VFX: Easier than you think, harder than you think

I love this breakdown clip from Ryan vs. Dorkman 2 (which, if you haven't seen it, is totally worth watching). Based of the so-simple-it's-brilliant notion of showing Star Wars Lightsabers doing things that "we personally think would be fun to see," these guys staged a Lightsaber battle in a factory between, well, two regular guys. The effects work is excellent, and one reason why is that they shot a lot of practical elements.

When you're just getting into effects, it's easy to get stuck thinking that you have to do everything with your computer. These guys wanted to create a realistic reflection, smoke, and sparks. So you know what they did? They shot something that would create a reflection. Then they filmed some smoke. Then they filmed some sparks.

Easy, right? Well, maybe not. To some people it's easier to sit in front of a computer for hours trying to get particles to look like smoke than it is to black out a space and heat up a metal rod with a blowtorch. But the latter is worth the extra effort, because the results will look better and ultimately take less time to create. Sometimes making something look photo-real is just as easy—and as difficult—as shooting something real.

Taming the Toy

I mentioned in my previous post that the Canon HV20 has poor manual control. While this has been amply documented elsewhere, here's a brief summary of why, in the form of a description of the Sex Positive workflow.

We used Cinema Mode. Consult your HV20 user's manual for the customary misunderstanding about camera modes with the term "cine" in their name: "Give your recordings a cinematic look by using the CINE MODE." No, that's not what it does. What it does is remove the clippy, contrasty gamma that makes consumer video look good to Ma and Pa Birthday Cam, and replace it with a clean, low-contrast curve that extracts as much dynamic range as possible from the CCD. CINE MODE is important with this camera—don't leave home without it.

We always used a 1/48th shutter. As readers of The Guide know well, a 180 degree shutter is not just a good idea, it's the law. Violate it and you've got audiences who've never heard of "Viper" or "Genesis" walking out of Apocalypto saying "What was with the scenes shot on video?"

We didn't have a ton of light. We had two 650W lights and one smaller one, and we blacked out windows to make a night interior out of a day shoot. The main light on the talent was a 650W diffused by a muslin. This meant that the HV20 needed to be "wide open" at 1/48th. Here begins the wrestling:

• In CINE MODE, shooting 24p, aim the camera at something plenty bright, like the mus.
• Use the joystick to enable manual exposure
• Give the PHOTO Button a half-press to check the f-stop and shutter speed. You need a MicroSD card [EDIT: Actually it's a MiniSD card, thanks Mike!] in the camera for this to work, even though you don't intend to actually snap a still.
• Adjust the exposure up until you see the magical combo of F2.4, 1/48. Best to overshoot to F2.8, 1/40 and then toggle one notch back. The HV20 can open up wider than 2.4 (to 1.8), but not when it's zooomed in. So the amount of zoom necessary to frame up the adaptor's groundglass is a factor in reducing light sensitivity.

You have to re-do that dance every time you camera auto powers-down, or every time you return from checking playback. It's not fun. I'd been getting myself used to it leading up to the shoot, and then had the alarmingly refreshing experience of dusting off the old DVX100a for the first day's shoot. On the DVX, if you want to change the shutter, you change the shutter. If you want to change the aperture, you change the aperture. And you can run with any gain you like at any of these settings. The HV20 will always open up more shutter before allowing the gain to increase, which makes sense for consumers but not for filmmakers. A day with the HV20 after a day with the DVX was a stark reminder of the filmmaker-friendly features we were giving up in order to go 1080p for less than a G.

We monitored in HD. Using a noga arm, I mounted an Ikan V8000HD to various places on the camera depending on our configuration. Mounting this LCD upside-down allowed me to see the image right-side-up, and since the Ikan is HD, I could actually see if my subject was in focus, which is a constant fight at f1.4! The Ikan runs on Sony camcorder batteries, but we just powered it with AC, mostly to keep weight down.

We shot to tape. In a tight apartment with a critical mass of gear, we shot to tape. You can eek an "uncompressed" signal out of this camera's HDMI output, but the last thing I wanted to do was drag a computer around with this rig. I've been experimenting with using Re:Vision Effects's new DE:Noise plug-in to reduce compression and noise in my HDV footage, and the results are very promising.

We boomed to a box. Rather than pipe the input from the boom mic into the HV20, we recorded to an M-Audio MicroTrack Recorder (another good choice would have been the Zoom H4). This tool audio level management off my plate (unlike the DVX100a, the HV20 has no convenient audio input level knobs) and ensured a high quality, interference-free signal. We slated manually and have the camera mic audio to help us post sync our dailies.

As you can see, there are trade-offs with this setup. One of the great things about basing a DV Rebel shoot around a prosumer camera such as the DVX100b, HVX200, or Canon XH A1 is that your rig grows with your capabilities and never gets in your way. It actually prepares you for a future of shooting with a Varicam or a Viper. With the HV20 on the other hand, you're off the reservation. You've go no leg to stand on when your camera fails to support your cinematic needs, because you bought it in the toy aisle. And yet, if you hop on one foot and wave the rubber chicken just right, you can make amazing images with the little guy.

Two Days, Two Rigs

Eric Escobar hit me up to DP his latest short, Sex Positive, last weekend. It was a two-day shoot, the first of which was a standard-def affair using my venerable DVX100a. The second day we shot with the prototype M2 rig seen here earlier.

Having the back-to-back experiences of using the DVX100a, with its ample manual control, familiar ergonomics, and dual XLR input; followed by the Canon HV20 with its barely-adequate controls but oh-so-lovely 1080p24 images, was a great education in what's terrific and what's still sorely needed in the DV Rebel's arsenal.

The M2 rig is experimental, so I won't review it except to say that both Eric and I would jump at the chance to use it again. He wants to shoot a feature on it, and I can't blame him. It worked well and we are channeling our feedback on its finer points directly to Redrock.

Enough typing—how about some pics? Here are two color corrected frames from day 2. In the second, that's day 1's footage playing on the TV in the background. Both of these frames happen to be made with that amazing Nikon 50mm f1.4 prime.

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More later on the experience, the rig, the cameras, and our post path!

Keep NYC Rebel-friendly

From the picturenewyork.org press release:

NEW YORK CITY: Picture New York WITHOUT pictures of New York. In one of the most photographed cities in the world, photographers and filmmakers, both professional and amateur, would be shut down by proposed regulations making it illegal for them to film or tape in NYC without a permit and a million dollars of insurance.

The proposed regulations would affect much of the small scale filming and photography in the city. In addition to artists, those making Industrials, fashion, wedding and architectural photographs could need a permit. The regulations would require a permit for 5 people with one tripod who shoot for 10 minutes or more in one place. (And this would include set up and break down!). A film school graduate with a camcorder, four friends and a dream could have to pay comparable insurance fees with HBO to shoot in New York City. Even parents making home movies in public parks could fall under the new rules.

Full press release

Petition

More info

Trapped in a closet

...with actress Colleen Foy, DPing a short for director Eric Escobar using the Redrock Micro prototype rig. My first gig as a DP for someone else, and the first test of this rig in the field.

That's my Nikor 50mm f1.4 on the M2, and what you can't see is the Ikan V8000HD HD LCD monitor mounted to the rig on a Noga arm.

More images and words soon.