F3 or RED one: greenscreen to FullHD

[Krzysiek Maslejak]

Hey guys!

 

As it's my first post, please, be patient and forgiving;)

 

Next week we're in greenscreen studio. The aim is to record an footage for the visual-effect purpose, which will be displayed on FullHD projectors, in b&w, a human on alpha-cannal (as it will be displayed on trains, like a special layer: a result of final tests you can see on poster here:

We have to capture two shots:

1. a child is walking from left side to right in parallel to camera; after 6 meters it is rotating from camera to greenscreen and make few (aim: at least 5) steps; there's no camera movement

2. full figure of child, standing and looking at the camera (on the eyes height); no camera movement

 

And that two shots thirty times, with another children ;)

 

 

 

Due to the fact I'm still newbie, I have some newbie question, hope that someone will share a piece of advice!;):

1. We can't still decide if that should be F3 of Red ONE. The problem have a financial case of course. Because the final output have to be max 1920x1080, I'm thinking that F3 will be enough. However, there's a possibilty that F3 resolution will not be capable of good green work in first shot in postproduction; is it a big risk, that it'll be hard to key this, due to the fact, that figure in frame will have not enough pixels in movement with full-sized figure on six meters width? Is it worth to get a Red for downscaling from 2K, and having better resolution (remember it's still twice more expensive to rent than F3...)

2. (I'm thinking about Carl Zeiss CP.2 21mm to get all of children way, and have this in sharpness, is it good decision, due to size of greenscreen studio where i have to put the camera at least 4 meters from subject? )

 

I know that it has to be very good lited!:)

 

3. If I choose a F3, the project is non-commercial, so... a 503HDV Manfrotto will be able to this project, as I can get this for free? Due to specification, max load is 8kg, F3 with lens should be max 4kg, but I'm afraid of plate (see the next question)

4. Is it worth to record second shots (as above) in vertical? You know, its still possible to arrange F3 vertically and have better resolution. But is the manfrotto plate safe enough for such a indie working?:)

5. can I record on F3 a 4:2:2? I can't get this information. It's due to renting an recocder aja ki pro, which is next money (and still not enough sponsors...) As there is many errors with such a device and they're next expense, is it enough to record right on F3 SxS cards?

And is it possible to record on both devices simultenously, backuppy?

 

And and and... I know there's a lot of questions there, but every advice will be helpful! Because I feel a little bit mixy with all of this things already!

And that's because really - this project ist worth of work, maybe not so hard, but for a beginning cinematographer...

 

Thanks a lot in advance!

[Mark Kenfield]

I'd say 4K RAW footage would certainly be the pick for that sort of project. However, given you're framing people standing up, you can always turn the F3 on its side and record the full 1920 pixels vertically - which will net you a roughly equivalent resolution to the Red.

[Arturo Sinclair]

Mark's reply is exactly right. I would use the F3 with no hesitation, specially looking at your final project. Turning the camera on the side will give you more than enough resolution for a fraction of the price. Like you mentioned the real issue is lighting the green screen properly as well as your subjects and using a dedicated keyer (like z-matte) http://www.digitalfilmtools.com/zmatte/ or similar tools.

 

And, by the way, Polish designers have created some of the most memorable posters in the history of film (and theater!) and it seems that they continue to do so, I love it!