I Shoot Stunt People

Folks following me on Twitter know that while I didn’t preorder a Canon 5D Mark II (actually in stock now on Amazon, both kit and body only), I got to borrow one for a couple of weeks. My generous benefactor was none other than Vincent Laforet, whom I met when he gave a presentation at Industrial Light & Magic a few weeks back. The camera is back in his hands now as he prepares for his surf film.

Rather than rush off to the nearest subway station (well, maybe in addition to running off to the nearest subway station), I decided to contact a local group of filmmakers and performers called The Stunt People. We collaborated on a one-day shoot that involved stunts, fight choreography, and a lot of fun despite the nasty weather.

The images in this post are stills from the shoot, featuring a hasty, “one-light” color correction using Magic Bullet Colorista.

The camera itself offered few surprises. The control is maddening, and the form-factor is annoying for handheld work. I tricked it out with a stripped-down configuration of the Redrock Micro DSLR kit, and the follow-focus was a lifesaver—don’t leave home without it. I did not encumber myself with an LCD monitor, instead relying on the camera’s built-in LCD. The live view zoom function is fine for checking focus before a roll, but not during, and the fixed position orientation of the screen is punishing for creative camera angles.

But the images are pretty—as long as not much moves. There is noticeable rolling shutter artifacting. The low-light capability is stunning (all the images you see here were shot with available light), although working in low light means that the damned 30 fps frame rate is compounded by a creamy 1/30 shutter. The result, as I’ve described before, is that the stutter and incompleteness of film’s cadence is missing, resulting in an motion characteristic that is all verisimilitude and no cinema.

With 24p and manual exposure control this camera would be of use. Without those adjustments, it’s a tantalizing but ultimately frustrating curiosity to the DV Rebel. The best thing about it is what it portends for the very near future.

When the short is cut, colored and mixed I’ll post it here, probably sometime in January. In the meantime check out some of the clips on the Stunt People site—they have some mad skills!

Atn. Canon Japan

Canon EOS 5D Mark IIのビデオモードはフィルムメーカー達にとってとても素晴らしいものです。だが、次の二つの変更でさらにそれは完璧なものとなるでしょう。

• オプションで24フレーム／秒への対応（24fpsは映画の基準コマ速度）
• シャッター、絞り、ISOのマニュアルコントロール

これらの機能がファームウェアアップデートによって5D Mark IIに実装されることを切に願っています。もし不可能な場合、次のビデオモード付き一眼レフカメラに実装することを何卒ご検討下さい。 

よろしくお願いします！

In English:

The video mode on the Canon EOS 5D Mark II is very exciting to filmmakers. It would be perfect with only two changes:

• an option for 24 frames per second, the frame rate of film
• manual control of shutter, aperture, and ISO

I hope that you might be able to add these features in a firmware update to the 5D Mark II. If not, please consider them for your next video-enabled DSLR.

Thanks!

How freaking cool is that? Thanks to Saru for the translation.

Oh Canon...

How can you, on the same page, say both this (italics mine):

…This sensor size difference means that for any given combination of aperture value, subject distance and angle of view, images from the EOS 5D Mark II are going to have much shallower depth of field than images from a conventional HD device… This difference in the look of movies created by the EOS 5D Mark II is part of the reason why we believe it will be embraced by creative professionals.

…and this:

In addition to the adjustable settings listed above, the following settings are made automatically by the camera and cannot be adjusted by the user:

• ISO speed
• Shutter speed (from 1/30 to 1/125)
• Aperture

Yep, if there’s one thing creative professional embrace, it’s an utter lack of control.

Please Canon, the camera is released, it’s a huge hit. Get to work on a firmware update to add 24p and manual exposure control.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II in the Wild

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II has shipped in Asia, and the videos are pouring in. Today we have a Korean adaptation of Reverie and some gorgeous Beijing streets at night, complete with perhaps my most vivid Beijing memory, constant spitting.

Both of these movies allow Vimeo members to download the originals for closer inspection, which is worth doing as Vimeo tops out at 24 fps for HD. That means these 30 fps movies are getting a crappy 24p conversion when Vimeo compresses them, which hides some of the 30p smoothness, but not in a good way. Watching the originals, you vividly perceive the you-are-there smoothness that comes from 30 fps and a 360 degree shutter. Some love it, I hate it, but regardless of how you feel, on Vimeo you are not getting the true 5DmkII footage experience.

EOS 5D Mark2 Movi - Prism from chador on Vimeo.

Canon EOS5DmkII, One night in Beijing. from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Discussion with Dan Chung here.

Vincent Laforet has some new footage up on his blog as well, including some aerial tilt-shift work.