makin movies...




I've shooting tests for this video we have coming up and I'm really amped about the images I'm getting back. These images are frames from 24fps RED camera sequences. There's just a small curve applied in the first grading pass and nothing else done to them. If you notice, they look very similar to the images from my canon 5D. What really cool though is the RED is taking them at 24 frame per second as RAW. It will do up to 30 fps at 4k and 120 fps at 2k. What the DSLR is to film cameras, the RED is to movie cameras. I was fortunate to be around when the adat and pro tools upended the audio world, when the DSLR upended photography and now here we are again as RED upends the movie world. To give you an idea how much resolution is going down the pipe, the shot below is a 100% crop of the shot above. The shot below is 640 across which is the resolution width of a standard definition 4:3 television. Think about how many TVs across is the image above.

This camera is ground breaking. It's like a dream come true for me who's been dying to shoot arri 35mm for 15 years. However good it is though, it won't light or compose the scene for you. No matter how good the gear is, the operator is the most important piece of the chain, I've seen amazing RED videos (you can watch the trailer for Knowing) and I've seen really bad ones....There's a reason, these images look just like my Canon 5D images and the reason is that's how I like to light.... (if you're looking for a way to get HMIs without spending $7500 per light, this is lit with cool lights HMIs and CDMs)

Jealous? If you read this far, you probably are slightly jealous... well here's some groundbreaking news for you: the new Nikon D90. It has a movie mode. It will record 720p at 24 fps. Through nikon glass. (DX crop, thanks Ben!) It's like a RED for $1000. There are limitations for sure, but if I was looking to shoot a music video and didn't have a RED, I would buy a Nikon D90. In fact, I'm pretty sure Shara is getting one for Christmas this year....

When I told her about the D90 she said: "well if it's a $1000 RED, why didn't you buy that then?" It reinforced the sinking feeling I had when I realized all the money I'd spent on camera, lights, jib, steadicam, dolly and tripod added up to the cost of a fully loaded brand new Nissan 350z.

A long time ago, I told you guys I had a long list of things I'd wanted to do before I died and I'd crossed everything off the list except learn to make movies. Well... here we go...

If you'd like to make movies, look into the D90. It's not a RED yet, but it's hands down better than any $1000 camcorder that exists. 24p 720 through DX crop nikon glass. This is where it's going to get really really interesting.

UPDATE: Depending on your gamma setting, especially if you have a mac that's never been calibrated with a colorimeter, these images might look blown out to you. They are slightly blown out intentionally, but really not nearly as much as you're seeing.

Posted: Thu - September 4, 2008 at 10:51 AM          

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