Stuart Brereton Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 I've just got some screengrabs from a promo I shot just before Christmas. It was quite a big deal - 3 day shoot, with big sets and locations, as well as a lot of CGI. Shot on Varicam (a first for me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Holland Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Stuart ,very nice images , should be proud . John Holland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Stephen Williams Posted January 5, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted January 5, 2007 Hi Stuart, As always beautiful, Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Steelberg ASC Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Gorgeous. Well Done. Any more? What was the setup you used on the camera? Diffusion on the lens or applied in post? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Brereton Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 Thanks, gents. :) Should have some more soon, I hope. The camera was setup to the BBC preferred setting, which are for a 'Digital Neg' look. Essentially flat, with as much info as possible. I used a 1/4 Promist for the singers' closeups, which was augmented with a glow filter in post. Everything else was clean, as we had a lot of greenscreen to do, and there was also quite a lot of smoke on set, so I didn't want to overdo the diffusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Warr Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Looks fantastic, Stuart! Forgive my ignorance, but how were you able to achieve such a shallow DOF in shots 1, 2, and 5? Was it just a large aperture and the effect of a telephoto shot? In other words, do the 2/3" CCDs of the Varicam allow for that shallow DOF naturally, or do you have to work to try to stretch the effect a bit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Martin Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 I noticed the 2:35:1 crop. As I have considered using the Varicam and framing for 2:35:1, I found myself wondering how the 720p image might hold up when projected on a big screen. Have you had a chance to view the images on a large screen and if so, what did you think? Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Martin Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 P.S I realize the image was produced for television but I thought you might have had a chance to see it projected at a post house or the like. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stephen Murphy Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Wow! i didnt realise the Varicam could look that nice! - Very nice work Stuart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Brereton Posted January 6, 2007 Author Share Posted January 6, 2007 Forgive my ignorance, but how were you able to achieve such a shallow DOF in shots 1, 2, and 5? Was it just a large aperture and the effect of a telephoto shot? In other words, do the 2/3" CCDs of the Varicam allow for that shallow DOF naturally, or do you have to work to try to stretch the effect a bit? Those shots were probably very near the end of the lens (Canon HJ21) and at f2.8. The softness of the background is also because it was a long way back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Buick Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Good lord, they're fantastic!!!! Beautifully exposed, wonderfully framed. You seriously need to show that to the BSC. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 What kind of lighting sets up did use use in the jungle stills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Correia Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Stuart - this is very, very good work. I echo Chayse's statements aout the jungle scenes...is there any type of color correction on the lighting or just to the image itself? I love the diffusion on the CUs too, just takes the edge off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Brereton Posted January 6, 2007 Author Share Posted January 6, 2007 The jungle set was about 70' x 30'. I had 6 x 6k spacelights above it, although I never used more than three in any setup. I also had a pair of 10ks and a 5k as backlight/kickers. I wanted a pair of 9 light maxibrutes instead of the 10ks, because I needed the extra punch to cut through all the foliage, but I couldn't get any. There was a fair bit of smoke on set, too. For some of the closeups, I managed to get some kinos in there, or a 2k through some 216, but on the whole it was hard light all the way. I don't usually light as hard as I had to on this, but it seemed to work OK. I white balanced the camera to 2700k, so it looked a little cold. Then, when it was graded, I put a little blue into the shadows and desaturated the image slightly. In the closeups of the female singer, I used a 1/4 promist. I had planned to use a 1/2 black promist on everything in that set, but the rental company sent white promists instead, so I shot mostly clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted January 6, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted January 6, 2007 Looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Buick Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 (edited) Hi Mr Brereton, I have a couple of questions about that video you shot. How did you get the the jungle scenes to stay so cler, by that I mean free of fuzz? Did you use Frame Averaging to do that, or is that just for animation? Thanks, the stuff you shoot really is inspirational. Edited January 6, 2007 by Matthew Buick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Yernazian Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Dear Stuart I love your Images.... Great Worked I shot with the Varicam last year and I loved it. Again great work!!!! Best Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Phil Rhodes Posted January 7, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted January 7, 2007 Hi, Every time you post something, I tend to have thoughts along the lines of "I didn't think work that good was being done in the UK." Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Satsuki Murashige Posted January 7, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted January 7, 2007 Wow, these frames look really great! I dig your hard lighting approach - it's very painterly and full of nuance. I'm curious as to how these big commerical shoots work. Did you have plenty of time to light these, or were you rushed at any point? How many setups did you have to get through a day? Also, how did you like the Canon primes? They seem to have a very rich, cinematic look to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Rupe Whiteman Posted January 7, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted January 7, 2007 Stuart, .... 'Really nice work with controlled and punchy lighting and subtle diffusion... good luck with it. I'm impressed by the look of the Varicam too and hope to be shooting with the kit in May. Please post more frames when you can! You mention you used a 1/4 promist - black or white, and did you have time to test other diffusion glass' on the varicam?.. 'Also wondering it there was Gain used on the last lower-key frame posted? Rupe Whiteman Uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Buick Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Stuart, What did the BSC say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Brereton Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 How did you get the the jungle scenes to stay so cler, by that I mean free of fuzz? Did you use Frame Averaging to do that, or is that just for animation? I'm not sure what you mean, Matthew. I'm curious as to how these big commerical shoots work. Did you have plenty of time to light these, or were you rushed at any point? How many setups did you have to get through a day? Also, how did you like the Canon primes? They seem to have a very rich, cinematic look to them. These shoots are always a rush (at least the ones I shoot). As the budget goes up, so do the client's expectations. The Jungle set was prelit the day before, but everything else done 'on the hoof'. We didn't have any primes, just zooms. You mention you used a 1/4 promist - black or white, and did you have time to test other diffusion glass' on the varicam?.. 'Also wondering it there was Gain used on the last lower-key frame posted? I used White Promists, because they were sent by mistake (I had ordered black). I only used them for the singers' closeups. I didn't test any other diffusion filters. Generally speaking, I don't like them, but for beauty shots they're essential. There was no gain in the shot. The noise you can see is from the grade. There were some shots which were very dark, and had the blacks lifted quite considerably. The noise is really only evident in a still. Due to a supplier cock-up, we had a 17" LCD Monitor instead of a 14" CRT. I don't like the LCDs because they all seem to show Black levels much higher than they are. It's very easy to underexpose if you're lighting off the monitor, which I do, if rushed :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Buick Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 I'm not sure what you mean, Matthew. Sometimes camcorders go fuzzy in dark situations, yet that hasn't hapened here. I'm not sure of whether this is down to the fact the sensors in the Varicam will be miles better that anything common muck like me has ever seen or whether you used some post production technique such as frame averaging, please could you shed some light (n0 r1y crapp3y pun 1nt3nd3d) on this situation. HEHE *HIC&HIC* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Brereton Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 Sometimes camcorders go fuzzy in dark situations, yet that hasn't hapened here. I'm not sure of whether this is down to the fact the sensors in the Varicam will be miles better that anything common muck like me has ever seen or whether you used some post production technique such as frame averaging, please could you shed some light (n0 r1y crapp3y pun 1nt3nd3d) on this situation. HEHE *HIC&HIC* Well, it actually wasn't that dark on set. To the eye, it was low key, but certainly not dark. However, it was exposed so as to appear dark. Any format (film or video) will fall apart if you light to a low enough level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Buick Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Ah. :D Very well done, and good luck with your next production. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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