So now that we have covered some basics of under water filming. We can now do over some important equipment that is needed.
Equipment
Underwater Camera Housing
The underwater housing for your camera is the most important (and expensive) item for underwater filmmaking. It is also the best investment you will make because it protects the camera from the hazardous elements of an underwater environment.
For the hundreds of cameras on the market there are relatively few underwater housings. If you don’t already have a camera, you should first look for a quality housing and let that lead you to a camera. In other words, shop for housing first and camera second.
In general, camera housings are mechanical, digital, or a combination of the two. Generally, they have buttons and pins that go through the hard casing to physically push buttons and turn switches on your camera. The benefit of a mechanical housing is that parts can be replaced if something breaks in the field. The buttons and switches have to be kept in good condition so they don’t jam or get stuck, but you don’t need to worry about electronics getting wet and ruining the electronic board.
Digital Housings
Digital housings plug into a port on the camera and operate all the camera functions from digital controls on the housing. They are often constructed so that the buttons are in an ideal place for the diver to control in the underwater environment, usually where your thumbs would naturally grab the camera. This is a real plus. But be advised; an occasional failed circuit board can leave you stranded if you are in a remote location.
Watertight bags are a less expensive option, but they tend to restrict your range of depth.
Lights
LEDs
More energy-efficient LEDs are also gaining popularity with deep water filmmakers. With greater battery life and the decent colors they produce.
Halogen
Small halogen lights are what most divers carry with them to see things at depth. If you want your video to look like daytime, you would have to get stronger halogen lights made specifically for use with video equipment.
Another thing that needs to be considered is how you are going to hold both the camera and the light or lights. Most divers use a mounting mechanism that attaches to the camera housing. Lights and mounting is are usually bought separately. If you are customizing your own lighting system, just remember that you will want to be able to adjust the lights underwater without much effort.
Magic Lantern is a free software add on that frees your Canon DSLR and runs from the SD/ CF card ultimately providing an assortment of features to the Canon EOS cameras that weren't included with the factory settings. Originally created for filmmakers the free add on allows for a wide range of lenses, includes manual audio, zebra (peaking), focus assist tools, motion detection and much more. Additionally the add-on has full control over the H264 bit rate, trap focus, follow focus and rack focus. If your not sold yet the FREE add-on has been downloaded thousands of times as of September 2009 and of those downloads there has been no damages reported. As I am in the market for a more sophisticated DSLR but have little money for a legit set up a friend personally recommended the free software to enhance a rather inferior setup. I would like to branch out and give a little more insight on this add-on other than the little information provided on the internet but haven't got a chance to try it for myself. Either way if your as interested as I am and have a Canon DSLR fitting the models listed below then you can download the free software add-on at www.magicalantern.fm
Above are the Pioneers of the DSLR prosumer industry. I will bring them up on countless occasions throughout this blog so I thought it'd be good for you all to have a little bit of background on these two technology trailblazers.
First, here are some reasons why DSLR use makes sense in the industry:
DSLRs Level the Playing Field:
With the introduction of nice DSLRs, people are starting to acknowledge the fact that you don't have to go to film school to make it in the industry anymore. You don't have to have the money to afford paying for school, or film, or a really, really, really, great film camera.
Vincent Laforet exemplifies this when he reminisces about his introduction into the field:
"I couldn’t afford the traditional video formats. At the time, a good, quality digital film camera cost $250,000, or it cost you several thousands of dollars to shoot and process film. You have to go to film school and pretty much pay $250,000 for education to get a chance to shoot a few films during your tenure there. So this was the first readily available camera that I and pretty much everyone else got in their hands that gave them that filmic look. I had bought that first Panasonic camera a few years prior that shot 24 frames per second, and the sensor was just too small and the lens choices were incredibly limited, so I brought it back. This was the first camera that was just completely liberating. That’s why it’s had the explosion that it’s had, because people could use the lenses they have, it’s affordable, it’s small and light, and it’s incredibly sensitive to low light. It’s everything you need if you don’t have a budget." -Laforet
DSLRs don't create good filmmakers, they just help good filmmakers get discovered. Furthermore, as easy as they sound to use; DSLRs still have a learning curve. You won't produce professional quality footage without putting in lots of quality time with your camera and it's manual.
Industry Going Digital
Movie/Film projection is becoming increasingly digital because, honestly, its just the more economically practical way to go. Film cans are incredibly expensive to ship due their enormous size, and printing the prints can add up to a small fortune on top of that. Furthermore, most film is now being scanned digitally before being printed back to film. It is a digital age, incorporating Digital Single-lens Reflex Cameras into film is the logical next step. Technology determines the types of products being made, not the other way around. Filmmakers don't ask camera companies to make a camera a certain way, they use the technology that is available and make what they can with it.
Beautiful Quality Images:
According to Laforet, the Canon 5D Mark II has one of the best sensors in the world. If you film a brick wall without a shallow DOF so that you can see every brick, what you'll see will look much like an acid trip. This phenomenon occurs due to the camera's binning process. Canon 5D Mark II is essentially binning with a 21 m pix chip so it has to skip lines. This process is what creates the beautiful artifacts you see on screen.
If you haven't seen anything shot with the Canon 5D Mark II on the big screen, then you really can't fully understand the camera's main draw. For instance, Canon 5D Mark II footage on a large screen is considered by many to be "more beautiful than anything." Footage that looks horrible on your laptop screen transforms into this magnificent spectacle when enlarged and digitally projected. Here's why: One of the main reasons the video on the laptop screen can look horrible is because you can literally see the compression. However, this compression absolutely disappears the minute the video gets projected on a large scale-- ultimately producing video magnificent beyond compare.
So Are DSLRs Actually Used in the Industry?
Yes. And don't let those film lovers tell you otherwise.
Film people, whether they'll admit it or not, (they usually do) tend to be stubborn when it comes to shooting on film as opposed to shooting digitally. Take Roger Deakins, winner of four American Society of Cinematographers Award nominations and filmmaker extrodinaire. When asked if he'd ever consider shooting digitally he responded pertly: "Well I rather like the way I shoot film thank you very much" a few years later, however, Deakins shot a feature with the Alexa and was quoted saying that he will never go back to film.
"The idea may seem preposterous at first (seriously, how can anything beat the wonderful grain and color quality of 2K or 4K film stock used by Fuji and Kodak film cameras) but when the pros saw the comparisons, their mindsets changed. While today, it is possible for independent film-makers to go solo (or in a guerilla team of 2-3) and shoot a HD film solely on a DSLR (check out the trailer to Pacific Pictures/Kevin Shahinian's City of Lakes, shot entirely on a Canon 5D Mark II and 7D), the pros predict that at least for now, it is possible to marry the use of a DSLR/hybrid with professional camcorders (eg. using the DSLR as a pick-up-and-go device for unplanned or alternative angled shots alongside the professional camcorders)." -Terence Ang, author for Tech Trends and Commentaries.
Still, DSLRs don't have to be used as the primary "A-mark" camera. In fact, many videographers use DSLRs on the side as B, or C cameras. Sometimes, they even use them for "back up back up" shooting. Phillip Bloom explains:
"Now I need to make this clear, the idea was not having the Canon as the A or B camera but to be used for extra angles (as we could sneak in almost anywhere) but also mainly side with Camera A (Sony’s F35) to see how well they compare... There is something so unique aesthetically about this camera but what we also needed to do was make sure what we shot didn’t look so wildly different from the F35s that we could not cut the shots into the movie… " -Bloom
Bloom shoots about 75% of his work with the Canon 5D Mark II This statistic may be attributive to his unconditional love for shallow depth of field, a characteristic that the 5D Mark II in particular is known for due to it's large sensor.
Example of 5D's shallow DOF:
Although most people love that bokeh-heavy look, the large sensor does come with some disadvantages. For example, the 5D Mark II is not the ideal camera to shoot documentaries on. Documentaries are one of those genres that call for everything to be in focus all the time. Because shots aren't planned, shooting with the typical shallow depth of field could cause the filmmaker to miss a spur of the moment event. If the DP that makes this mistake happens to be working underneath someone else, he is likely to be fired. Saying this, shooting with a deep depth of field CAN be done if you f-stop down far enough. The main issue with that, however, is finding enough external light to successfully stop down to f-8 (or so). Bloom doesn't let this issue deter him from shooting with the Canon 5D Mark II:
"We make them work of course because the end result is so bloody gorgeous we WANT to make them work. Also the small form factor is so revolutionary, even though we do need to pimp up like I do with my Zacuto gear, to make them easier to use they are still small! I can carry around my 5D Mark II my 50mm F1.2 and my Z-Finder in my man bag (not murse please) everywhere I go. It’s incredible." -Bloom
"We make them (Canon 5D Mark II's) work of course because the end result is so bloody gorgeous we WANT to make them work. Also the small form factor is so revolutionary, even though we do need to pimp up like I do with my Zacuto gear, to make them easier to use they are still small! I can carry around my 5DmkII, my 50mm F1.2 and my Z-Finder in my man bag (not murse please) everywhere I go. It’s incredible." -Phillip Bloom
Here are Some Prime Examples of Videos that you should probably watch right now that were shot exclusively with DSLRs:
It premiered at South by Southwest, where it won best narrative feature,[2] screened at such festivals as Maryland Film Festival, and was released theatrically in the United States on November 12, 2010.
The creation of award winning short, Reverie, is actually a funny story. Apparently, while attending a Canon Convention, Laforet asked about the (then just a prototype) Canon 5D Mark II. Canon was planning on giving a couple of the prototypes to several well-established photographers to test that weekend. However, after incestantly hounding the Canon employees to let him try out the camera over the weekend they agreed. And that was how Reverie came to be. Because he only had one weekend to shoot, Reverie was shot exclusively on the Canon 5D Mark II with no post movie processing. All of the footage that was used in the Reverie movie - was raw - untouched in terms of color correction, exposure correction, and even noise correction. When Laforet showed the final product to Canon, the company began to realize the pro-sumer potential of the 5D Mark II.
A finale episode of House, Help Me, was shot entirely on the Canon 5D Mark II and the quality was just as good as the episodes that were shot on 35mm film. It looks just the same because they used the same crew, and they lit it like they were shooting on film. They used a 5D because they were shooting in a very enclosed space. After shooting with the Canon 5D Mark II in the season finale, they decided to continue shooting the rest of the episodes with the 5D instead of 35mm.
Act of Valor was shot with Canon 5D Mark II cameras equipped with Zeiss ZE and Panavision Primo lenses. This is one of the best feature length films shot entirely with the Canon 5D Mark II. 5Ds are small and light, making them great camera's for action movies that are shot in a guerrilla style. Let's be honest, Fancy film cameras are just too big to run around with on your shoulder all the time.
Some More Notable works shot with the Canon 5D Mark II in particular (in order of release): (Wikipedia)
The opening title sequence for the 35th season of NBC's Saturday Night Live, first broadcast on 26 September 2009. The camera, alongside the Canon 7D, was used due to its size, which allowed covert shooting on the streets of New York City, and depth of field capabilities, making it a suitable substitute for the series' usual 35mm film.[18]
The House episode "Help Me", (season finale) broadcast by Fox on 17 May 2010, was shot entirely on the Canon 5D Mark II, replacing the drama's usual 35mm film format.[19][20][21] Portions of the seventh season were also recorded with a 5D Mark II.[22]
The BBC Two comedy series Shelfstackers, first broadcast on 4 September 2010, is the first BBC programme to use the camera. The corporation had initially refused its use due to "lack of quality" but were persuaded otherwise by the series' director, Dom Bridges. All six episodes of the series were shot on the camera for a total budget of £160,000.[23]
"There’s nothing more frustrating than knowing you can’t get a [piece of equipment] down to this location, that you can’t get the shot you’re dreaming of. So you look for technology that breaks those barriers, to execute the vision that you have in your mind. That’s the key goal, to focus on that vision and that craft. That gets lost a lot today in technology as we’re so focused on gear and what pieces of gear we’re supposed to use, as opposed to asking ourselves, 'Why? How can that best serve the story?'"
The DSLR seems to currently be the technology that breaks down these barriers. Think about it, 40% of the time, the top 5 production houses shoot with the Canon 5D Mark II despite the fact that they have access to basically any technology ever created.
Here's a quick recap explaining WHY this is:
DSLRs give you the best product for the least amount of cash.
DSLRs will continue to be great consistently at least for B and C cameras if not the primary camera.
DSLRS are super convenient, especially for guerrilla shooting.
DSLRs will outshine any other kind of camera in lowlight situations.
All of that being said, one must never get too overly consumed with HOW the film is shot. The story is still ultimately the most important aspect of a film. You shoot with the technology that will work best to tell your story. Because truth is; even if the footage looks great, and the lighting looks great, and the focus is crystal clear: if the story isn't compelling, you have nothing.
In the world of filming prime lenses are where its at. A lot of cinematographers say use a prime lens and use your feet to zoom. I am trying to expand my arsenal as I have said before however I am just a college student and usually am scraping the barrel every week. An awesome prime lens for someone on a budget is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II standard AutoFocus Lens or otherwise known as the nifty fifty. This little guy goes for about 100 dollars on amazon including shipping. The last time I checked a good tripod isn't even that cheap.
Canon makes two more of these 50 primes as well, the f/1.4 and the f/1.2. The f/1.4 is about 300-400 dollars and the f/1.2 is a whopping 1000 dollars. The price changes with these three lenses are based on two main factors, the f-stop and the durability. The awesome thing about these f-stops is that with such a low f-stop low light shooting will be easier as well as getting that desirable BOKEH effect that makes your photos and video look awesome. The f/1.8 has been said to be almost like a toy in the way it feels, the whole lens is made out of plastic for the most part, while the other two have metal mounts and the f/1.2 is even weather proof. While these minor differences in stop and build are somewhat noticeable whats the picture quality difference.
This video is an awesome example of what each lens is really capable and surprisingly the f/1.8 really holds its ground. The host of this video is pretty damn annoying and tries to be funny so don't pay attention to him you may have to skim through the video to get the quality material.
An article on F Stoppers is what sparked my recent interest in these prime lenses and they have an awesome article that talks about the three lenses and again the best bang for your buck if your pinching pennies is the f/1.8. These two sources talk about the photography portion of these lenses a lot so I plan to do more research and learn a little more about the video aspect of these lenses before I go spending my hard earned cash. Its looking like relatively soon I will invest in a prime because these deals are something I just can't resist.
Here is the link to the article definitely check this out quickly if you don't have the time for the video. But if you do I definitely recommend you look at both.
Over the past semester I have started to really branch out an learn about as much independent filming as I could. I started to follow a lot of different websites such as Cinema 5D and my personal favorite Phillip Bloom's website and blog. Phillip Bloom is a British cinematographer who works on a higher professional level as well as making his own independent videos. The video I am focusing on today is "From Chicago to the Moon", one of his most recently pieces. This film was shot in 4k. 4k resolution is considered Ultra High definition. 4k resolution has 3840 pixels x 2160 compared to 1080p which is HDTV or 2k resolution. This explains why the video looks so beautiful and the reason why you may be asking your self why your videos don't look like that.
The cameras used for this film were the Sony F55 and the Canon 1DC. These two camera bodies combined cost around 40,000 dollars. Thats a lot compared to my Canon T3i which was 600. My first point I want to make is that you definitely get what you pay for. My T3i can produce awesome shots and its a great camera to start off with, however the two camera Phillip Bloom used are professional grade equipment and are worth every penny to a professional. The shots in this video are beautiful, its is almost spot on to what the human eye can capture, and thats why the equipment costs so much, quality. The quality of the shots in this video is what made it a Vimeo Staff Pick not the story, which kind of confuses me. I'm personally a big fan of using video as means of telling a story and when you break this video down, it is just a lot of B-roll. I'm not critiquing the quality or beauty of this piece of art, I'm saying is the content could have been more intriguing. However this video was shot in about 15 minutes. In the post about this video Phillip Bloom says he was at dinner and then had he saw something he had to capture but only had so much time to get the shots, luckily he had his equipment with him. Along with his two cameras he had an array of lenses including a 800m lens with two telephoto extenders making his 800m 4x its actual size. He used this to obtain the shots of the moon as well as the skyline. The shots of the moon were probably my favorite part of the film, the definition of an object so far away is just amazing. The shots of the skyscrapers were quite interesting as well, he says in his blog post that the shoot location was about 40 miles away from the city of chicago.
Overall the video is quite creative, my only problem with it is that it is getting so much reception without even a basic story line. There are plenty of ways you could bullshit the story or symbolism behind the video, but the plot should be observable to the viewer without to much effort. This video is however a great example of the mentality a cinematographer should have. Phillip Bloom saw something he like and he filmed it with what he had, granted he usually has a lot more available then you average film student but the general idea is there. If you want to be successful you should be shooting something at least once a week if not once a day, some footage will be shit, other footage will be great but thats all part of the process. The videographer of this video saw that the sun went down and he immediately started shoot the moon, thats the mindset you must have when you're shooting. There is always something else to shoot, even if it is as simple as the moon.
Lately I have been trying to expand my DSLR accessories while trying to get the best deal because as many of you know video equipment is not cheap. Hell a replacement canon lens cover is 10 dollars. While we do have PPECS which is an awesome resource for now, we won't always have this access to equipment for free. I have been trying to decide what I should invest in next and I've come to the conclusion of some sort of stabilization system. While I could just buy a relatively nice video tripod for under a hundred dollars, a tripod really limits me to only be able to shoot so much, as well as not a lot of creative shots. What I believe the best investment is going to be is a steadicam, more specifically a glide cam.
A glide cam is a newer steadicam system which can allow you to get amazingly smooth shots, and the system, for what its worth, is relatively cheap to most other steadicams.
The picture above is of the Glidecam HD-2000. This is the medium priced model. There is a HD-1000, 2000, and 4000 and the difference between each of them is the amount of weight they can hold and the length of each unit. The 1000 can hold about 1-3 pounds which seems very impractical because while lenses and attachments most DSLRs will tip that scale. The 2000 holds about 2-6 pounds more weight and a little cheaper for those who are just beginning with steadicam use. Finally the 4000 can hold up to 10 pounds and extend to 28 inches. Now the HD models are the older brothers to the XR models. If you are looking to save a little bit more money the XR's may be right for you, however getting them to balance is a much more tedious process.
For a more in-depth look at the process visit the link above, it covers a lot of good information especially if you are looking to invest in one of these systems. This on Phillip Blooms website, an independent cinematographer, a lot of useful film tips can be found on this website, I suggest you take a look around.
The person to really get the name of this system out there is Devin Graham. Devin is a Youtube partner who creates some pretty insane videos using DSLRs combined with the glidecam. He films a lot of free running videos ,especially for the video game series Assassins Creed. Using the glidecam in this style of video is really cool because it makes it feel like you are running right with the character the whole time. The video is posted below.
Devin usually posts a Behind the Scenes video which really helps you see how they do all of the unique shots. The link is posted below.
This is another video by Devin which is shot on the Canon 5D Mark II and the Glidecam 4000. The whole video gives you the feeling that you are almost flying.
Now the most expensive model of Glidecam is about 600 dollars with a little bit of hunting around the internet and in reality for a steadicam this is an extremely good deal. Just typing in steadicam to a google search the results show models ranging from 1000 dollars to about 9000, and they can go even high then that. There are also cheaper models but typically in video equipment you get what you pay for and thats quality. Another thing besides price to take into consideration is that steadicams do make your shots look good but you can't just pick it up and expect a beautiful shot, these skills take practice just like anything else. But if you want to start getting some hands on experience with this equipment for a relatively cheap price the glidecam cam could be the piece of equipment for you.
Before college I never had the equipment, knowledge, or courage to create films. I was always scared to put myself out there and accept criticism. However now that I am at college I have friends that drive me and the resources to create beautiful pictures. Over the past two summers I decided to start building my arsenal of camera equipment. The summer before freshmen year I bought a GoPro Hero 2 and this past summer I bought a Canon Rebel T3i which came with a 18-55mm lens kit. I now find myself wanting to expand my accessories but wanting to make sure I get my money's worth. I feel as though this lack of equipment is somewhat holding me back when it shouldn't be because in the end I will find myself getting quality shots as long as I just keep filming. I have started to follow a few photography and DSLR film blogs to try and learn how to get better shots and perhaps stumble upon some equipment deals. When scrolling through the blogs I found one post called "Working with Less (or, Get Out There and Shoot." This post is all about making the most of what you have. David Kong, the author of the post and creator of Portrait of Macerata, an impeccable video portrait, talks about how when he was traveling he only had his backup camera yet he still created a professional video with less then 1000 dollars worth of equipment. Before going any further watch the video David Kong made below.
As you can see this is a beautiful video. What interested me so much was that it was very simple and done with inexpensive equipment but it looks like it was shot with a 5D Mk3. In actuality it was shot with a Canon T2i. This fact really excited me because I have a T3i. I figure if I put enough effort into it I can make a video very similar to it. The next part of the blog post is a video of David Kong going through each piece of equipment in detail and how he used it. It helped me learn about some accessories I will find useful in many situations and I should make the investment in. This is a series that David Kong does and I plan on following very closely.
The biggest point I'm trying to make from this point is that money doesn't make quality, and also the only way I am going to get better is if I learn more about my camera and I can do simply by using it more and more. I plan to try and make an effort to film anything at least once a week hopefully more. I hope you enjoyed this post and just remember the more you shoot the better you'll get.
