Cinematography: DSLR, size doesn't matter
With the release of DSLR cameras that can shoot in full HD, the screen industry stumbled unwittingly upon a new age of cinematography and many are following. Micah Chua found that producing good quality picture doesn’t need to be as expensive as it once was.
When Canon released the 5D Mark II with full HD video capabilities in late 2008 for photojournalists to accompany their stills with moving images, nobody had really predicted what would follow. It wasn’t the first camera to possess this capability – that honour goes to Nikon – but certainly it was the one that started a revolution.
“It’s exploded into a videographer subculture”, said Sony’s product specialist in digital imaging, Sean Ellwood.
But subculture may be an understatement. A wide variety of screen industry practitioners and filmmakers ranging from low budget independents through to top end international studio networks have caught on to the fact that the humble DSLR is certainly up to the task. Internationally, celebrity DSLR users include Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard, who used it to shoot a skit for the comedy website Funny or Die featuring a cast of Saturday Night Live stars, and Robert Rodriguez, who used it to shoot a music video. Even the season finale of the popular American medical drama House, directed by Greg Yaitanes, was shot on a Canon Mark II.
The last year has seen Australian productions such as Melbourne-shot feature Six Lovers, Rebecca Barry’s documentary I Am a Girl, and a range of TVCs, short films and corporate videos – from companies such as Resin, Orange Toast and Cinema Experience – shot on a DSLR.
Film schools around the world are also recognising the DSLR’s importance, with the New York Film Academy providing each new recruit with a Canon 5D, and the Australian Film TV and Radio School (AFTRS) holding seminars on the camera’s use in filmmaking.
“A number of university students have got them and are certainly using them already,” said AFTRS cinematographer lecturer Erika Addis. “They are in use in the courses and on the productions as we speak”.
The growing community of DSLR filmmakers are being cultivated by initiatives such as the eoscars.com and Vimeo, where DSLR film projects are being showcased online. Filmmaker and DOP Philip Bloom’s online blog also provides in-depth tutorials for DSLR users working specifically in filmmaking.
If these examples and the amount of online traffic locked in discussion over these cameras is any indication, the industry may have come across not just another tool in the DOP’s camera bag, but a piece of consumer technology that could potentially revolutionize the production industry.
WHY DSLR?
With the 5D Mark II priced at $3,999 and the 7D at $2,499, it certainly is a cheaper option for filmmakers. But what makes it a better option?
Filmmaker and Mark II user Clayton Jacobson (Kenny, Mordy Koots) found that very little comes close to replicating the 35mm look.
“I’ve done a lot of HD camera work and the thing that is always difficult to replicate is the shallow depth of field,” he told Encore.
These models are able to produce the 35mm effect in a handheld model under $5, 000, that only professional models – with the Red One camera as the most accessible option at U$17,500 – were known to do before. This in itself represents a remarkable shift.
“To date, it was the closest thing I could find to simulate the 35mm film look we’ve been looking for in video,“ said Joel Mielle, producer and DOP of the feature Six Lovers.
The large sensor effect supported by the Canon DSLR EOS series is a big plus for industry practitioners wanting more bang for less buck, enabling a 14-bit A/D resolution power and 36 x 24mm effective sensor size.
“I find the DSLR superior to traditional HD cameras”, said Mielle. “The depth of field is superior due to its large sensor without having to add any lens adaptors.”
Jacobson believes that the cameras are remarkable, especially considering the amount of money required and the smaller crews required to operate them.
“The end result is not that far away from what you would achieve with a lot more money, a larger crew and more mucking around,“ he said.
He discovered this during the production of his short The Trainer, which he shot over a three day period with a Canon 5D Mark II.
“The idea was to take the gear and put it through the rigours of a standard shoot,“ he explained. Jacobson and his team made it a point not to alter or colour grade the images in post but rather edit the
project exactly as it was shot to see what the technology was capable of.
“When they projected it onto the big screen, the editor and I were just gobsmacked”, he told Encore. “You couldn’t see any noise, it was crisp and clean and the images were very striking. These cameras out of the box already have the kind of quality we have spent a small fortune trying to obtain.”
“It costs a lot less than any other alternative that would be comparable”, said Olivier Mamet, director at the Perth-based video and TVC production company, OOTB. “It also gives out a formidable look that is kind of unique. When you combine those two aspects, especially in this industry, you end up with a product that is brilliant.”
Although the DSLR can provide quality image at an attractive price point, a unique advantage also lies in its size. This is a particular boon for documentary filmmakers such as Rebecca Barry, who shot her project in India.
“It definitely enabled us to go under the radar and be more camouflaged as tourists,” she told Encore, “so having a smaller camera was handy in that respect.”
“People around you don’t think you’ve got a video camera,” said AFTRS’ Addis. “It just looks like you’re taking stills so it’s very easy to work with in that way. People are quite relaxed around it.”
Jacobson believes this is an important advantage that the DSLR holds over more bulky traditional cameras.
“With all the bells and whistles, the large crews and all the gear and lighting, your subject is arrested by the artifice of filmmaking and they don’t own the space,” he said. “When you’re doing a documentary with a huge crew, you’ve taken over their space and you have to work very hard to make them feel the way they would normally feel when you’re not there with a camera.”
According to Addis, the documentary field has embraced the DSLR technology, incorporating the cameras into packages as a second camera or even a primary camera in some cases. “I’ve seen some really beautiful work done with them,” she said.
The size of the camera was also an advantage, increasing the creative flexibility on the shoot.
“It allowed us to be more creative in terms of angles and positioning which would have taken so much longer and at greater expense with a larger camera,” he said. Mielle found that he was able to
place the camera in interesting positions including rigging it overhead or placing it in a cupboard.
The possibilities of the camera extend to high-end television drama; the 2010 season finale of House was shot in a collapsed carpark, taking advantage of the Mark II’s size, the crew positioned it in small crevasses few cameras would be able to fit into.
“These cameras will reduce the need for set design as there’s no way you could film what we shot in the same places and with the same angles with traditional 35mm cameras or even larger HD video cameras,” said Mielle.
OUTWEIGHING LIMITATIONS
Although the Canon DSLR is becoming the camera of choice for an expanding number of filmmakers, the fact that it was built from the ground up to shoot stills and not video produces a few
hurdles.
“A video camera needs to perform, act and be usable like a video camera, and a stills camera needs to feel and work like one,” said Sony’s product marketing manager Nick Buchner. “If you adapt one
to the other, you get a compromise”.
Because the EOS series were never designed to shoot extensive projects, the body overheats around the 12 minute mark, making any long takes impossible. Keeping the camera on too long without
rest can cause it to shut down. Focusing is also extremely difficult with the Canon lenses, according to industry specialists.
“Focus pullers are pulling their hair out trying to focus with stills lenses that are designed for stills image capture, not moving images”, said TVC director Jason Hargreaves who used a DSLR to shoot the SBS FIFA World Cup commercial.
The infinite focus ring on many DSLRs continue turning beyond the minimum focus points. Accurately pulling focus using stills lenses is virtually impossible.
Filmmakers are also finding issues with the rolling shutter when quickly panning the camera left to right which has been known to distort the image, commonly known as the ‘jello’ effect. “It hasn’t been
an issue for our film, but in fast action films, it could be,“ said Mielle.
Using the camera’s LCD viewfinder is another major issue, according to Addis.
“Like all LCD screens,“ she said, “if you’re in bright lighting conditions, it’s very difficult to see the screen and you have to be able to see that image to be able to evaluate the focus, and of course the framing.”
Yet, despite the considerable limitations placed on a stills camera trying to do the job of an HD video camera, industry practitioners are still investing in the technology to shoot their projects. When placed in perspective, the benefits seem to far outweigh anylimitations the camera has.
“I just find it a bit of a boring argument when people are getting into the nitty gritty of all the stats,” said Jacobson. “They’re comparing these cameras to Red cameras and 35mm.
“My answer is, if you’re just comparing that camera with that quality equipment, then you’re already talking about a pretty phenomenal piece of equipment. If you’ve got a pushbike that you can compare with a Porsche, then you own a pretty good pushbike!”
The cameras in the Canon range are contending with cameras in a price range far beyond its own class. And although the criticisms are extensive, this certainly doesn’t mean that they will not be fixed in the near future, nor that they are going to stop filmmakers from using them on their shoots.
“There are a few issues here and there, but essentially there’s a lot of work around”, said Mamet.
There are now software plug-ins that can fix distorted images caused by the rolling shutter in post. A wide range of third party accessories are also available to filmmakers such as follow focus, monitors,
matt boxes and a multitude of lenses and adaptors that address many of the DSLR’s filmmaking limitations.
The exciting question is, now that Canon has stumbled upon this new market and the limitations have clearly been identified, where to next?
A WHOLE NEW MARKET
From a marketing perspective, the new EOS models represent a remarkable growth in DSLR sales growing at 33 percent in 2009 according to Canon’s brand manager Chris Macleod. If Canon plays its cards right, it can only get better from here.
“I’m looking forward to better support technology to allow follow focus and better suport mechanisms so I can bring a focus puller on set and they feel they can work on this camera the way they would work with a 35mm,” Jacobson told Encore. “I’m just waiting with bated breath for the next 5D Mark III if there’s such a thing.”
“No doubt subsequent product releases of DSLRs will have many of the problems fixed,” said Hargreaves.
But how are competing camera companies reacting to the new market that Canon has stumbled upon?
“It’s definitely something we’re taking note of,” said Sony’s Sean Ellwood. “We’ve just recently launched the VG-10 camera, which is our first foray into a dedicated digital solution for large sensor cameras.”
The Handycam NEX-VG-10 – which PC World magazine described as “an HD camcorder with DLSR brains“ – is the world’s first consumer full HD camcorder with interchangeable lenses. While Canon’s latest phenomenon are stills cameras adapted to video use, Sony are building their responding product from the ground up as a video camera featuring an APSC sensor, lenses designed specifically for video, an autofocus feature and a good sound solution. The VG-10 will be released later this year in the $3,000 ballpark.
“It’s really designed to suit people who want to get the large sensor look but want a camera that is ready to shoot video out of the box,” said Ellwood.
“Whilst we appreciate what the users saw as the benefits of working with that type of system, we also believe there are a number of significant disadvantages from a professional point of view”, added Sony’s Buchner. “There is an expanding demand for something that handles professionally at the lower cost end of the market. Digital SLRs are addressing that in some ways, but they are not necessarily the answer because they don’t handle like a motion camera and they have limitations.”
While Canon uncovered the market, albeit unintentionally, Sony’s approach is with the intention of providing a low-cost, high quality large sensor video camera. And although Canon led the charge into this new market, the company that will cross the finish line remains to be seen.
HERE TO STAY
So is the DSLR phenomenon a passing fad, or is it an option that is here to stay? The impact has been far and wide with effects felt in the low to high budget film sectors and even the TVC and corporate world. The influence is slowly spreading.
Although a project shot on a DSLR camera may not sound like a good investment to potential distributors or clients, you can’t argue with results.
“Some have been quite astonished by what we’ve achieved with a sub-$5,000 camera,” said Hargreaves. “It is possible to get stunning images from this format.”
“Any film that looks closer to actual chemical 35mm film can only be a boon for distributors,” said Mielle. The BBC, who initially didn’t accept work originating on a DSLR due to its limitations have since begun accepting DSLR-shot material into its programming, including news stories as well as the soap drama Shelfstackers, joining other DSLR-friendly organisations such as MSNBC and FOX.
“There’s absolutely no doubting the impact this format has had, and so quickly on the film and TV industries. Every week in the TVC world I’m asked to shoot on it,” Hargreaves told Encore.
But where the rubber hits the road is where the art of storytelling is made all the more accessible with high quality consumer technology.
“It’s like art materials,” said Jacobson. “Anyone can pick up the canvasses and supplies a great artist would use; it’s just whether you’ve got the skills or creativity to do anything with it. That’s the wonderful thing with these cameras; they’re giving people the opportunity to tell stories and that’s what matters. Whatever can help us tell a story without a sort of encumbrance is a good thing.”
The large sensor DSLRs are another step towards democratising high quality filmmaking. With the means to produce fantastic image in the reach of the average consumer, we’ll just have to wait and see how this will alternative will find its permanent place in the industry.
“DSLRs are certainly here to stay”, said Hargreaves, “but in what capacity they’ll find their home, I’m not quite sure.”
I’ve just shot a short film on one of these, the results are amazing, limitations yes, but still a great camera to shoot on
User ID not verified.
Great article! I am also a DOP & shot about 4 TVC’s & several TV promos with HDSLR cameras. When they are on a dolly with a decent lens i.e Zeiss Compact Primes & have a monitor rigged they are actually ok & u can produce beautiful images, if lit correctly. It’s when you try & use in doco situation that you realise the limitations & it’s not a video camera. It’s all progression!
User ID not verified.
Hmm. I think your prices are off. The 5D is closer to 2500 and the 7D 17-1800.
User ID not verified.
Size does matter…and the people that usually said that are people with small…cameras.
Very informative article. I like these cameras and the quality, I shot a couple of TVC with a few of them. Unfortunately they are only suitable for small short projects.
By the time you make it into a full production camera it is as big as any other professional film or HD motion picture camera and not as user friendly.
If you are shooting a Feature Film or a Telemovie is a different story…follow focus is one of the main problems. Anyway I am over this on going debate of Film vs HD etc…
We are loosing sight of the bigger picture. People these days are more concerned about the technology then the content and the skill of the person behind the camera (any camera). it is the DOP who makes the pictures not the camera…some Cinematographer are still getting below average results with 35mm Film…
At present the quality of film is still the yardstick. Happy shooting!
User ID not verified.
YES ! Finally the revolution is here !
We’re shooting…French new wave !
no..wait…
Cinema Vérité
err
Dogma
No..it’s miniDV!
No, I mean 24P HD
no no no I meant RED
No wait it’s DSLR !
Revolutions just keep coming. Cause it is all about the gear.
User ID not verified.
We shot Hoon Capital a Six Part TV Series on the Canon 5D 11 and it looks awesome. The feedback has been extremely positive with the Series launching at MIPCOM last week. Examples can be seen on our website. A second series shoots in Feb next year again with 2 Canons…
User ID not verified.
Revolutions always had great talent behind it…
User ID not verified.