Nope, they did not have access to an XL1s. There were several cameras used in the production of 28 Days Later but all of them were XL1 models. As has been pointed out, the IMBD listing is in error. Hope this helps,

Are you saying the internet LIED to me?! You take that back! The internet wouldn't do that to me, would it?

We need to band together to come up with a number of references from the internet needed for something to start sounding credible.

I thought they did a good job with the XL1 footage. There were a couple of scenes where the lack of resolution jumped out at me, but for the most part it looked surprisingly good. I think one of the important things to learn about would be what they did in post to enhance the resolution and color for the film print. I don't think it was necessarily the camera, but how it was used and what was done to the footage in post.

28 Days Later...
 

If any of you seen this movie then you know what I'm talking about... Does anyone know any of the settings they used for this movie? Let me know I'd appreciate it alot, thanks!


-Scott

You may want to do a search first, there's been TONS of threads on 28 Days Later. However, as far as specific settings goes, I don't believe I've ever read anything about it and I don't imagine you'll be able to find much anyway. The film was shot on a PAL-version of the Canon XL1 (not XL1S) in frame mode (would be 25p for PAL instead of 30p for the NTSC model). Anything else is basically unknown because the XL1 didn't offer much image control except for a few bars, exposure, and shutter speed. Other than that, they used a P+S Technik Mini35 adapter on it with some cinema-quality lenses.

Here's a link to the American Cinematographer online archives July 2003 issue that talks about it:

http://www.theasc.com/magazine/july03/sub/index.html

Are you sure about that? I don't think this is true. The article you cite implies that they just adapted the lenses directly to the camera without any kind of Mini 35 type unit:

Can anyone recommend what type of settings you think would achieve the look of this movie?

Certainly nothing in-camera settings can do. Even programs like Magic Bullet are really not that helpful. 28 days later underwent extensive color and exposure control in a professional facility. Remember this may have been an XL1 but with tens of thousands of dollars of glass on the front of it and even more money behind the color correction process afterwards, probably in a colorspace and bitrate far beyond MiniDV.

The best advice I've seen is to shoot with high shutter speed, underexpose a little more than usual, and use the telephoto range of the lens.

And no, 28 Days Later did NOT use any P+S Technik adapter. I've been trying to squash that rumor for ages!

And no, 28 Days Later did NOT use an XL1S or XL2. I've been trying to squash that rumor for ages!

They used several XL1 camcorders.

High shutter speeds? Are you sure?

I have always been told by the people who do film outs that you want to lock down at 60...

In PAL-land they would have shot at 1/50.

Here's the article from American Cinematographer:

http://www.theasc.com/magazine/july03/sub/page2.html