Abraham Cherian

Love your work Matt. I don't miss film when i see the reel. Brilliant!!!

It will also go to theatres - primarily on television. Sorry for not explaining it like this.

I am making a TV Commercial - extremely low budget - that is to be filmed with HVR-Z1 + Mini 35. The film will then be transferred to 35mm for release in theatres. I need all the help i can as we have no money for tests and absolutely no chance for error. The film will comprise 3 layers all shot against a white background. The foreground will have a male model and there will be two layers of females in the background. The background layers will be converted to black and white while the foreground will be heavily desaturated. Appreciate all possible help.

A better option (or so we believe) with the mini is using 35mm still photography lenses - Nikon (if you need more contrast in your image) or Leica (if you need a slightly softer dreamier look). These lenses are lighter as well. This is something we do when we use the mini following the advice given to us by Alfred of P+S. Only make sure that the lenses you get can be used with the follow focus kit.

Thanks Jeff The panasonic guys here have still not figured it out. Regards Abraham

Am extremely sorry - its probably the long hours over the last few months that have made me do this - but we didn't digitize via firewire. We took it via HD-SDI using the Kona LH. My apologies.

Very sure it was a Varicam. The VTR - the 1200 lets you choose between 1080i and 720. Thats why the 1080i timeline in FCP. Have done 6 varicam projects all of them with the same workflow.

We grabbed it through fire wire and converted it to DVCPro HD 1080i 50 - everything was fine at this stage - the image was as sharp as what we saw on the monitor while filming. The Varicam footage was 1080i 50 There was no fast movements at all - in fact some of them were almost still images - but for some strange reason - when the whole edit was down converted to a PAL timeline - the image went soft. Will post the video - once the record label lets us. Cheers

Hi Just filmed a tvc with the varicam + pro 35 + zeiss lenses. We had a birthday cake with a candle, and the camera or the adapter made it look like there was a star filter on. Has anybody experienced this and how does one solve the problem.

Yes we did. They looked very close while digitising - but the moment we start working on them the HDV footage tends to take a huge beating - maybe it had something to do with the way we used it on the same timeline on FCP - but all the shots with movement started to go soft - so we had to take out what looked like very good footage while digitising and replace it with footage from the varicam. At the end of it - we now have two HDV shots of approx a second each in a 4 minute video.

Hi Praveen You will need a complete set of ultra primes as well as atleast two different zooms. I make commercials and music videos and would be interested in hiring the camera. What adapter do you use for the prime lenses?

Thanks Everybody, Thanks Mattias The day we started shooting we decided to keep the video in colour - although very desaturated. Shot day #1 with the HVR Z1 + Mini 35 + Nikkor lenses and day 2 with the Varicam + Angineux + Arri Lenses. The conclusion everybody on our end has come to is that there isn't a remarkable difference (as different as their prices are) in quality of video when viewed off the monitor. It may be a totally different story when blown to 35 mm. But anyways we have finally decided to mix both mediums. The Mini 35 + Nikkor makes all the difference i suppose. Will try and put up the video once we finish the post. Planning to use the HVR - Z1 for a TVC Production in a weeks time. This time we will go with only one camera and lot more light :)

Thanks John, but we will be using the mini 35 with Nikkor Lenses so am not worried about the DoF, can replicate that part of the look with the lenses we have. Will try it with the black & white setting in the camera, have two days of test before we actually get down to filming. There is no slo mo. We are doing a day with the Z1 and the next with the Varicam, the Z1 day being a dress rehersal.

Thanks guys, but how much difference do they make when you are finally going to down convert to Standard Definition. I understand they are not in the same league but once down converted will there be a marked difference between the two. Anyway have decided that i will film with both cameras, with the varicam as the main one obviously and the Z1 only for test reasons.

Was all set to make a music video on the Z1 + Mini 35 and the client has all of a sudden developed cold feet and wants it made on HD. The video is for broadcast on MTV (Digibeta PAL). How different would the quality of the Z1 be from that of the Varicam (the only other camera i have access to). Thought i would shoot both mediums and actually compare. The video will be in B&W and will have almost no other kind of effect used. Could anyone throw some light. Hit the floor on the 21st...