Super Session Addresses Quality Video on the Cheap

Special Agent Jack Bauer may still be saving the world every "24" hours in 720p on Fox, but his re-indoctrination from film to digital will take a while longer, according to the show's director of photography, Rodney Charters.

Rodney Charters

Charters joined a panel of other experts at a Monday's Super Session on ways that independent filmmakers can effectively create "a million-dollar look on a thousand-dollar budget."

The well-attended discussion and Q&A featured lots of anecdotal notes on how digital special effects software and favored hardware — such as the RED Camera and Canon's EOS 5D Mark II Digital SRA — are revolutionizing the way indie films, short films and TV commercials are lit, shot and edited.

ILLUSION OF VALUE

Moderator Brian Valente, a partner with Redrock Microsystems LLC, opened the session with a clip consisting of chases, hand-to-hand combat and other typical action fare that appeared to the casual observer to have required far more expensive and sophisticated equipment than was actually deployed for the shoot: simply the 5D Mark II and a skateboard!

The simple production approach "illustrates how to create the 'illusion' of high production values without spending enormous amounts of money," Valente said.

With the entertainment industry buffeted by the same economic headwinds as the rest of the country, the NAB Show is well timed to help educate attendees about ways to economize without sacrificing quality.

Charles Papert and Stu Maschwitz

Panelist Stu Maschwitz of The Orphanage, a production house, swears by the 5D Mark II, which he also uses for producing commercials. The digital still-and-not-so-still camera — which is being exhibited at the Canon Booth — couples a full-frame CMOS sensor with the ability to capture 1080p video.

Maschwitz said because it appears to most onlookers outside the industry as basically a still camera, he is able to shoot video footage on location where larger, more traditional-looking HD cams might be frowned upon.

While the 5D Mark II also features a 21.1-megapixel, 24 x 36mm CMOS sensor and an expanded sensitivity range from ISO 50 to ISO 25,600, Maschwitz would like to see Canon offer middleware (or some other conversion method) to make a 5D unit with a more film-friendly 24 fps, not just TV-friendly 30 fps.

Maschwitz took a quick straw poll of the audience, which seemed to support his suggestion.

Charters, who still prefers what he sees as the inherent qualities of film over digital, which he finds "a challenge and essentially eliminates a film colorist," noted that using essentially a still camera such as Canon's to shoot video has created some head-scratching and concerns with the unions. When he does use digital, he said, "It's important to use the fastest card you have."

Panelist Charles Papert, co-founder of Instant Films, concluded that "it's become the thing to do to shoot digital."

He likened the timing of far more cost-effective digital video tools with the current global economic turndown as creating a sort of "perfect storm" for filmmakers and all those associated with the industry, where both budgets and quality are always of concern.



Culled from Daily New NAB 2011