Camera Etiquette and Workflow

1. Labeling the cameras internally is paramount. When you are shooting multiple cameras in different conditions you need to know which camera is which. To begin this labeling system, shoot a still, take that card from the camera, and then download it to your computer. Next, access the file and rename the jpeg 999. Remove the card from the card reader, load it back into the camera and take another still. Now the next movie still will be labeled the 1000 series. This will be A camera. B camera will be 2000 and so on. This process is very important because if a CF card label falls off mid-shoot, you will always know which camera it came from. This labeling process is also essential for identifying and trouble shooting cameras with dead pixels.

2. Always format your cards before recording on them. This will implement your internal labeling system as well as ensure that the editor does not receive excess footage from previous shoots or already downloaded media from your production.

3. Labeling your cameras externally is essential in maintaining an organized camera package. I label the camera on the top near the hot shoe.

4. Labeling your cards and having labels placed on the side of your camera for quick and easy access will help speed up your process. During prep, label your camera hand grip with pieces of electrical tape that read, A1, A2, A3 for example. That way, when the card is full, you can take it out, slap the label on and hand it off to your media manager, or place the card into a CF pelican case for storage.

5. Having your ND set by your side. I personally designed the HV Tiffen 77mm & 4 x 5 WW ND filters with a pouch so they fit on your belt. This makes your filter changes fast. I like to keep my f-stop between a 2.8 and a 4. This gives me a wonderful shallow depth of field.

6. If you have different size lens diameters, electrical tape will slam that 77mm on any still lens you may have in your quiver.

7. Filtering Zeiss CP2’s. This little trick kicks butt. For all of you that don’t have 4×5 matte boxes but want to use your 77mm filtration, just take a piece of electrical tape and roll it up so that it is sticky all the way around. Now wrap that around your filter ring. Now just stick it to the front element of the CP2. The element on all of the primes is the perfect size to accept the 77mm stick on application. I fly without a matte box a lot to increase speed. The non-flaring coating on all Canon and Zeiss glass is pretty exceptional when it comes to contending with the sun.

8. If you don’t have drop in filters for long lenses, I physically take 4×5 filers and tape them onto the front element. This will slow down the lens’ ability to intake light, so try and minimize the use of this technique.

9. Build your configurations and keep them at the ready. Converting your rig takes time. Try and anticipate what configurations you may be using that day. On Sports Authority, I had every rig built with a camera in place. We were able to simply grab the configurations and shoot. If you do not have a large number of cameras, try to at least build the rigs that your camera can easily snap into.

10. A camera cart is essential to maintaining organization. The camera cart will keep you mobile as well as provide a place for you to build and store your configurations. I went out and bought those Rubbermaid carts that cleaning service people use. Put carpet on the top and then screwed plywood to the bottom and attached some cheap Harbor Freight wheels to it.

On your Cart

You should have: Allen Keys (Metric & Standard) and Lens Cleaning (Kimwipes and Lens Cleaner). Think of your cart as an extension of your pouch.

11. Extra batteries always in your pocket. Always a fresh batt at the ready will help you maintain a fast tempo.

12. A 940 Pelican case with extra cards in your pocket will give you a safe place to hold and store exposed cards. Treat this process like handling film. Your fresh card is an unexposed negative. Your card that you just pulled out is exposed negative.

13. Using Hoodman RAW cards are incredibly reliable and make for 3 times as fast downloading.  This keeps your speed and accuracy at a higher level.  Your Media manager can be viewing the media sooner and giving feedback on footage, quickly highlight any problems that he or she might find with your cameras, exposures, focus, you name it, mine has my back.

14. Keep your INFO. BAR up on the bottom of your screen so that you are always double checking yourself. Make sure you have the desired ISO and shutter speed. There have been many times where I’ve found that the little menu wheel gets bumped and the shutter speed has accidentally shifted away from the 1/50th. Tape this wheel off for safety as well as the wheel that switches the camera from manual to auto. Canon issued a lock update a while back, if you send your camera in they will put a lock on the top wheel where you have to push down to be able to move it.

15. Always check you WB on the top of your camera to make sure you are exactly where you want to be and that all your cameras are in sync.

16. Lens cleaner and tissues on your belt speed up your efficiency. I am constantly dealing with dust and dirt blasting the lenses and filters. Having these items nearby will save you many trips back to your camera cart.

Your tool set should include these items…

In Your  AKS (All Kinds of Shit) Bag:

Leatherman, Flashlight, Scissors, Sharpies (Include a Twin Tip Sharpie), Grease Pencil, Velcro, Black Paper Tape, Allen Wrench Set, Screwdriver (multi set is best), Jewelers Screwdriver (multi), Slate Pen (w/ Eraser), Chalk In Holder, Knife, Ball Point Pen. Lens Cleaner and Wipes…

On Your Belt:

Air Can, Small tape roll: 2” Photo Black, 1” White Gaffers Tape, 1 Colored Electrical Tape. Also, when you go out on shoots, it is important to own a surveillance walkie-talkie headset as well.

FINALLY

Never trust the exposure bar or histogram.  Those take exposure based on a RAW and or Jpeg still frame, not how your video should be exposed. If you go by the histogram you will continue to deliver footage that is overexposed and looking like video not digital film.  Use your eye or a HP Dreamcolor lighting monitor.  If there is any secret sauce that I have developed, it is my picture styles–and that I never listen to the camera when it comes to exposing my image.

What does your etiquette look like?  What makes you fast and efficient?

The first job that I ever shot with the Canon 5D was as Director and DP on a webisode series that Director of “Terminator Salvation” McG asked me to do.  We produced these webisodes as part of the “Terminator Salvation” marketing campaign to be used before the movie was released. When I saw how amazing the imagery from this camera looked and the way that it moved on someone’s head or in someone’s hands, I was sold.

First person perspective footage was taken to the next level when I signed on to lens the Navy SEAL action picture “Act of Valor” with the Bandito Brothers. Directors Scotty Waugh and Mouse McCoy wanted to think outside of the box for a new look and feel. I said, “What if we put the viewer in the eyes of the Navy SEAL. The film would feel like the video game ‘Call of Duty,’ with this first person shooter perspective.”

We set out on a mission to design and build a Hurlbut Visuals helmet cam that would be rigged on the right side of the SEALs’ heads and over their gun sights. It moved like you have never seen a camera move before. Jumping into rivers, running down tunnels, chasing bad guys in trucks, and going underwater was all do-able while using the helmet cam. The shots were intimate, visceral, and breathtaking.

When Hurlbut Visuals produced the critically acclaimed short film “The Last 3 Minutes,” (http://www.ojaifilmfestival.com/ and http://www.cinemastlouis.org/) the director, Po Chan, wanted a first person perspective that was different from the video game quality of “Act of Valor.” She wanted the footage to be elegant, smooth, and to transport the viewer through time. I knew that the helmet cam that we had designed for AOV was too far away from the wearer’s eyes and that we needed to outsource in order to get the equipment necessary. I called Gary Thieltges at Doggicam to see if he had made anything for this camera system that was closer to the eyes. I have used Doggicam on almost every one of my feature films. I have employed their body mount rigs, carbon fiber remote heads, and unique rigs on bikes and motorcycles. You name it, they can mount it. Gary told me that he had just made a helmet cam that he thought that I would really like. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. In one word, “WOW.” It is so well designed. He had taken a Baseball helmet and cut the right ear flap off. This gives you the ability to get the camera very close to the right eye, which was a more fine tuned version of my original helmet cam design. It uses all of Gary’s special 5/8” rods and rod clamps to mount the camera anywhere you like. This integrates incredibly well with a remote follow focus system and anything else that you might need to add like wireless video, a battery, etc. It has a very simple counter weight design that enables you to balance the rig on anyone’s head, and a neck support travels in the kit as well.
The Last 3 Minutes – Directed by Po Chan

In “The Last 3 Minutes” we slid into home plate with this helmet rigged to my Elite Team member Bodie Orman’s head. We were able to take viewers on a journey, showing them what it would feel like to slide into home along with the emotion that goes into scoring a winning run. We took all of the batteries and the wireless video transmitter and put them in a backpack for Bodie to wear so that we could reduce the weight on his head and neck as much as possible.

Bodie fastens the Doggicam helmet cam and is ready for action

Bodie speeds around third base

Bodie celebrates with his teammates while Elite Team member Marc Margulies plays the Third Base coach as well as the focus puller on this complex shot.

The Elite Team of Marc Margulies, Darin Necessary and Bodie Orman. Filmmakers to the core.

Bodie takes a break before we blow the bomb off.

Elite team member Julien Lasseur readies the slate while Bodie gets into character.

The Vietnam sequence was another example of taking this platform to the next level. As a bomb goes off, Bodie drops to the ground with his hands and M-16 in the bottom of frame. The viewer is emotionally involved, and again, it is a visceral experience.

Josh Pritz rolls out with the helmet cam - he is ready for a street fight with my son Myles.

We mounted the helmet cam on Josh Pritz’s head. He was playing our young William. Josh gets into a street fight with my son Myles.

The helmet cam was the only tool that could give us this unique first person perspective with the elegance and beauty that Po wanted.

Hurlbut Visuals helmet cam at work in the Dominican Republic

The Hurlbut Visuals helmet cam wired and ready for action

I assist the actress getting into the helmet cam.

Dominican Republic shoot - at the edge of the ocean.

When we were doing a Travel and Tourism spot in the Dominican Republic for AM Resorts, director Rob Lawe at Fresh Pictures wanted viewers to experience the resort through the eyes of the couple that was staying at the Zoëtry resort. We rigged the Hurlbut Visuals helmet to our beautiful model and she revealed footage of exotic room locations that transitioned right into the aquamarine color waters of the Caribbean, as well as relaxing spas and night clubs.

When you are shooting an intimate scene and you want to be in the middle of the action, a helmet cam is an amazing tool to meet your needs. It is powerful for two things: immersing you in the action and having a first person point of view. The mixture of the helmet cam and the 5D is very powerful. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on what equipment you have used to achieve this same type of effect.

Assembling the correct team is critical, so I called on four of my Elite Team members; Mike Svitak and Darin Necessary camera operators extraordinaire, Dave Knudsen the rigging guru and Julien Lasseur, HV intern who is in training to manage media.

(Top Left) Mikey and Shane discuss a shot. (Top Right) Mikey lensing up the macro wheat kernel. (Bottom Left) Mikey goes for higher ground to get the right shot. (Bottom Right) Mikey on the 300mm Canon.

I brought Mikey Svitak in 3 days early to get DP experience.  His mission was to gather a variety of shots and the results were truly beautiful, well composed and perfectly exposed.  Thanks Mikey!!

Bobby runs the set.

To pull off this very ambitious one day shoot, I needed the right Elite Team producer and Assistant Director who were Greg Haggart and Bobby Phillips, respectively. Greg had produced “Act of Valor” and “The Last 3 Minutes.” He has an amazing ability to stretch the budget and put everything on the screen.  Bobby was the AD on “Act of Valor” and the Navy Swimmer Spots; both are filmmakers through and through.

Greg Haggart, Producer

To keep our shoot compact and nibble, we turned to the Canon 5D Mark II.  I knew we needed a lot of coverage when the weather was just right as it was tornado season and they are very unpredictable. Our vision was for the spot to be golden and beautiful and we did not have the budget to shoot all of those moments on film.  The film was saved for slow-motion coverage of the wheat field and the combine harvesting so that it looked elegant and fluid.

Grabbing a macro CU of the wheat with Canon 100mm Macro.

This would juxtapose the stock footage that was time lapse shots all over the world of growing population and traffic.  The stock footage was gathered by Voyager creative and I had the job of sifting through a thousand select shots to find those 4 to 6 hero moments that delivered the creative impact.  Once they were found I started to create images of the combine harvesting that would match the moment and flow of the stock shots.  I wanted them to be woven through the spot like a tapestry, not just cut together in one clump.  The feel had to be seamless showing that as the farmer harvests so does he feed and fuel the world.  The concept was following one kernel of wheat that we see in the beginning.

300mm Canon in field.

We had to think creatively to budget this one day shoot. Instead of shooting one long day, we divided into 5 days because it was harvesting time and we had to be very respectful of the farmers that were letting us into their world and giving us the opportunity to film these beautiful machines. To pull this spot off we would have to put into action what we did on the Navy Swimmer spots where we shot it as a play in real time capture.  I knew I could ask the farmer to do a few shots that were more like camera set ups but most of it had to be done without impacting his daily operation.  I felt that impacting him a little each day would be a far better approach than one long day where we would have to shut everything down.  Small and mobile were our catch phrases to move where ever he was harvesting.  By the time I reached Oklahoma to location scout, 3/4‘s of the fields that I had selected had already been harvested.  The weather was right and they had to go; they were not going to wait just for a commercial.  So capturing it in real time was our only option.

Shane discusses shot with Bobby and Darin.

As a director/cameraman, it is critical to pick the correct tools for the job. I felt the 5D was a perfect for getting in there and we also rigged a 7D to a piece of speedrail to get a slow-motion shot of grain coming out of the auger from the combine.  A 24mm Canon L series was mounted and wrapped it in a ziploc bag, blasted and let free fall into the bed of the truck. We rigged 5D’s and 7D’s in several tight and unique angles to deliver the elegance of the machine. We rigged one in the thrashing reel mechanism. The camera spun around in circles as the grain was cut.

Chapman Hydro Scope gets us in there.

Film was used on a telescopic crane mounted to a camera car that could track along with the combine and stay out its way.  The crane we used because of all of the dust was the Chapman Hydroscope.  You can completely submerge the whole crane and the head and at the end the of the shoot day the technician’s just needed to hose it off.  So, here is how it played out. We rigged 5D’s on the combine in very tight interesting spaces in the morning before they headed out to the field.  This was done over 2 days to lessen the impact. Then on the big shoot day we used the 5D’s again with the farmer in the field in the morning and then hopped on the camera car in the afternoon when the light was lower and rocked out stunning shots of 4 combines harvesting wheat.

Chapman Hydro Scope in action on Camera Car.

Our big shoot day had a crew of 20 members.  Our 4 other shoot days were done with 4 crew members.  Small footprint, BIG VISION.

10-5D's, 1-Arri 435,Camera Support, rigging, generator, and craft service in a 1-ton Cube truck.

Rick Ferris.

Case had given us 4 different farmers to talk and we needed to find the right Custom farming team.  Farming has changed over the years, so now the person who owns the land doesn’t harvest his crops. He pays custom farmers, called “cutters” to come in and do this work.  We worked with the cutters.

I met Rick Ferris who has been a custom farmer for over 50 years.  He starts in Oklahoma and makes his way all the way to Montana by mid December harvesting all sorts of crops.  He had done some BBC documentaries in the 90‘s and hired foreign exchange students from Ohio State to help in his business.  When I heard that I knew he was the guy.  He was an educator and could explain what he does day in and day out and would also understand what we were trying to do.

I grew up on a 250 acre farm as a child and I have to say it was probably the best training I could have ever have for cinematography.  I watched my Dad use common sense, think quickly on his feet and be able to fix anything.

Combines harvesting into the sunset.

He was a genius.  There was not much he could not weld, cut, rig, or mickey mouse together if we did not have the money for that specific part.  He had to react quickly to whatever mother nature threw at him. I learned from one of the best about how to use this life experience to my advantage as an artist.

Pole cam.

For example, I needed a aerial shot. The budget was $140,000.00 total which we had divided into 5 days. On average, a normal commercial shoot day costs at least $180,000.00, depending on the concept.  How do you do this aerial with no money? Enter the CDC (crop dusting cam.)  Darin Necessary’s son is a pilot who knew a friend that he went to school with in Dallas that was also a pilot.  We had him rent a plane, which gave

Pole cam before dump.

him flying hours along with getting us this amazing top down shot at 500 feet of the combines at sunset, with their long shadows moving across the field and the dust being side lit.  It was awesome.

We rigged a Canon L series 24mm lens straight down just outside the window on the wing strut.  We rigged a Canon L series 35mm right next to it and then a Canon 50mm L series on the landing gear.  A few hose clamps from a automotive store, some tape, 1/4

Pole cam in a waterfall of wheat.

20 baby pins and some rigging ingenuity by Dave Knudsen and Darin Necessary and we were off.  This shot cost approximately $700.00 total.  If we had rented a helicopter and a gyro stabilized head it would have been over $7,000.00.  That is why I love Greg Haggart. He saw that shot on my boards and made in happen when I thought it wouldn’t be possible.  The tricky thing though was to rig the cameras so that I could reach them out the small window in the Cessna.  When I got in the co-pilot’s seat,

Harvestor Cam.

I realized that I needed a specific tool to assist me in this endeavor.  It was the 5/16 inch allen T-wrench that would give me the added length to my arm and also be able to grab the gears on the back exposure wheel to change the stops as the light changed, as well as turning the cameras on and off to save batteries and hit the record button.  We had one fancy on/off switch but we went for old school, less to fail once we were airborne.  It worked perfectly.  I had a 6.5 inch Marshall monitor with an Anton Bauer battery back to gauge my exposures.  I ran 3 different BNC cables from the cameras to the cockpit.

Dave puts the 5D in tight spaces.

Then I would insert the different camera cables into the monitor to check the exposures and to make sure they were recording.  It was difficult to see the flashing red light with the sun blinding me up there.  Now, this all worked great on the ground because I could reach and turn every knob and button.

CDC pulling out, on its maiden voyage.

Crop duster cam rig.

Once in flight it was a different story and I had no idea how powerful the windspeed would be. Chad the pilot said he could get our speed down to 50mph. I had put my hand outside a car going 50 before so I thought it won’t be bad. Well, I had to use all of my strength to stretch out and reach the controls. Just when I would get ready to hit the record button a gust of wind would come and blow my arm back. It was difficult but the images speak for themselves.

Darin rigs the Canon 50mm L series to the landing gear.

One thing we knew would exist is some harmonic vibration, so we would have to stabilize in post, along with image sharpening.  I have to say, the 24mm Canon did not resolve the way that I hoped, so in the future I will try the 21mm Zeiss to assist in this CDC approach.  Another mistake I made was my guessing about the tilt down on the two longer lens cameras, the 35 and the 50mm. I thought they needed about a 15 degree tilt up.  I got the shot but 2 seconds was all I needed.  Hindsight being 20/20 I would have rigged all of them to the body of the plane with some rubber rigging pad to take out the vibration.  Lesson learned.  I’ve never done anything like this before.

Aerial Shot with 3-5D's 24mm L series from 400 feet

Julien operates the 500mm Canon.

Shooting with the old Kowa glass was also a first for me.  I had tested the lenses but not with sunsets and the gorgeous fields that we had to work with.  One word.  WOW!!  Their flare and contrast ranges were beautiful; warm and slightly muted.  I felt it fit the spot perfectly.  I shot the farmer with these and the opening sequence, then match the look in our color suite with the other cinema primes and Canon glass we used.

75mm Vintage Kowa Lens.

Kowa and combines.

We kept on thinking out of the box with our camera moves with our very limited resources on the first 3 days.  How can you dolly the camera over some railroad tracks?  Enter the CamRail system from London. This worked very well even with the heavier cinema primes. It pinched the dolly mechanism a bit but it made for a very smooth move with all that resistance. Oh no!! No wedges or apple boxes, well 2 Pelican cases and some 4X5 WW IR ND’s will work perfect for wedges.  I love this platform and its liberating spirit. Remember, it is not the camera, but the person behind it.  What have you done with less?  How have you made your creative vision shine.

Mikey makes a dolly move with the Cam rail system.

11-1 primo

Ultra Primes are rising to the top by giving the widest field of view compared to the other PL mount lenses; they vignette at a 40mm which translates to a 26.8mm. Not bad.

It is a shame that the Panavision Primo primes that I used to shoot “Act of Valor” are not available anymore. They vignette up to a 35mm, which translates to a 24mm lens. Now that is nice. Their flange depth is so shallow that the Canon 5D, 7D, 1D don’t need to be changed in any way. Now let’s just think about that for a minute. We are taking all of these Canon cameras and chopping them up, moving the sensor, charging the public a fortune to be able to make a PL mount work when the Panavision lenses all work perfectly. They do not void warranties, cut up the lens port area, lose the reflex viewing system, or make the camera unusable with any other mount.

So I have gone on a quest to find the best company to modify these cameras so that you can slap PL mount cinema lens on them.

HOT ROD Cameras

One dedicated, incredibly intelligent, intimate and personal service fabricator is HOT ROD Cameras, http://www.hotrodcameras.com/. Illya Friedman has been a leader in this technology by first building his PL mount on the GH-1. His mount has the signature Green ring and handles, and are built entirely in the USA.

Canon 7D

With so many requests to PL mount the 7D, it started entrepreneurial ingenuity all over the world. Illya had already modified one and had it at Sundance for people to see.

Hot Rod Camera

Denz, Schmidle/FGV www.bandpro.com/309/ and others have started making incredible designs but at a price tag that chokes me, and if a new model comes out, you throw your 7D in the trash or sell it on the Recycler.

7D_PL

HOT ROD Camera’s mount is interchangeable. Illya is forward thinking by trying to look into the future and know that the technology will change. Since the 5D Mark II came out we have seen 2 other cameras come out in quick succession; the 7D and 1D both with different sensor sizes. This is what attracted me to HOT ROD. A mount that could embrace the future, at a price point that is a little more attractive. If you already own a 7D and want HOT ROD Cameras to modify it with a PL mount, it costs $3,250. If you would like a new 7D camera pre-modified to PL mount with all the accessories, it is $4,800. The 7D-PL cameras will be available in our Hurlbut Visuals Moviemaker Kits at Alternative Rentals. Additionally, there are many shops in the LA area renting the 7D-PL. The HOT ROD 7D-PL are the most popular. Here is the short list: Abel Cine Tech, Birns & Sawyer, Camtec, Indie Rentals, Moviola and VER.

Illya is not moving the sensor or altering the electronics of the camera. The only alteration is precision machining the lens mount area to accept the flange depth of all 35mm PL mount lenses. He has partenered with an extended warranty company, so for an extra $200 you have the option of adding a 2-year warranty. The original factory warranty is only 1-year. A new 7D Hot Rodded with a PL mount, the HOT ROD CS (an Arri-standard 15mm lightweight rod support), hand grips and a 2-year warranty all-in is $5,000.  The Denz is $7,700.00 w/camera included. The Schmidle/FGV is $7,500.00 w/camera included. Denz and Schmidle charge extra for rod support, and don’t offer hand grips.  But FGV’s mod has been done with Canon’s cooperation and keeps the cameras one year warranty active.

I talked with Schumacher Camera in Chicago while I was there for Zacuto’s Great Camera Shootout in the middle of May and they said they have 4 of HOT ROD’s 7D mod’s and they cannot keep them in the rental department. They said that the Zeiss super speeds are now flying off the shelves. This is what this revolution will fuel. A recycling of old lens technology that has been collecting dust for years, but when you put it on to these Canon cameras, it takes the camera from a Yugo to a Porsche.

thumbs_top-view-prime2

thumbs_underslung

Once again this platform being Eco-friendly in a way that we never saw coming. Now all the Cooke zooms that were in the Recycler, are now a entity, just like the Nikon still lenses became hot when the 5D was only automatic.

HOT ROD’s 5D PL mod runs about $3,650.00 and then you supply the camera at $2,400.00. All in $6,050.00. Not many of the other manufacturer’s are jumping on the 5D wagon because of the vignette issue. But, I see it as essential tool for making movies.

There are so many different lenses that have been lost and need a re-birth. Go on a creative and visual pilgrimage. That is what I am doing. All of you have been so generous to share lenses that inspire you and I have not kept up with all of your brilliant suggestions. I am only one person with a very full plate, so  I have hired a researcher at Hurlbut Visuals, to acquire these lenses. Meet Julien. He can be reached at Julien@hurlbutvisuals.com. Please send him all of your amazing creative lens ideas that you have used that make you jump up and say, ” I want to see that on the big screen.” Flood him with information please, educate him and we will do our best to deliver. He is a very smart film student that wants to be a cinematographer and a director. I love filmmakers with a passion for learning. The kid in a candy shop energy; when I see that fire, I throw gasoline on it.

So I ask all of you who have shared their lenses of choice to blast Julien with a barrage of information. He is there for you.

BRING IT ON!!!!

Here are details from our EPK crew on “The Last 3 Minutes.” With this first person perspective, it is not like a scene where you do a wide shot and then go in for coverage. It plays out like a play where everything has to work. If you did a normal scene, there would be 5 takes on a master, 6 takes on over the shoulder, another 6 takes on over the shoulder, 4 takes on a close-up and 4 takes on another close-up. We did 10-20 takes so it all worked as one shot which was very challenging. One of the most difficult things in film making is to have it all happen in one shot and not breaking it up into individual set-ups. Here is how we did it.

EPK Director/Camera Operator: Tim Holtermann

“When Shane told me he wanted to shoot behind the scenes footage of “The Last 3 Minutes” I was very excited as I had only used the 5D MKII for narrative work. I knew that using the 5D for run and gun style documentary work might be a challenge and loved the idea of diving in head first.

Shane and The Hurlbut Visuals Elite Team

Prep: There was no real prep for this because of time constraints and schedules so I pretty much showed up on set day one and just started shooting. However, we had discussed some things ahead of time like shooting freehand (no rigs) vs mounting the camera on a RedRock shoulder mount rig with follow focus and a Zoom H4n for sound. What we found out after a few hours on day one was that free style was the way to go. It was light, nimble and easy to move around a sometimes crowded set. The less intrusive the better – especially for low key documentary style stuff.

Director Po Chan, Rudy Harbon, Shane and Marc Marguiles check out a shot

Crew: Shane’s Elite Team Members Marc Marguiles and Rudy Harbon helped me with delivering two different perspectives with their camera work. Not only was it a blast to work with Marc and Rudy but a privilege too. Nothing like a good group around you when you are pulling long days and nights.

Shane, Tim Holtermann and Derek Edwards With the Helmet Cam

Gear: Aside from the 5D MKII my lens of choice was the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens. This lens proved to be a great help in low light situations and is perfect for run and gun style shootings. I tend to stay around 24 for most hand held work because it just helps keep the image steady but there were occasions where I did zoom in, you just have to watch the motion. Marc used the Canon EF 24-105 f/4 with IS. The image stabilization seemed to work well when he zoomed in which was helpful for those times where we couldn’t get close enough. When we were shooting in low light he would be up in the 1600 ISO range where I was happy at ISO 640. So there are some trade offs.

For the most part it was just the 5D MKII and a lens griped with our hands. No tripods, no camera supports, no lighting, nothing at all.

Derek Edwards, Tim Holtermann, Antonio Soriano and Shane

Audio: I guess I could have included this in the gear section but I think audio is important so it gets its own special section. We did have a Zoom H4n and a Rhode microphone with us and if I had an extra sound guy to follow us around I might have had it rolling sound. The problem with recording sound like this is that you have to deal with it sooner or later in post. You either need to slate your shots or use some type of plug-in to help sync up the sound with the visuals not to mention the extra time you’ll need to catalog all of the sound files. Sometimes in run and gun style documentary shooting there is just no time or ability to shoot a slate so the question became, do we just roll the audio and attach the Zoom to one of us and hope for the best or should we just concentrate on the visuals and hope the camera mics hold up. We decided to let the cameras record with their own mics. We just didn’t have the time or crew to fuss with the Zoom in such a fast paced schedule. For the most part the sound from the cameras holds up pretty well except during any amount of wind or camera/hand shake.

If we had had the time before hand I would have tested a few more options – for example, mounting one of the smaller mics such as the Rhode VideoMic or Sennheiser MKE 400 directly to the camera which would have probably been a lot better than the on board mic and since they would feed directly to the camera we would not have to worry about syncing the audio up later. The other nice option would have been to try out the new audio control of the 24P firmware but there was no time.

Shane and Kyra Hurlbut

We wanted to get some dialogue from Shane to lay down as voice over as well as an introduction so when there were a few minutes to spare during lunch on one of the days we put Shane under a tree with a Sennheiser G3 wireless lavalier which fed into the Zoom H4n and recorded away. This was the only time we ended up using the second system sound.

So the bottom line – I was surprised the camera mics did as well as they did but would have loved to have improved upon this and will make sure to get some testing done before the next run and gun shoot.

Lighting: Well there wasn’t any – not by the behind the scenes crew anyway. We relied on available light. Outdoors we used the sun to our advantage but had to ND the lens most of the time. There were a few times where I just stopped the camera down past 11. Usually lenses show their weaknesses when you go into the 11+ range but since we were not shooting things for beauty I wasn’t too concerned. In fact the images look pretty good and it allowed me to keep focus more easily. The choice was – worry about a less pristine image due to the aperture or an out of focus image. I would rather have the focus, at least in this situation.

During the lower light scenes and night shots we tried to use the set lighting as much as possible. There were times where I was wide open at 2.8 and 640 ISO or higher but the camera held up fine. It’s just that pulling focus can be a problem at this point so I highly suggest getting use to using the cameras 10x magnification feature, finding a focus point and then hitting record quickly or using something like the Zacuto ZFinder.

Rudy Harbon, Shane and Derek Edwards discuss a shot

Marc Marguiles, Shane and Derek Edwards

Shooting the behind the scenes for “The Last 3 Minutes” was a labor of love. It was challenging, fun and exhausting all at the same time but that is what makes film making so rewarding. It was great documenting Shane and the rest of the crew at work as they are all so passionate about what they do. A true pleasure. If you have specific questions or want more details, my email is Tim@hurlbutvisuals.com.”

Marc Marguiles, Po Chan, Darin Necessary, Bodie Orman and Shane

EPK Camera Operator: Marc Marguiles

“When you tell a story it is important to have a beginning, middle and end. I thought of opening the case and ending it with putting the camera back in the case and the in between would be sequenced by a scene by scene telling a story within the story.

I preferred using the 5D over 7D and 1D because it was more familiar and we had done extensive testing with picture quality and noise reduction. The lens choice needed to be able to do a wide shot while also capturing closeups without being right in the middle of the action or in everyone’s face and getting in the way of production. I chose a Canon 24:105 zoom with a Tiffen ND .9 or ND 1.2 to decrease the depth of field while shooting at 160 ISO during the daytime to make it look more like film. The night shots were at 1600 and 3200 ISO because the t-stop was a 4.0 on that lens.

It was great to collaborate with Tim to compliment certain shots; we alternated with wide or tight angles. The overall vision was to have an educational how “The Last 3 Minutes” was made so the audience felt like they were actually present on the set. If you would like to discuss everything in more detail, my email is Marc@hurlbutvisuals.com.”

Shane, Darin Necessary and Bodie Orman

So Lydia Hurlbut negotiated with Canon to sponsor a visual short produced by Hurlbut Visuals and Bandito Brothers Productions that showcased the 24p firmware update in the 5D to remind everyone of the power of this amazing tool.  A tool that can inspire out of the box thinking.  I wanted to feature the Canon glass to show what I had learned over the last 13 months shooting one feature, 12 commercials, and 20 short films with this platform.

Director: Po Chan

“The day when Shane asked me to come up with “The Last 3 Minutes” treatment I was so excited. I knew that I did not have to limit my vision and could go wild because of what this camera can do.  I wanted to write a story which would enable us to showcase different kinds of lighting scenarios and extreme camera angles that will touch audiences hearts. Visuals without a story have no meaning. My own little philosophy about life is that life is like a BIG CIRCLE. We are all born INNOCENT. No matter how many wrong doings or right things we have done, at the last minutes before death we will again become innocent. This is the big circle of life and it is the inspiration behind “The Last 3 Minutes.” The main element in this film is the CRYSTAL that William carries with him, which represents the theme of INNOCENCE and William’s own conscience. A crystal refracts light, so when William looks inside it each refraction becomes a different memory in the course of his life. It is analogous to peeling back layers of an onion with the center layer being just at the moments before death. All of the elements in this film: casting, music, wardrobe style and color, make up (the lipstick color on the actress), hairstyle and color, set dress pieces and the texture of those pieces to the look of the crystal. Everything was carefully planned and considered to make sure every element worked in concert with the story, together in harmony.” For further questions about the concept please email Po at pchan731@yahoo.com.

Canon 5D First Person Perspective

Cinematographer and Executive Producer: Shane Hurlbut, ASC

“I asked Po to write this short and she delivered a phenomenally creative concept within a day. Po not only wrote a heartfelt story but a piece that took advantage of every unique possibility with the Canon 5D technology, especially because of her ideas with using a first person experience. A huge thank-you to Po for her tireless vision and leadership.

When Po and I discussed her creative concept, I believed that the Canon L series glass would be the perfect lens choice because of the close-focus ability and creamy quality.  The Canon glass shined on this project and I was so impressed with the 35, 50, 85, 100mm Macro L Series lenses.  Their contrast range and color knocked me out.

The main character in the short is William Turner, a janitor who’s life seems mundane and uninteresting on the surface but as it unfolds there are many layers. We shot his boring existence in the present day at 24p utilizing the new firmware.  The story then goes on a journey of William’s life over a time period of 67 years which we shot 30p and pulled it in at 24fps so that it would have a slightly dreamy feel. The creamy Canon glass delivered the period look that we were going for as we went back in time beginning in the 1980′s and moving backward to end in the 1940′s.

On the tech front, Doggicam came forth with an amazing new 5D helmet cam that put the 5D very close to the right eye and moved gracefully down the 3rd base line as well as crawling through the high grass in the Vietnam sequence. It uses Doggicam’s patented 5/8″ rod technology to put the camera wherever you would like.  It is extremely lightweight and stable.

HV Elite Team member Bodie Orman wearing the Doggiecam Helmet

Our shoot encompassed 17 different location over 4 1/2 days.  The project was a labor of love from the Hurlbut Visuals Elite Team Members and all the production staff from Bandito Brothers.  This would never have been possible without their time, expertise, willingness to donate gear and take on whatever roles the project demanded. Jacob Rosenberg and his post production Elite Team from Bandito Brothers knocked it out of the park!!  For specific post questions, please email Jacob at jacob@banditobrothers.com. A big thank you to Andrew Huebscher (andrew.huebscher@gmail.com) for his amazing color correction and Brett Novak for his beautiful crystal transitions. The biggest thank you goes to my wife and collaborator. She was the glue that held this little short together with countless hours on the phone connecting people, arranging the deal, coordinating the finances, working with the parents to schedule all of the children and watching over the kids on the set which was a daunting task.”

Director Po Chan and Shane with HV Elite Team Members in action

Carmela McCoy (Costume designer and Makeup) on right and Hether Breckrest (Makeup) on left

HV Elite Team Member Rudy Harbon and Shane viewing a shot

Producer: Greg Haggart

“My team and I knew that we had the task of making this project go off without a hitch. Our job is to anticipate potential problems so we can avoid them to stay on time and within the budget. I location scouted with Po and asked many favors from equipment vendors and the special effects team members from “Act of Valor.”  I believe that the Canon 5D encourages the essence of what film making is all about. Everyone giving it their all; whatever needs to be done for the love of the project with the end result of putting the highest quality image possible up on the screen.”  For further questions about production, please email Greg at greghaggart@mac.com

Vietnam scene with HV Elite Team Members Darin Necessary and Bodie Orman

Editor: Vashi Nedomansky

“Po asked me cut “The Last 3 Minutes” and then brought me super-detailed storyboards and the script that proceeded to act out every shot, angle and transition.  What I realized right away was this was to be no ordinary short film.  Once I received the footage, I had confirmation.  As an editor, I have seen the best and worst shot footage from every camera.  What Shane can do with the 5D mkii will make your jaw drop.  The images are so organic and pleasing that we spent most of the time looking at the reference monitors in disbelief.  The edit was a smooth one and with so many choices for each scene, I let the visuals do all the work.  I did hide a couple zero-cuts in the edit to blend two takes together but otherwise I tried to stay out of the story’s way.  It’s amazing how a cinematic image can instill more emotion into a scene.  That, along with the shallow depth of field, really gives you more tools to tell your stories in the most visually interesting way.” For further questions about editing, please email Vashi at vashikoo@yahoo.com.

Behind the Scenes of “The Last 3 Minutes”

Stay tuned for a sizzle reel of the Behind The Scenes video of “The Last 3 Minutes” directed and edited by Elite Team Member Tim Holtermann.  In the Behind The Scenes footage, we break down how different scenes were done and discuss how a particular scene was blocked, different camera angle choices and unique lighting set ups.  It will be released on the Canon’s Digital Learning Center usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=3409 as well as the Hurlbut Visuals website and the HurlBlog.

I thought if we can start a new rulebook, what if it is done to make a difference.  There is so much waste in the film business that it boggles my mind.  Sets are built, torn down, thrown into a dumpster, never to be seen again; all the wood, glue, nails, labor, design, creativity thrown into the trash.

Recycling is such an easy concept. We consume more than any other country in the world.  When will we stop? When will we say no? Every little step that one single person takes adds up to a big change.

As a cinematographer I dislike curly-que fluorescent bulbs in my home because they are not warm like an incandescent lamp and their quality is very antiseptic.  But as one who wants to try and make a difference I went out and changed every light bulb in my house to a fluorescent one.  It cut my electric bill by 2/3rds and I am trying to make the smallest difference so that my children can experience a planet that will not be destroyed.

I moved my family way out of L.A. and chose to educate them at a public school, coach their sports teams and try to educate them about how our planet is sick and needs all of us to heal it.

Now to the point.  The HDSLR technology recycles, it is small, it requires less space, less crew, less light, less power, less fuel, and less food.  I can go on and on for a long time about how this technology produces less waste. The most important point is that with less waste also comes the power for infinite creativity.  I have coined the phrase “small footprint, big vision.”  Isn’t that what we want to teach our children and the world? Leave a small footprint, but have a big vision.

I ask all cinematographers, videographers, still photographers, directors, producers, agency creative’s, production companies, studios, actors, and technicians to embrace, push, sell, believe in, experiment, inspire, convince, persuade, not doing business as usual. Think out of the box to save our planet.  It starts with one and grows to many.  By the way, this HDSLR technology saves loads of money also.  I will lead the march and unite as many co-collaborators to drink the HDSLR Kool-aid.

Here is an excerpt from Vincent:

“There is A LOT OF POTENTIAL here for something very special to come out at the end…  each video chapter will start with and end with a still image… you need to interpret the previous photographer/filmmaker’s still to start the (your) subsequent chapter (those are pretty much the ONLY rules/guidelines (outside of the obvious))… should make for a pretty unique series of chapters in the end!

So watch the video above and find out more!  I’m on vacation with family and I’ll get rolling with regular updates and much much more information early next week!  For now – start charging those batteries… it’s your turn!

The Story Beyond the Still – Behind The Scenes from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

Judges for the contest include:

Philip Bloom - Director/DP

Russell Carpenter - DP – “Titanic”

Rodney Charters – Director/DP – “24”

Nick Childs – Director/Producer /VP Grey Advertising

Shane Hurlbut – DP – “Terminator Salvation”

Stu Maschwitz – Senior Visual FX Supervisor – “The Spirit”

Rick McCallum – Producer – “Star Wars”

Blake Whitman – Director/Editor – Mr. Vimeo himself.

I’ll be a judge as well of course.”

Coming from the world of film, I am used a lot of latitude and uncompressed 16 BIT color space. I want whatever will give me the most range so I have options when I get to the point of color correction. I like to bend it, shape it, stretch it, push it to have maximum flexibility and creativity.

So, I downloaded a RAW picture style from the Internet.  It claimed to increase latitude in the highlights as well as digging into the shadow areas.  I shot 9 shorts, 2 commercials and 25% of the Navy Seal movie on this.  What a BIG, HUGE MISTAKE!  It was fine for the controlled lighting set-ups that I had on the short films and the 2 commercials, but when it came to the big yacht take down in Key West it buried me.

Picture Style Menu

The Elite Team and I quickly learned that while shooting day exteriors, the downloaded RAW picture style made it impossible to gauge a correct exposure on the back LCD screen due to the light contamination.  You could not tell whether it was overexposed or underexposed because it was so stretched to give you both ends. Consequently, we underexposed 25 or so shots trying to gain contrast. I will never repeat that mistake again!

After this error, we needed to rethink our approach.  The Elite Team and I had a think tank session and came up with a new strategy. We designed a RAW file that I liked with the Canon computer software, that we called SEAL RAW.  Our approach was to start with a neutral picture style with -1 saturation to expose our day exteriors and to light our day interiors, night interiors and night exteriors. Once the exposure was set on the day exteriors and the lighting was dialed in just before rolling, we switched from the neutral setting to SEAL RAW and then recorded on that picture style to give us the ultimate latitude. Our neutral picture style was equivalent to the final look of the film. In theory, it is similiar to a DIT superimposing a final picture look up table on the raw files of a RED One, Sony F35, Sony F23, Panavision Genesis, Arri D21 etc.

Neutral Picture Style

-1 Saturation to Desaturate the Reds

This is what works for my lighting and visual style.  Which picture style fits your vision?

The unique skill set that my Elite Team brings is that they all have a film background and are comfortable with certain rituals that accompany being a motion picture film loader and 2nd assistant cameraman.  These include: managing the truck; keeping  track of the gear and specialty pieces of equipment; creating an inventory and log; assessing how many magazines you have to load and color coding it according to the stock; labeling the magazines with the date, job, film stock and amount loaded on the magazine itself; and writing a camera report with the same information.

The system we designed for the untitled Navy Seal Movie is a mixture of the traditional film loader combined with the DIT job in the digital world. On our movie, Mike McCarthy who is a brilliant post production guy at Bandito Brothers with an IQ that I swear is above 180, set up our media manager work-flow system.  The Media Manager station is very simple and compact.  Sticking with the small footprint approach we employ a Mac Book Pro Laptop, a 24” HD Cinema Display monitor, and 4 External 500GB hard drives.

MacBook Pro

We shoot 10 to 15 minutes on a 8GB card.  I like using the 8GB cards the best because the counter on the top of the camera kicks in depending on jpeg settings at approximately 15 minutes of media recorded.  This is a great gauge.  Once the counter starts to come off of 999 we re-load the card.  Just like a 1000 foot magazine on a film camera.

Card Reader with 8GB Card

There are three important reasons to do it this way:

1. We can get that to the media manager and he can check the focus on his big monitor.  We all know how critical the focus is with these cameras.
2. The cards tend to heat up and when that happens the noise factor goes up.  So keeping a fresh card in there is very good way to keep the image as clean as possible.
3. It promotes a steady pace of backing up cards, so if for any reason something happened to the camera or the card you are not losing a whole day worth of footage.

In our work-flow system, the 8GB card from the 5D camera goes to the media manager. He downloads the media into the computer and simultaneously sends it to the 4 external hard drives.  After the download is complete, he checks for focus and exposure and labels each set-up for the assistant editor with as much detail and description as possible. Then, he formats each card before sending it back to the cameras in the field. When the cards go back to the field to be reused, the camera assistant knows to double check that each card is coming back empty.

2 of 4 Hard Drives

Next, one hard drive is shipped to the editor to start logging the footage; one is a back up if the original one gets lost in shipping.  A third  is for the director to view on his laptop. The last one is a “cloned master “of what we sent to the editor, which is held in post.  This system has been successful in delivering the entire equivalent of 1.8 million feet of film safely into the edit room.

How do you manage media?  What successes have you had?  I would love to hear your formula.