We have started shooting, but as I mentioned before we had a few problems. First off we have no tripod. Well that’s not so much a problem because I never use one for my movies. I know that putting your camera on stick is one of the cardinal rules, but I love the handheld look. I’m not talking about shaky, just always moving. Michael, the Director/Editor, cut together a short clip with a scratch Voice Over clip, as a test and it came out with the look and feel I was hoping for. I showed it to my sister who said it looked like something from lost. Great. That means its working.
Our first real problem came with our camera. We are using a Cannon XL1. I have used this camera off and on since it first came out, but mostly for interviews and B roll. I set it to manual, as all the filmmaking books would urge, and made sure to focus for every shot, and white balance for exposure changes. Sounds good right? Well we got home and watched our dallies and it was horrible. The main issue was the shadows had horrible noise. First off I am not a proponent for manual control. I understand the need for access to all your cameras factures, but I don't want to. When I am working on a movie I am usually the screen writer, director, cameraman, and vfx supervisor. I don't feel the need to switch to manual and worry about all the cameras features.
Heres a still from the original footage. Not one of the best examples of the noise but you you get the idea.
Here is the new footage.
And one with some adjustments in Photoshope. Not the final look.
We decided the footage was unusable and re shot it on auto mode, but kept the 16:9 aspect ratio. 16:9 was the main reason we where in manual, so when I realized we could get it in auto, I decided to use it. We re shot some of the footage and it turned out great. So all is good except we are now behind schedule, and the rain has made it hard to shoot.
The whether is looking up, so we should be able to get a day or two in, before we go and see Watchmen.
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Here are some behind the scenes pictures from our first day our shooting.
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