I'm seeking assistance from the members of this forum with the following issue:
We're shooting a commercial this upcoming week that opens with a young lady gracefully popping up into the frame in glorious slow motion. This will be simply acheived by having our actor jump up and down on a trampoline while we wait for her, framed at the top of her trajectory. To get an idea of what I'm talking about, I posted a clip of the test footage we shot last week at the following location.
Trying to avoid the film route, I shot these tests with the HVX-200, overcranking it to its maximum of 60fps and interpreting them at 23.976. The concept requires the compositing of the shots onto colorful backgrounds, so we're shooting everything on green. I'l be using a high speed shutter because the concept calls for it but also because the sharp images will help the key quite a bit.
The client has viewed the tests and finds that the footage seems too stuttery. I attribute this to the fact that the shot is fairly tight, and that the subject enters the bottom of the frame at high velocity. The frame rate being insufficient to sample enough moments in time, the subject has traveled to far between samples and the eye perceives a jump. This effect is, of course, accentuated by the absence of motion blur in the shot.
My question is the following: Given the fact that a narrow shutter is required by the concept (and very helpful in post), is my only option to shoot at a higher frame rate to eliminate the stutter? If so, is film the only option? That said, I'm desperately trying to avoid the Phantom Cam. Although I've heard some good things about it, Ithe workflow associated with it is just too heavy. We have many other shots to can aside from the aforementionned one and I'm trying to keep it as lean as possible.
Best,
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Sacha Sojic
Montréal, Québec