier VG20/lens/rig setup: http://www.redsharknews.com/technology/item/476-how-to-assemble-a-modular-hd-camera-rig-for-less-than-$3k