Comments on: It Came from Above – Shooting a Documentary in the Field

By: line shooting blog

line shooting blog — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:08:12 +0000

line shooting blog…

[...]It Came from Above – Shooting a Documentary in the Field | Hurlbut Visuals[...]…

By: Buddhist Community

Buddhist Community — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:22:30 +0000

Buddhist Community…

[...]It Came from Above – Shooting a Documentary in the Field | Hurlbut Visuals[...]…

By: Shane

Shane — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 06:36:49 +0000

santoro, thank you so much. This was a huge labor of love for me. Getting thrusted into a new technology that ever told me that it would not hold up on a 60′ screen. Everyone said that I was insane. I have seen this movie 20 times now. Every time I feel immersed, involved and uncomfortable. You are on edge the whole time.

By: santoro

santoro — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:31:39 +0000

Hi Shane, I just saw the trailer for Act of Valor (on epk.tv). Looks great!

By: bodieo

bodieo — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 03:31:13 +0000

Hello JHarris,
Would you mind sharing some p2 tips? Our biggest issue was viewing dalies each night and working with spanned clips/cards.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 01:17:38 +0000

Bodie,

I saw you out there several times, I am a NBC photjournalist and did stories in joplin nearly everyday for the first 2 months, and going back about once a week since then.

On the HPX note, I use one every day and find them to be absolutely ideal, the p2 workflow for me is very hassle free

Cant wait to see your final product.

By: Brendan Riel

Brendan Riel — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:45:07 +0000

Bodie,
Terific job! I hope to succeed in what you do best some day in the future. Keep up the great work man.

By: David Ackerman

David Ackerman — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 03:41:51 +0000

I don’t see how this could be frame accurate since the 5d’s clock won’t be aligned with the TC generator. Are you just going to the nearest frame or second?

By: Pascal Garnier

Pascal Garnier — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:08:26 +0000

Using a battery grip & swapping your cards faster (or using 8GB only) also helps a lot.

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:13:33 +0000

Hello Rob,
It really has been a year of natural disasters, across the globe. Our main concern with the ‘look’ is that it has a big, feature feel and style. It was really important that the images conveyed a big, cinematic vibe at all times. This is why we put the Aatton 16mm camera into the mix with the 5ds. We didn’t know what we would see or hear once we landed, but we knew we wanted everything to look amazing. I color timed the film with Pete Schwartz at Film Pool to establish the look and color of the film, and will color time the 5d and HPX footage to match. We shot using the cinestyle look on the 5ds. Using Shane’s new viewfinder system allowed me to ace my exposure eveytime, so the 5d footage would be maximized for coloring. His eyepiece leveler system let me do this without slowing me down a bit (it really sped things up, as I could go from studio mode, to low mode, to hand held with just a few twists of the arm.)

As for the slates:
We didn’t have a script supervisor, as we were rolling with a very small, intimate crew. Luckily, our sound guy rocked! He would label his sound reel, and let the camera assistant know what to put on the slate so the audio and video would match. Often we used the last name of the interview subject as the scene number, and then slated the individual takes as required.

Cheers!

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:55:39 +0000

Hi Craig,
Cooling batteries is a great idea. Thanks!

By: Pascal Garnier

Pascal Garnier — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:09:48 +0000

thanks a lot for watching and responding ! I think the youtube encoding doesn’t do the footage any justice, footage is more washed out and flatter than it should be …

By: Rob Shaver

Rob Shaver — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 05:33:03 +0000

This has been quite a season for disasters. Here in central Texas the fires are almost extinguished and the recover has started.

Great article. Love all the detail you provide.

Near the top of this article you said, “After we decided on the look of the film”. Can you expand on this? How many degrees of freedom are there?

What do you put on the slates for a documentary?

Thanks again,

Rob:-]

By: craigc

craigc — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:02:16 +0000

Over heating, at least for me, seems to be a bigger problem with the 7D than the 5. I have found that not holding the camera, but supporting it on a monopod or shoulder rig helps. I also carry spare batts in a cooler. If the unit gets hot. I will trade out for a chilled, not frozen, battery. seems to work for me. Good work, thanks for sharing.

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:57:54 +0000

Thank you, Bonnie. I am sorry for your loss. I can’t wait to see the finished project either.

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:55:53 +0000

Hello Rob,
These stories are truly amazing. Filming this project has given me a real appreciation for what is important in life. Thanks for the kind words.

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:54:12 +0000

Hi Adrian,
Thanks for the support! I used cinema lenses with custom machined support.

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:48:28 +0000

Pascal,
the footage looks great, and so does the movie. I don’t understand the language and found myself smiling and laughing all the same. Keep up the great work!

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:42:00 +0000

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for sharing. Hope that PBS doc went smoothly :1)

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:40:52 +0000

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for sharing. Hope hat PBS doc went smoothly :-)