Canon 1D Mark IV Short Film
Monday, November 9, 2009 at 4:09PM Ok... We went well outside our comfort zone on this one.
We are so used to creating cheery happy or romantic films that we wanted to go the opposite direction for a change and do something dark and edgy. Creating a film with no dialog or acting would have been easy. But, we wanted to see just how good we could capture audio with the Canon 1D Mark IV. Could we write a script, make some friends act, and pull something together in a matter of days? Well, we did. Keep in mind that none of these people have ever acted before. They got the script 30 minutes before filming and it was up to me to direct, shoot, and work the sound. Also, keep in mind that while we have lots of experience being reactive, we have never written a script or filmed a scripted movie before. This was a complete first for everyone involved so be gentle with the criticisms... No lighting other than what was present in the bar, streets, and warehouse was used.
The entire film was captured with the Canon 1D Mark IV and the audio was run through the Beechtek DXA5D. I monitored the audio as we filmed. No tripods used at all. We used a monopod and a Glidecam HD4000. ISO 3200 and the lenses used were all Canon Primes including a 24 1.4, a 50 1.2, and an 85 1.2. Most of the footage was captured at 24p 1080p with a few clips captured at 60p 720p and conformed to 24p using Cinema Tools. We used the Apple ProResProxy Codec and am very pleased with the end result. Everything was edited on a Mac with Final Cut Pro and all of the color grading was done in Color, which is part of final cut studio. Music as created in Garageband, and all the sound effects were simple real audio captured while filming.
Our entire team is completely blow away at the capabilities of the Canon 1D Mark IV. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the camera of choice for independent film making moving forward. We have several more short films on the way. All in all we captured six films in just 10 days. So, stay in touch as we roll out more ideas and concepts on how to use this camera to it's full potential.
Reader Comments (2)
wow... that was intense and gripping. Hardly had time to observe how well the Canon did! Certainly very different from fusion wedding photography!
Chuck, this film is amazing! The acting (well, not necessarily MY performance..hehe) is great and the shots are amazing. I know Jennifer has always wanted to do this and it's so awesome that two minds can come together and create these artistic films. I can't wait to see what you two create next!