FX1 short film shoot! Heath and Jon!

[Heath McKnight]

Jon Fordham is DP-ing a short film I'm directing this Sunday in West Palm Beach, Florida with the FX1!

We're doing a romantic comedy called THE AQUARISTS (my first romantic comedy after years of crime and relationship dramas), and we'll have the footage and clips up on HDV Info soon enough.

For more information on Jon and I, check out our IMdB listings here:

Heath McKnight

Jon Fordham

More soon!

heath

[Maheel Perera]

Last time after reading Jon's review on the HD10, I decided that it was not the camera for me. Hope this time the FX1 will come out favourably.

I really appreciate his unbiased view.

[Scott Anderson]

You're shooting this project in CineFrame 24 mode? What is the rationale behind that? I thought that Cineframe 25 was the only viable option to get back to 24 fps. What is your planned workflow through final output? Are you going to offline in DV, then online back to HDV at some point?

[Heath McKnight]

I had a great time today shooting, but we ended up not doing my film The Aquarists, mostly because of the extremely windy weather today (at 5 am, I thought it was a hurricane after going through two of them, albeit a small one). So I put together a 3 page script whose name, TRES HERMANAS, will be changing since it's an English film about American sisters (hey, it was 5 am when I came up with the idea!). It's actually a prequel to my next feature film 9:04 AM featuring three sisters in the movie. One of the actresses is contracted, the other two were potential candidates.

Jon will have an in-depth review of the FX1 and the shoot, but overall, I'm happy with what we got. I'll have some stuff over the coming days, though I must warn you all I'm working four 12 hour days in a row teaching and working freelance. I'll also have still images of the tests Jon did with the FX1 and DVX100A using one of those camera charts with the circles on it (man, my mind is drawing blanks here).

I'm off to a day-after-Christmas party, so I'll talk to y'all later!

heath

[Heath McKnight]

Scott,

To answer your question, yes, we shot it in CineFrame 24, and I feel when the camera is doing smooth moves on the tripod, there isn't a lot of rapid moves with the camera (very little films actually do, with the exception of Blair Witch and some others), CineFrame 24 is nice. I'm going to capture the footage via Lumiere HD's new software and convert it, etc., to an HD form FCP can use and then open up CineTools and import it and do a reverse telecine and report my findings and post clips, images, etc.

heath

[Evan Estay]

wait...

you are a film school teacher and you are saying very few films employ rapid moves with the camera? Your example of one was...blair witch?


.....

[Mark Kubat]

well, hey, Evan - check out Heath's feature film, Skye Falling at www.skyefalling.com...

[Evan Estay]

I dont really know what that has to do with what I mentioned...but ok

[Heath McKnight]

A good 60% of it was handheld! <g> But not too shakey, not quick-pans and -tilts, etc. I feel my XL-1 would've looked bad if I had done that stuff.

BTW, see the trailer here.

heath

[Charles Papert]

Bourne Supremacy, anyone?

[Heath McKnight]

Exactly, Charles! Aside from Skye Falling and Push/Pull, two quasi-dogme 95 films I directed, I'm doing less hand held work, less dogme 95 work. I am embracing the tripod and Steadicam/Glidecam V-16 more now! <g>

heath

[Dennis Adams]

<<<-- Originally posted by Charles Papert : Bourne Supremacy, anyone? -->>>

I absolutely hated the camera work in that movie. While it might be the anti-Gladiator look, it was awful. Zoomed in too far, 8 or 12 fps with massive motion blur, shaking all around. I guess it makes it easy to film a fight scene, nobody is going to notice if the punchs don't connect. If you go to this movie, sit far away from the screen or expect a headache.

///d@
posting my own personal opinion :)

[Troy Lamont]

absolutely hated the camera work in that movie. While it might be the anti-Gladiator look, it was awful. Zoomed in too far, 8 or 12 fps with massive motion blur, shaking all around. I guess it makes it easy to film a fight scene, nobody is going to notice if the punchs don't connect. If you go to this movie, sit far away from the screen or expect a headache.

Absolutely agree.... :(

Troy

[Charles Papert]

Headache or worse. I had to close my eyes a few times. My girlfriend was motion-sick all night. Ugh.

[Heath McKnight]

We're getting a little off subject, but I will say when my fiancee and I watched 13, I got "sea sick" within the first 5 minutes and shut it off. She was fine, though.

And NO crazy shooting in this film Jon and I did!!!! <g>

heath