Click on this link to see the trailer to Jamie's new film "WHO IS J.O.B?" That I collaborated on with him (in part) earlier this year.

So here’s an update on the Jamie O’Brien collaboration.   I’m real excited to have been a part of this project with Jamie - a lot of others contributed to this film of course to be clear - I’ve known Jamie for almost a year now and he’s been hard at work on this video for close to three years.

We spent a month together earlier this year and shot a bunch of aerial, surf, underwater and interview footage over that period.

I hope you enjoy this trailer.  Looking forward to pushing the envelope as much as possible with this project… more to come…

I know that the developer has been working on this for quite awhile - and I’ve been waiting to share the news for a release candidate to be on the horizon.   (Check the Glue Tools website for updates on pricing and availability - don’t ping me - I’m just reviewing the beta at this time and announcing it)

Of course - this workflow only applies to Mac people and Final Cut Pro users at this point.   But for those who do use FCP - this is a very very nice solution that will solve many problems for a lot of folks.

So what does this plugin software do?  Well on a basic level - it’s “simply” a Final Cut Pro “Log and Transfer” plugin.   Stick a disk in - launch FCP - and open the Log and Transfer menu up and you’ll be greeted with the familiar FCP menu here.And that’s a beautiful thing in it of itself.   Why?  As any professional editor will let you know - the log and transfer/capture process is the cornerstone of any good editing workflow.

With this plugin you can enter a REEL name, a CLIP NAME, SCENE, SHOT/TAKE, ANGLE and LOG NOTES.   Not to mention of course - that you can scrub through the takes quickly - and even set IN and OUT points on the fly.   (While the footage is still on the card - but I’d copy it off right away… more on that in a sec.)

This alone is a big deal.   The goal of course is to get the HD DSLR workflow on par w/ the workflows that professionals out there are used to in the film world - then the entire HD DSLR “pill” becomes easier to swallow if you will.

Now comes the fun part - the plugin also allows you to make a DISK IMAGE of your CF Card.   This is very very cool feature and would be my automatic first step in my workflow.   This makes a sacrosanct copy of the disk (with all metadata, THM files etc.) in a spot you specify.  That way you have all of your originial H.264 files forever.  At some point I hope that camera manufacturers will catch on - and allow users to name their disks within their cameras… (i.e. set a REEL name on the disk) so that the whole production workflow can work more easily.

The next step?  Well of course you can enter all of the SCENE/TAKE info as well as IN and OUT points - and the Log and Transfer plugin will instantly start to churn away at converting your footage into ProRes422 or ProRes444 - or whatever you choose in FCP.  (The plugin will also import just the raw video files if you want w/o converting them- and it FLIES through this.)

The comes the NEAT stuff.

For one - this is the ONLY app that I know of that can read the Metadata from the Canon cameras - in other words - it can read out the Aperture, ISO, Lens and all other settings - and that’s AWESOME!

Until now - I’ve had to GUESS what ISO I shot this or that scene at.  Now for the very first time - I KNOW.

And lastly - here’s what REALLY exciting.   The software will create a VIRTUAL TIMECODE for you.   It can read the metadata that includes the time clock from your camera - and turn that into a useable timecode. Obviously - this is not accurate down to the millisecond - but as long as you set your multiple cameras to the same date and time - it will be accurate within the minute.   This isn’t perfect yet - but it’s HUGE - when you consider that prior to this there was NO WAY to know when a clip was shot within most editing apps.  So when you imported hundreds of clips in FCP from one day - let alone a few weeks - it was an absolute nightmare.

This was such a hurdle that I until now found myself recommending tthat documentary filmmakers   not try to shoot long term docs w/ the 5D MKII - the post headache in terms of finding what clips were shot when was too tough.

Now that’s changed.

Glue Tools will announce the pricing and availability on their site.

The plugin will work w/ the following cameras: The Canon 1D MKIV, 5D MKII, 7D, and the 500D/T1i.

I can also tell you that there are quite a few REALLY exciting things on the horizon for this emerging HD-DSLR market.  As soon as I can share - I will.

Jim Denevan's 2009 Land Drawing in Nevada is pretty gorgeous - shot by Peter Hinson.

I wanted to point out some pretty powerful artwork by Jim Denevan.

Truth be told - Jim contacted me a few months ago and asked if I might be interested in coming out to document some of his works from the air and I had a work conflict and could not make it.  I have to say that I regret not being able to make it now even more as I see how beautifully it turned out  - shot here by Peter Hinson.

Check out their work here - and enjoy what is a very very cool way to express oneself - and something that even “the Gods” would enjoy from above I’m sure.

As someone who does a fair bit of aerial work - this is a feast for my eyes.

p.s. anyone who rides around in Elvis’ old bus - doubly cool by my standards.

MPEG Streamclip for Mac or Windows is a CHAMP at converting the H.264 footage! And it's FREE.

One of the most common questions that I get from people regarding the new breed of HD-DSLR cameras is “What’s your post-workflow?”

Truth be told - most of it is actually extremely straightforward.  It does get fancy when you try to do some high end stuff- but that workflow applies to maybe one percent of people - so here is the simple workflow:

Simply put - all you need to do is to convert the native footage from the Canon 5D / 7D / 1D MKIV from the AVC H.264 format to a format that your computer and software will support.

For me it’s simple given that I work with Final Cut Studio - I work with Apple’s ProRes codec.  What this means is that I simply convert the H.264 footage to the higher quality (and less compressed) ProRes format. (Avid supposedly supports the H.264 format natively according to some post houses that I’ve worked with - but I admit to not being an Avid or Adobe Premier expert by any means.)

Why do you need to do this?  Well simply put - most software does not support the editing of H.264 footage natively - some do.  Final Cut Pro doesn’t - you’ll find that it can crash every few minutes - or worst - every few seconds.   You’ll find that the video is extremely choppy - and that it can be close to impossible to do frame-accurate edits.   The reason is simple:  the computer has to decompress this (compressed) footage on the fly.  And that takes a lot of GPU (Graphic card) power.    Older MacBook Pros and even the top end Mac Pro tower with the most expensive graphics card can choke on this task… ironically you’ll find that the new MacBook Pros do much better than the top-end Mac Pros… and that’s just plain silly.  Why?  Well the MacBook Pros have a H.264 chip built onto their graphics card!   This helps play all of the iTunes m4v files (movie files) more smoothly.

So how do YOU do it?

Well, there are MANY ways to do this.   You can use Final Cut Studio’s Compressor software - I create droplets and drop my files onto them.  Very very easy.

Compressor "Droplets" allow you to simply drag and drop your Canon files onto the icons... the software does all of the rest.

I’ve also converted the file within Final Cut Pro using either the Batch Export feature - or even the media manager menu.

Compressor is good - and easy.  But some of you may not own Final Cut Studio… so what do you do?

Well I recommend you look into the utility that has quickly become my absolute favorite way of converting my footage:  Squared 5’s MPEG Streamclip. Not only is it extremely easy to use (see Chris Fenwick’s most excellent video tutorial here) but it’s also often faster than Compressor and is much cheaper…

Much cheaper!

It’s FREE.  And frankly I don’t know why.  Because I would gladly shell out $100 bucks or more for this app. It’s that good.

I’ve found that the app is extremely fast (faster than compressor!) - it allows me to point it to folders and it will ignore all of the THM files and CR2s in the folder - and off it goes.   You can pause it in the middle of a re-compression batch should you need to shut down your laptop or unplug your external hard drive.  Basically it’s a dream.

Lately I find myself using two codecs most often - Apple ProRes 422 has always been my gold standard, and recently w/ the new FCP Studio I find myself using Apple ProRes Proxy - to do quick edits on my laptop.

Obviously - the size of the de-compressed files will depend on what codec (fancy word for video format) that you chose.  ProRes 444 will be much bigger than ProRes 422 or ProRes Proxy obviously.  Apple details the sizes somewhere on the web if you’re real curious. (OK HERE it is…) and in even more detail HERE.

Basically - to keep it simple - if you’re just getting started - just follow Chris Fenwick’s tutorial above - or decompress you H.264 footage into ProRes 422.  And you’ll be all set to get going in all of this.  Remember to always keep the ORIGINAL footage somewhere safe in case some incredible new technology comes out years from now - but work off of the ProRes files from that point on.

Good luck!

New technology is great.  It allows us to do things we previously thought impossible.  It empowers us to “push the envelope” if you will.

That being said, one of my favorite axioms came to mind after I read the PDN Article at left, namely: “Just because you can - doesn’t mean you should.”

First - I should say that I don’t know Jason Lam (the person selling these helicopters) nor is this aimed at him or critical of him.  Jason has EVERY right to sell his services and helicopters - unequivocally.

But I do think it’s a tad bit irresponsible for PDN (and perhaps Jason’s site as well) to fail to mention two very key things in their article/site:

1. Flying a remote control helicopter over New York City (as in the island of Manhattan) is ILLEGAL. (w/o a special permit - which is virtually impossible to obtain due to safety concerns.)

2. It’s extremely dangerous to fly such a helicopter (1. in general and 2. especially over a heavily populated place such as NYC.) Think of a flying blender if you will… if the operator/pilot makes a mistake the thing will crash or worse maim someone.

God forbid an errant radio signal interferes with the helicopter’s signal and the thing goes haywire (these things don’t exactly float down if you catch my drift.)

What I’m trying to say is:  you can kill someone (or yourself) if you don’t know what you’re doing.  Trying to fly a helicopter and trying to take pictures as well - is more that twice as dangerous!

OK - so let me back down a bit.   First I know that PDN is simply listing this new piece of kit as they would any other piece of equipment.   Jason Lam is also selling his services.   Both have EVERY right to do so.

What bothers me is that I haven’t seen a SINGLE mention anywhere on either of the sites that relates to how dangerous these helicopters can be when put in inexperienced hands.

I felt the need to point this out, because as many of you may know, I employed the services of an RC helicopter and it’s pilot, Tabb Firchau during my filming of the Jamie O’Brien doc earlier this year.   I show this video during many of my seminars - and someone will invariably run up to me at the end of my talk and ask where they too can buy such a helicopter ASAP… and I tend to cringe a bit.

I think it’s important for me to mention that Tabb flies REAL helicopters (the big ones) and has done so for well over a decade.  He’s put in thousands of hours to hone his skills as a pilot of big and little helicopters.   Therefore he’s put enough practice into it to safely be able to fly and shoot with these little technological marvels.

I myself have landed a small plane (I started but never completed my pilot’s license) and have hundreds if not thousands of hours in flight simulators.   Yet I’ve never set my hands on another friend’s RC helo remote… I haven’t even asked out of respect.   Why?  Because when you start to fly RC helicopters - it’s not a matter of if, but how soon you will crash it.  This is the same reason that while I am a certified Rescue SCUBA Diver - I refuse to shoot and dive without a dedicated person who is more than just a “dive buddy.”  It’s simply too dangerous to try to balance the two simultaneously without a LOT of practice.

So I felt responsible for saying that - I hope that’s OK.

On a final note:  as these new technologies continue to role out - it’s important to realize that our most valuable asset are the people who know how to use them best.  I.e. our most valuable assets are skilled people - i.e. professionals.  That too often seems to get lost as everyone seems to think they can do it all “themselves” as they become instantly “empowered” with these new gadgets or technologies.   I think that while we should all jump at the change to take full advantage of these new things - we should remember that we need to be responsible in doing so.   We need to remember to do our research - to learn about them and treat them as a craft - especially when safety concerns are present.

Therefore if you’d like to fly your DSLR below and RC helicopter - I suggest you hire a professional like Tabb to fly the helo for you.    The same goes for pretty much any other thing in the industry:  i.e. if you want “fly” your DSLR on a Steadicam - I suggest you hire a great steadicam operator and 1st AC/Focus puller - they are worth their weight in gold.  (More on that in a later post.)  If you want to do it yourself - don’t forget that mastering these things takes weeks if not years of experience, and that hiring a professional will save you an incredible amount of time on any production for example  - i.e. good people pay for themselves very quickly…

That’s enough for now - I’m starting to sound like a pamphlet…

—  20 minutes later —-

To some... this scene may look a wee bit familiar... this time it's safe to say the crew and technology was a wee bit more advanced than "Reverie" a year ago (the shot above was made last night)- but on the same spot... more info to come on this shoot as soon as I can release it!

Oh heck… I’ve been meaning to write about this for a long time as well - so here goes:

These days we’ve all been feeling the budget crunch.  While things definitely feel like they’re getting better in terms of work these days - I’m worried about the long term effects of the budget crunches (will they ever go back up once they’ve been squeezed down?)

That’s a whole other post - but there is one thing I do want to say:  if you need to cut back on things and to make space in your budget, I would suggest you do the following:

Use new technology to help you cut costs - i.e. the new DSLRs will help you save money b/c they are more sensitive to low light  - and you won’t need as much light as you might previously have needed (in some situations of course - not all.)

Bron's Kobold Para's series of light modifiers are a new favorite - basically they are one great solution to reproducing the type of light that every still photographer would associate with an Octabank. The Para can do strobe, continuous light - and either Tungsten or HMI light... A/C or battery operated.

So perhaps you can spend a bit less on your lighting package now.

Here’s where you should NOT skimp:  PEOPLE.

This is such a basic thing that we all know - but it never hurts to repeat it - especially these days.

Just last night - I was shooting the intro piece for an upcoming show on network television in NYC (more to come on that when I can release it.)   The best thing that I did was to hire a top Steadicam operator (and DP) Charles Papert (who I flew in from LA) and a top notch 1st AC/Focus puller Walter Rodriguez (who is NY based.)   I spent a good part of my production budget on those two gentlemen - and I don’t regret it for a single second.  Why?

I have access to a Glidecam - and several operators that I know in the NYC area were available with their own professional rigs.

But Charles and I have worked together to get his rig working with lots of very cool gadgets (wireless focusing rigs, wireless video transmitters etc.) and we have the system down.

During yesterdays’ production - things went off without a single hitch (amazing given that we have a lot of custom-made pieces that we threw into the mix.)

The Steadicam work was flawless on Charles’ part, the focus pulling dead on - and we were able to go from shot to shot - nailing them on the first or second try, time and time again.  Even better - we were able to push the envelope not just technically - but artistically… when the producer tells you you’ve got the shot on the fist try with a huge smile… instead of begging for more time for fix what could have been a bad first take - you don’t hesitate to suggest you try something more original or daring on the second take…

Spending that extra bit of money on Charles (and flying him cross country) and Walter was worth every penny in my book.  Because we had close to 30 people on set - and 7 “talent.”

When you think of how much money you’re losing every single time you miss a take because of the operator’s inexperience (either in terms of their personal experience level - or their familiarity with the (often prototype)  gear) you realize that they pay for themselves within the first 15 minutes they are on set.

Had to say that.  I hope it’s received well.

Shane Hurlbut coupled a Canon 5D MKII to a Panavision Primo Prime.

It’s been a very interesting year for both Photography and Cinematrography with the release of HD-DSLR cameras.

Those who have read this blog understand that I’ve become somewhat of a lightning rod/evangelist for this new technology and how I believe that it has the potential to change both professions.

At times I see the skeptical comments on this blog or a puzzled look from an audience members when I give a speech.  So it’s nice to know that I’m not alone in this.

Shane Hurlbut, a very successful Director of Photography and ASC member has also jumped into this world with both feet.  Shane has a new blog that I want to introduce you to as well as a new contest that you might be interested in participating in…

There’s so much that I could say about Shane - he’s perhaps the only person that is MORE enthusiastic about this technology than I am - and that’s saying a lot.   We had a chance to meet at the Collision Conference in Los Angeles a few months ago and regularly talk about the latest gadgets and developing technologies.   It’s been fun to see how we’ve each learned a bit from one another:  Shane is now more comfortable shooting at 1600 ASA since meeting me (he stuck to around 500 ASA before we spoke) - and I’m less obsessed with stabilizing the 5D MKII with endless grip and gadgets.

And when people see my “franken-cameras” - then they obviously haven’t seen Shane’s use of Panavision Primo Prime lenses to the 5D MKII.   Now that’s a site that will wake just about anyone up to how the landscape is changing.   I suggest you go through Shane’s sites and you’ll find many excellent videos and still galleries.

The best part of all of this - is that I’ve known about all of the work that Shane’s been doing for months - but haven’t been at liberty to share it with everyone because a lot of it was under NDA / confidential.

Shane is currently working on what I believe may be the first full feature film shot almost entirely with the Canon 5D MKII.  You will find clips on this site here.  Clearly you will see that Shane is no slouch - he’s been DP on many big time feature films - including most recently Terminator Salvation.  Clearly Shane has access to whatever toy / camera he needs in the world - the fact that he’s focusing so much time and energy on the 5D MKII should be a wake up call for everyone out there.  Skeptics - take note.  Shane works mostly on major Hollywood blockbusters and the fact that he’s dedicating so much of this time to this new technology is telling.

For now Shane is challenging viewers to pick out shots from his current Navy SEAL film project - and decided which ones are shot with the Canon 5D MKII, The Sony 950, and the ARRI 235.  Check it out here. I’ve seen the results on a 50 foot screen and it’s hard to tell.

Canon is large, multi-national corporation - and at times things can hit a snag.   I had a meeting with a few Canon USA executives this week in New York at the Photo Plus Expo - and they went as far as to ask me to communicate to you that they are genuinely apologetic that this has happened.

The only bad news for me - is that this is a bit too much of Deja Vu - and that I did everything that I could to prevent a repeat of last year (when Reverie was also pulled down after it was initially posted - and then reposted a few days later on Canon’s site.)    This kind of “excitement” is not something that I look forward to - and I had wished to have this video available to share with everyone for the week of the release of the Canon 1D MKIV.  It was awkward to say the least to be presenting on stage this week at the Expo - and showing “Reverie” again - a video that was more than one year old.

And the last “bad” news - is that I haven’t been given an exact date as to when the video can go back up just yet.    The sooner the better of course.

Thanks for your patience.

David Nelson and I - late late Saturday - or I guess that makes it Sunday - Morning. As a technical reference - this is a frame grab from a 5D MKII. The light was SO yellow we se the 1D MKIV to 2500K... and it was still yellow.

First of all - thank you for all of the positive comments (and a few of the nasty ones too!)

I wanted to clarify a few things - because I won’t have time to answer all of the e-mails / blog posts - many of which are asking the same questions.

First - I really want to give due credit to Stu Maschwitz & David Nelson - my co-filmmakers.  We agreed to work together (having more than one director is never a good idea - we all knew it - but we were too swamped with our day jobs to pull this off alone under such short notice) but things worked out for the best in the end.

Collaboration is a wonderful thing.  This film would not have been what it is without them.   I also want to thank Michele the producer - as well as everyone on the cast and crew.   Some of you may be rolling your eyes - but until you’re on this side of things, you may not appreciate just how much of a team effort filmmaking is.    The film is only as good as its weakest link - and we didn’t have a single weak link on this cast or crew - no matter how late in the morning it was.

Almost everyone had a day job to go back to after each night - often on other productions that lasted more than 10-12 hours…  Ben Nussbaum and his post house Pictures in a Row were exceptional.  Ben worked 5-6 days straight on this - day and night working in between his own projects.   He owns a huge part of the creative puzzle that made up this film.

So far - the film has been viewed at least 747,710 times (by unique visitors btw)  - that’s 17.22 TB of data in just 12 hours served up by SmugMug’s servers alone.  This blog crashed twice last night even though all of the pipes had been opened up… It never crashed on Reverie.  I am in their and Vimeo’s debt for donating their time and bandwidth to this effort.  It’s very generous of them.

A few answers to some common questions:

1. I do not have any plans of putting up RAW footage.  It’s simply too expensive to do so.  Perhaps Canon will decide to do so on their own.  I did put the RAW footage up for Reverie - but at this point I think that we can all appreciate that the camera can produce excellent results when run through simple grading and a slight noise correction.

2. I did shoot at the higher ASAs on my own - and the footage is usable - it does have more noise in it (obviously.)  That being said - I had a hard time finding any nighttime scene that required anything higher than 6400 ASA.  Anything beyond that and there really isn’t much light to see anyway.  Although I did of course make a point of not using any artificial light sources that I could have added in - that doesn’t mean that I want to shoot in poor light.  In many ways this was a proof of concept shoot.  Yes: shooting at night w/ existing light is possible.  That being said - I still like the approach of the lighting in Reverie best - adding a small amount of intelligently placed light is key to achieving the best results.  What this cameras does is offer you to not have to flood the area with light - but to balance the added light with the available light - balancing the two is always key in my opinion.  To date few cameras have allowed us to try to balance low light w/ artificial light of course - as most were simply not sensitive enough.

Veteran Steadicam Operator and fellow DP Charles Papert filming Luke Vexler in "low mode."

3.  Yes - I agree - Reverie was indeed “Cheesy.”  I’ve called it a bad cologne commercial for a year now every time I discuss it.   That being said - it was the best I was able to pull off with less than 24 hours notice and I will always be proud of it for what it was.   People who criticize it’s lack of plot really don’t get it.  Trying to make a Kubrick film with 12 hours notice isn’t going to pan out - it’s important to always set realistic goals given the time and resources one has at one’s disposal.

I purposely chose to stay away from a lot of motion in Reverie because: a. I had no cinema gear to help stabilize the camera b. I was afraid of the “jello” effect that I knew was inherent in CMOS cameras.   Basically:  I knew better. I think it’s always important to understand the limitations of one’s gear - to avoid those pitfalls, and to maximize the inherent qualities of each piece of kit.  Pushing the limit is always a goal of mine - but knowing how far I can push and where things can potentially “break” is just as important if not more.

Nocturne is a fun little movie - it too is not meant to be a narrative masterpiece.   Good dialogue takes time - finding good actors is key.  Once again - we only had a few days notice.  So we decided to have a little bit of fun.  One of the most important lessons that I learned as a news photographer is that: CONTENT IS KEY.  Therefore I believe that no matter how beautiful a film is shot - it is worth little to nothing without a good plot.  That is why I believe in working only great concepts, with great screenwriters, and with the best actors - whenever time allows.    A lot of that cannot and should not be rushed.

4.  I have not had a chance to try the AF of the camera.  I have heard that it works great - better than any Canon camera out there.  For this project - I spend my time solely focused on the filmmaking aspects of the camera.

5. The “rolling shutter” or “jello” effect - is significantly improved over previous models.  So much so that we did not hesitate to handhold the camera and do “Bourne-like” moves.  It’s close to being a non-factor - but the effect is still there when you shoot extreme whip-pans (that would be unusable on a 50 foot screen regardless of the camera it was shot with.)

Here we are on the GripTrix car - really cool toy. And YES - that is indeed Johnny Drama's Car from Entourage and the opening credits. Kudos to Michele for finding that one!

6. We will be releasing a behind the scenes short today or tomorrow.   You will notice that this was not a 3 person crew.   We didn’t have permits or much in terms of funds - but I did pull some favors to get some neat toys out there.  It doesn’t matter if you’re shooting with a digital Elph, 5DMKII, ARRI, or Genesis:  you need to spend money on stabilizing the camera to get a professional look.  Period.  The advantage of the HD-DSLR series is that they are much lighter than other cameras - and can do amazing things with significantly cheaper rigs.   I will be discussing this in much greater detail in an upcoming series of videos on HD-DSLR cameras - if you would like to be notified of it’s release (before the end of the year) pls e-mail me at production@vincentlaforet.com - with the word “NOTIFY” in the subject and I’ll ping you when it’s available.  We are currently in pre-production on the series.

7. Some of you may notice the word “Nacht” which is German for “Night” on one of the street signs… this is one of Stu’s influences.  He couldn’t resist it - and I love little touches like that… Stu is an extremely talented filmmaker and visual FX artist.  He is also the author of a fantastic book that I own and have read numerous times that is applicable to any filmmaker who wants to break the mold:  The Digital Rebel’s Guide. You can follow his version of events on his blog here as well - a blog Prolost - that I have been reading daily for over a year.

8. Two common details that people are bringing up:  yes we did notice the shadow in the form of the cross - being cast by the light pole and modeled a shot around this rather fortuitous event.   We were also well aware of the car shots being “flipped” - word to the wise: never go into production with a storyboard that is 95% done… or you’ll be forced to make decisions like this.   Given the time we had to prepare - I’m amazed that Ben didn’t have to make more of these types of compromises.

9. I haven’t done scientific testing.  But basically I’d wager that you can expect a 2 stop improvement in terms of low light performance/image quality with the 1D MKIV relative to the 5D MKII.

10. Much to my chagrin - the camera does not output full HD out of the min-HDMI output.  I am not at all a big fan of the HDMI output that manufacturers seem to be adopting.  The cables break far too easily, and do not stay seated in the their ports - in fact unless supported they will pull themselves out of their own ports with their own weight alone.   HDSDI is the only output Canon should consider for future cameras- having to work with (and convert) HDMI is a production nightmare and expense.  It’s doable  - but a pain.  That being said - the output no longer drops when you go from LiveView to Recording mode.  That’s significant improvement - the image looks noticeably sharper.  It’s now possible to focus with a long lens - almost critically on an external monitor.  Wideangle lenses are still tough though.  We need HD output and RAW output BADLY.  Once this happens - all bets are off.

11.  In case you haven’t heard - Canon just announced a firmware update that will allow for 24p/25p/60i - which is fantastic.  So no need to get rid of your 5D MKIIs just yet - both they and the 1D MKIV had specific advantages to one another.  I can see myself using both.

That’s it for now.  More TK.

p.s.: I’ve gotten 2,732 e-mails today and my inbox already had broken the 2,000 mark prior to this… so pls be patient.  If you are trying to reach me for any work related request - pls contact my agent Stockland Martel directly.  I apologize to my friends especially - for not being able to get back right away.  I will also be busy at the Photo Plus Expo this week in New York City and I am Directing/DPing a network television job next week.  So it’s pretty insanely busy regardless of Nocturne.

UPDATE:  CANON HAS REQUESTED THAT THE VIDEO BE TAKEN DOWN FOR NOW.  PLEASE SEE THE MOST RECENT POST.

In 2008 we witnessed the birth of HD-DSLR Cameras.

In 2009 you will be introduced to cameras that can see in the dark better than the naked eye.

Just a little over a year ago my jaw dropped when I stumbled upon the 5D MKII and saw 1080p video coming off of a full frame chip for the first time.

Just a little over two weeks ago my jaw dropped even harder when I took a prototype of the Canon 1D MKIV outdoors to test it at night.  I was on the road, it was late and I had just rushed back to my hotel to get to the unit.  I was expecting a 1D body, with 24p, a 1.3 crop factor sensor, 10 fps for stills, a new AF system - 60 fps at 720p - and of course 1080p video.

Nothing prepared me for what happened next.

I set the ASA to high - and I pointed it towards an area lit by a single flood light.  The image was overexposed by 4-5 stops.  I then started to play with the settings, pointing my light into an area in complete shadow (my eye saw nothing but black) but on the rear of the LCD I saw sharp, green leaves as crystal clear as if it were shot in daylight.

I think it’s safe to say that every single filmmaker and photographer has always dreamed of cameras that can see what our naked eyes can see.  This time these cameras can actually see more.   Sure - they may not have the dynamic ranges of our eyes just yet - but they see more than my naked eyes can see in low light.

Period.

And that’s qualifies as a paradigm shift in my book.

The next few years will see photography and filmmaking redefined by technology.   While there is no substitute for exquisite lighting - artists will now be able to explore areas once thought impossible to photograph.

Think of all of the images you’ve missed throughout your career.   Think of all of the places you didn’t even consider going to film - because they were too dark.   Those days are now but a distant memory.  Even if you don’t need to go into the shadows - imaging photographing at f 5.6 or at f 8 at some point soon in areas you are struggling to capture at 1/50th, f 2.8 at 1600 ASA currently…

In many ways these past two weeks felt like Reverie all over again.   I had not expected to get the 1D MKIV until after the Photo Plus Expo.    When I got a voicemail letting me know in a very unceremonious way that two units were waiting for me to try  ”we need your shipping address” the message said - I was surprised.  Canon did not have any plans to have me or anyone shoot anything this year in time for the announcement.

When I saw what this camera did at night, I pushed the all hands on deck button - calling my friends and colleagues to engage in an “interesting project” that I could not elaborate on.   They pretty much had to trust me that it might be worth their time and commit to it blind.

Once again - we had very very little time to prepare.  Just under 72 hours.  And we were ALL busy working on other jobs as this economy seems to be awakening again.

What you will see below - is what we were able to pull together under a pretty ridiculous deadline.  Once again there were no film permits (no time… no time to location scout and apply) no fancy anything.  But I did have some incredibly talented people out here in LA willing to help on such short notice - we shot over two nights in downtown Los Angeles.  Most of the cast and crew had worked a 10-12 hour day shift.  We all worked close to 48 hours straight last weekend.  Everyone was bitten by the bug if you will - once they saw what this camera could do. I was incredibly fortunate to work with one of the best group of people out there -period.

Here is the main point that I hope you take into account: the short film you are about to watch was shot in pretty much the very worst light that I could possibly find in an evening urban landscape.  I did not chose “pretty lighting” in a mall or under neon signs.  That would have been cheating in my book.

The short was shot near East 6th and Mateo St. in Los Angeles - in an industrial part of the city.   If you live in the area - go check out the area - you won’t believe the video you see below came from the poor lighting in that area.   Sodium and mercury vapor lights.   That’s it.  Really awful lighting.

Not a single external light source was used / added.  In other words I did not use a single flashlight, LightPanel, flood light - nothing.   For one shot only I pulled out a silver reflector… just to say we did it really.  And yes it worked (see the shot of the young girl.)

The ISO stayed locked in the 6400 ASA range - with a very few shots hovering 1 stop above and one or two set to 3200 ASA because we had TOO MUCH depth of field…(on the bridge.)  At one point I found myself shooting at 12,800 ASA by mistake - and I didn’t even notice any noise on the rear LCD in the skies… 6400 ASA is the new 1600 ASA - maybe even the new 800 ASA.  Stop to ponder that for a second  - and what it can mean to the way you approach your craft.

In the upcoming days I will share more details, behind the scenes, post workflow etc. A huge thanks goes out to my co-directors Stu Maschwitz, David Nelson and our incredibly resourceful Uber Producer Michele Abbott - and every single member of the cast and crew.  For now - if you even made it this far - take a look into the shadows:

CANON HAS REQUESTED THAT THE VIDEO BE TAKEN DOWN FOR NOW.  PLEASE SEE THE MOST RECENT POST.

Nocturne from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

P.S.  Before the end of the year - I plan to release a series of downloadable videos - that cover numerous production tips/aspects of these HD-DSLR cameras - as well as post workflow.  Basically everything I know.  If you are interested - pls send an e-mail to production@vincentlaforet.com - with the word “NOTIFY” in the subject only.  I will then contact you when those are available.  No obligation on your part of course - just send me an e-mail if you’d like to be notified.  We are already in pre-production for the series.

P.P.S. - on a technical note: because I know everyone will ask: the footage was graded with Stu’s Magic Bullet Colorista software (PLEASE CHECK OUT STU’S BLOG POSTING ON THIS SHOOT HERE) that he helped design and treated for noise (not a significant amount at all to be honest - at some point I may put up raw clips.) The point here is to show what this footage CAN look like when processed on an average laptop (i.e. nothing fancy!)

The 1080p footage on SmugMug is pretty incredible - but remember that a 365 MB compressed file was initially uploaded and then re-compressed a second time - from a 2.32 GB original uncompressed file. You can expect that the blacks will be a bit clamped, and that there will be a loss in sharpness relative to the original.